Key developments since May 2005: Non-state armed groups have continued to use mines and improvised explosive devices in many parts of India. India participated as an observer in all three major Mine Ban Treaty meetings in the reporting period. The government of Canada undertook the first high-level advocacy mission to India in March 2006. India undertook demining to allow delivery of relief across the Line of Control to Pakistani earthquake victims. There were at least 336 casualties from mines and improvised explosive devices in 2005, and 271 from January to May 2006.
The Republic of India has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In December 2005, India was one of 17 countries that abstained from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution (UNGA) 60/80, which called for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. It has abstained on all previous annual UNGA resolutions supporting the treaty.
However, India has shown an increasing openness toward the Mine Ban Treaty. It has regularly attended meetings related to the treaty since its first participation, at the First Review Conference in Nairobi, Kenya in November-December 2004. India has since attended the treaty's intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2005, the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Zagreb, Croatia in November-December 2005, and the intersessional meetings in May 2006. The Indian delegate to the Zagreb meeting stated that its participation in these meetings “is a reflection of our commitment to the common vision of a world free of the threat of landmines and unexploded ordnance.”[1]
He further stated that, “India remains fully committed to the ultimate objective of a universal and global ban on anti-personnel landmines, in a manner that would also address the legitimate national security concerns of States. We also believe that availability of appropriate militarily-effective, non-lethal and cost-effective alternative technologies will greatly facilitate in attaining that goal.... At the same time, we recognize the limitations of this Convention in not addressing national security concerns of States with long land borders wherein minefields at frontiers will continue to form an important component of defensive layout.”[2]
India is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines.[3] It has continued to participate actively in that forum, attending CCW-related meetings in Geneva during 2005 and 2006, and submitting its annual Amended Protocol II Article 13 report on 24 October 2005. On 18 May 2005, India ratified CCW Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War.
The Canadian government undertook a mission to India in March 2006 to promote the Mine Ban Treaty. The delegation included retired General Maurice Baril, the former head of the Canadian Armed Forces and now Special Advisor for Mine Action. They met with senior defense officials and external affairs ministry representatives, and participated, along with the ICBL’s Diplomatic Advisor retired Indian Ambassador Satnam Jit Singh, in a seminar at the United Service Institute attended by some two dozen retired and serving military officers and diplomats. This is apparently the first time that senior Indian officials have met with a foreign delegation specifically to discuss the landmine ban issue.
Informal contacts were maintained through a well-placed channel to high levels in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence to expand the country’s support for the Mine Ban Treaty. A proposal for a joint moratorium with Pakistan on the use of antipersonnel mines on their common border, as part of confidence-building measures, evoked a positive response from senior echelons of the Indian Army and was expected to figure in future bilateral discussions between the two countries.[4]
The ICBL NGO representative in India, the Indian Institute for Peace, Disarmament and Environmental Protection (IIPDEP), continued advocacy efforts for a landmine ban in conjunction with Landmine Survivors Association in Abohar in September 2005, with the Canadian Youth Leadership Education and Action Program (LEAP) in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan district, in December 2005, and with Geneva Call in Dimapur, Nagaland district in February 2006. IIPDEP also organized seminars covering landmines and other issues for the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at Allahabad University in February 2006, and for health professionals at the J.N. Medical College of Aligarh Muslim University in March 2006. It also organized the release in India of the Landmine Monitor Report 2005.
India is one of a small number of countries still producing antipersonnel mines. All production is vested with government agencies.[5] In August 2005, India told Landmine Monitor that it “produces only detectable versions of landmines (NM-14) at present as provided for in Amended Protocol II. No Remotely Delivered Anti Personnel mines are being produced.”[6] This was the first time India reported on the status of production of these mines since October 2000, when India stated that it had designed a remotely-delivered antipersonnel mine system, with self-destructing and self-deactivating mines, for trial evaluation and prototype production.[7]
In the past, India produced two types of antipersonnel mines, both copies of US mines: low metal content (non-detectable) M14 blast mines and M16A1 bounding fragmentation mines. India has declared that, in accordance with its obligations under CCW Amended Protocol II, no low metal content mines have been produced since January 1997.[8]
India has often claimed that it has never exported or imported antipersonnel mines. However, it appears that transfers have happened. Four Mine Ban Treaty States Parties have reported Indian-made mines in their stockpiles, most recently Sudan.[9] India has had a formal export moratorium of unlimited duration in place since 3 May 1996, and has stated that it favors an outright ban on transfer of mines even to States Parties of CCW Amended Protocol II.[10]
While India has declined to reveal details of its national stockpile of antipersonnel mines, the great majority are believed to be Indian-manufactured M14 mines. India is modifying its large existing stockpile of low metal content M14 antipersonnel mines to make them detectable, in order to comply with CCW Amended Protocol II. In August 2005, India said that, “the process of modification of existing stocks is well underway and would be completed as per the provisions of Amended Protocol II.”[11]
Landmine Monitor has estimated India’s stockpile at between four and five million antipersonnel mines, the sixth largest stockpile in the world. India has neither confirmed nor denied this estimate. The figure may no longer be accurate following the large number of landmines planted along the Pakistan border in 2001 and 2002, or in light of new production of mines.
India stated in November 2005 that, “minefields are laid, if required, along the border areas as part of military operations. These minefields are properly marked and fenced to prevent casualties to innocent civilians or grazing cattle. There is no minefield or mined area in any part of India’s interiors. India has never resorted to the use of mines for maintenance of internal order or in counterterrorism operations, notwithstanding the gravest security challenges posed by non-State actors who use improvised explosive devices indiscriminately against civilian targets.”[12]
The Indian Army apparently maintains an active minefield on the Line of Control in Kashmir.[13] In April 2006, an army spokesman told Landmine Monitor that Indian Army mine use is limited to the protection of military posts near the Line of Control.[14]
According to villagers in Kashmir, there have been civilian casualties and/or negative socioeconomic impact caused by Indian Army mines in the Kathua, Poonch, Baramulla and Kupwara districts. The villagers stated that since 1990, Indian Army mine-laying has resulted in extensive displacement of people from their homes and denial of access to agricultural land.[15] An army unit told residents of Alosa village in Baramulla district who were protesting the mine-laying that the Indian Army would only desist from mine use if the locals assured their safety from militants.[16]
India’s last major use of antipersonnel mines took place between December 2001 and July 2002, when the Indian Army deployed an estimated two million mines along its 2,880-kilometer northern and western border with Pakistan under Operation Parakram.[17] The Ministry of Defence has reported that 60 army personnel died and another 142 were injured during this mine-laying operation.[18] Many civilians have fallen victim to the mines, raising concerns that the mines were sometimes laid in inadequately marked and fenced locations close to civilian areas.
Some villagers from Pallanwala and Chamb who were displaced by Indian Army mine-laying and other military operations during the Kargil war and Operation Parakram continue to reside in camps. The largest of these displacement camps is Devipur in Akhnoor sub-district; other camps for displaced persons exist in Naiwala, Thandi, Chori and Ramnagar Bamhal.[19] Some villagers who have returned after clearance operations have yet to receive any of the compensation promised by the government to rebuild their homes. The government announced Rs40,000 (US$910) for completely damaged houses and Rs20,000 ($455) for partial damage.[20]
Villagers in Pansaer, Londi, Bobbiya sector, Kathua district claimed they were afraid to use land cleared by the Indian Army due to their bad experiences after the army cleared mines laid during a 1971 conflict.[21]
Non-state armed groups continued to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and in some cases antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, in central areas of the country, in the northeast states, and in Kashmir. In October 2005, India stated that, “In context of cross-border terrorism in some parts of the country, militant groups have increasingly resorted to indiscriminate use of improvised explosive devices and mines.”[22]
In the central areas, Indian forces blame communist insurgents for IED explosions. In northeast India, armed opposition groups and independence movements have used IEDs. In the northern border state of Jammu and Kashmir, Indian forces have captured militants with antipersonnel mines and have also blamed militants for using IEDs and antivehicle mines. In all the regions, the targets in the majority of the attacks appear to be the national army and police, but civilian casualties have become common.
Central States: The Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist (People’s War) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India are two of the largest armed communist insurgencies in several central Indian states. They have carried out numerous attacks with what the media frequently describes as “landmines,” but most of which appear to be command-detonated IEDs. These groups, often referred to as “Naxalites” (an informal name given to revolutionary communist groups), merged to form the Communist Party of India (CPI) Maoist in 2005 creating the country’s largest left-wing guerrilla group, with activities across 15 states. Between 1 January and 30 March 2006, 48 civilians and 28 members of the security forces were killed by landmines or explosive devices attributed to the Naxals in five states.[23] Victim-activated mine-like devices and booby-traps claimed the lives of both civilians and security personnel in late 2005 and early 2006: a public works department employee stepped on an explosive device while clearing a Naxal roadblock in March 2006; mines were laid around a CPI camp overrun by Jharkhand Armed Police in January 2006; mines were recovered from another CPI camp in August 2005; and a policeman was killed by a booby-trap in West Bengal in July 2005.[24] In September 2005, 24 members of the Central Reserve Police Force on patrol in a mine-protected vehicle in Chhattisgarh were killed when CPI militants detonated an 80 kilogram antivehicle device under it.[25] A summary by Landmine Monitor (IIPDEP) of media reports in India from 1 May 2005 to 1 March 2006 documented 114 casualties due to explosive devices used by Naxalites in at least seven states. Of these casualties, 63 were security personnel and 51 were civilians.[26]
Northeast India: Home to over 32 million people belonging to more than 220 ethnic groups, northeast India is comprised of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur states. There are more than 30 major and several small armed rebel groups in the region, some linked with ethnic groups, most demanding independence or new states in the northeast.
There has been armed conflict in the region since 1940, but the past few years have witnessed an increase in the use of explosive devices. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland in Assam, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the People’s Liberation Army and Kuki National Front in Manipur, and the All Tripura Tigers Front and the Bru Liberation Tigers Front operating in and around Tripura, are all using explosive devices, primarily against the state and central government armed forces.
The UNLF and the Kangleipak Communist Party have used victim-activated explosive devices in the Tipaimukh sub-division of Churachandpur district of Manipur state. Local people in Tipaimukh have reportedly fallen victim to the devices.[27] In December 2005, the Zomi Human Rights Foundation issued an open statement calling for the clearance of mines laid by rival militant groups in Thanlon, Singngat, Henglep and Tipaimukh sub-divisions of Churachandpur district, Manipur.[28] The Foundation also organized a seminar on problems for hill tribes in Manipur, at which they invited Nandita Haksar, Advocate of the Supreme Court of India, to speak on the topic of banning landmines in the region.[29]
In March 2006, one person was killed and four injured when they stepped on a mine on the India-Burma border of Manipur. The mine was allegedly placed by Manipur rebels residing on the Burma side of the border.[30] It has been reported that Burmese rebel groups have shared technology for mine production with rebel groups in northeast India. ULFA insurgents in Assam have allegedly been trained by Pakistani intelligence services in the handling of explosives and timing devices.[31]
Insurgent groups have continued to use improvised explosive devices, but reported incidents appear to have involved command-detonated devices or time-detonated bombs. Landmine Monitor could not identify confirmed use of victim-activated antipersonnel mines or IEDs during the reporting period, though the Indian Army states that it recovered 69 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines from militants in Jammu and Kashmir in 2005, and more than 50 mines from January to April 2006.[32] According to statistics collected by Landmine Monitor, IEDs and car bombs used by militant organizations left 18 people dead and 264 injured between January 2005 and April 2006.[33]
India’s mine problem arose largely from the emplacement of mines by government forces on and near its northwestern border with Pakistan. Antipersonnel and antivehicle mines were laid on cultivated land and pastureland, around infrastructure and around some villages.[34] In recent years, improvised explosive devices and some mines have been used by non-state armed groups in other parts of the country. Information on the mine/IED problem, including problems remaining after Indian Army clearance operations ceased in February 2005, were reported in last year’s Landmine Monitor report.[35]
India reported that in February 2005 it completed clearing its minefields along the border with Pakistan.[36] However, according to other sources, at least some section of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir remain heavily mined.[37] Where clearance operations have been carried out, villagers returning to cultivate land have discovered mines and sustained casualties, according to numerous newspaper reports.[38] Mines remaining missing after demining operations were the subject of a first information report (FIR) by the army to the police in affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir; mines which remain unaccounted for include the M-16 bounding antipersonnel mine.[39] Reportedly, the Uri sector of Baramulla district remains mined and fenced along the Line of Control since 1990. In the Karna sector of Kupwara district, mines were laid through villages cut in half by the Line of Control. Kupwara district was heavily affected by the 8 October 2005 earthquake and the authorities are said to fear that mines planted in the area were moved by the earthquake.[40]
In April 2006, an army spokesperson told Landmine Monitor that villagers are paid to fence the mined land along the Line of Control. The spokesman added that due to heavy snowfall, avalanches and landslides, landmines have shifted, and that in such cases the army immediately marks the area as unsafe for civilians and that people living in the vicinity of army posts are continuously educated and cautioned not to venture into minefields.[41]
India has no civilian mine action program. All clearance of mines and explosive ordnance is carried out by the Indian Army. India’s national point of contact for clearance activities is the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division of the Ministry of External Affairs. The army has responsibility for mine clearance and assists civilian authorities in clearing IEDs placed by non-state armed groups.[42]
Defusing and clearing IEDs is reportedly the responsibility of army “road opening units,” which check for and defuse IEDs every morning in areas of conflict before highways are opened to normal traffic. In the previous reporting period, several media reports claimed that some army units forced civilians to clear IEDs.[43] The US Department of State’s 2005 report on human rights also cited “credible reports” that security forces “abducted and sometimes used civilians as human shields and while clearing minefields,” mostly in Kupwara and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir.[44]
India reported in 2004 that it had removed “99 percent” of the mines laid during Operation Parakram on and near the India-Pakistan border.[45] It announced it had concluded large-scale demining operations there in February 2005, and had returned to the original owners all cleared land except land required for operational purposes.[46]
As a result of the peace dialogue between India and Pakistan, the two countries agreed in February 2005 to demine the road between the capitals of Indian- and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, clearing landmines that date back to the 1947 partition of the two countries. Demining was to pave the way for reopening the road to civilian traffic between Muzzafarabad and Srinagar.[47] The Indian Army started demining of a second route across the Line of Control, between Poonch and Rawalkot.[48]
On 18 February 2006, a rail link across the border between India and Pakistan was opened, as a further step in the confidence-building process between the two countries. The tracks were cut in 1965 and mines were previously laid in the Thar desert where the train crosses, according to local people interviewed for a news story.[49] Any mine clearance involved in the opening of the link was not publicized.
In October 2005, the army demined several locations on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir to open up access routes (roughly a meter wide), allowing earthquake victims to reach three relief centers on the Indian side of the border and allowing the army to deliver medical and other supplies to affected populations in Pakistan.[50]
Army units have sustained numerous casualties in the course of demining operations. The chairperson of the Lok Sabha’s (parliament) standing committee on defense, Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, said in 2005 that government forces had suffered 1,776 casualties due to mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and IEDs since Operation Parakram started in December 2001 (including 375 killed, 1,401 injured). He said 202 casualties occurred during mine-laying operations (including 60 people killed), but the vast majority occurred during later mine clearance operations.[51] Media reports collected by the Landmine Monitor in 2004 cited 57 military casualties from mines, IEDs and other explosive munitions.[52]
The government reported taking measures in 2005 to avoid deminer casualties, including “enhanced employment of indigenous de-mining and safety equipment,” and the use of imported Hydrema machines from Denmark and mine-boots from Canada.[53] However, military officials also drew media criticism in 2005 for failing to deliver heavy equipment to deminers in time, putting at risk soldiers engaged in clearance.[54]
The Indian Red Cross Society changed its previous mine risk education (MRE) activities in Rajasthan and Punjab, due to the clearance operations carried out by the Indian Army. In 2005-2006, it concentrated on collecting information about new mine incidents occurring in the border area, helping mine casualties with regard to compensation procedures, and informing them about survivor assistance services available, such as the Red Cross’s Artificial Limb Centre in Jammu. The Indian Red Cross planned to extend these activities to Jammu and Kashmir province in the second half of 2006.[55] It issued warnings that mines may have moved after the 8 October 2005 earthquake in affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir.[56]
The Indian Institute for Peace, Disarmament and Environmental Protection continued organizing basic one-day MRE workshops for an average of 60 participants. Three such workshops were arranged from May 2005 to February 2006 in Rajasthan and Punjab, in cooperation with the local chapters of Landmine Survivors Association.[57]
Landmine Monitor analysis of official sources and media reports in 2005 found at least 336 new casualties of explosive devices from at least 54 incidents in 2005, including 132 people killed and 204 injuries. Most appear to have been IEDs or other explosive items. Landmine Monitor could identify from English-language media only five people killed and 10 injured by victim-activated devices; it is possible that there were many more; most reports are imprecise regarding the nature of the explosive device. Out of the 336 new casualties, 211 were civilians (including at least six children, 113 were military and 12 were unknown). This represents a significant increase from the 295 casualties recorded in 2004.[58]
There is no comprehensive data collection mechanism on casualties from mines/IEDs and other explosive devices in India. Some civilian casualties may not be reported due to the remoteness of the incident and lack of communications in mine-affected areas. Within the health system, there is no distinction made between those injured by mines/IEDs and those injured by other means.[59] In addition to incomplete data collection, government or media reports do not distinguish between victim-activated devices and those detonated by other means.
In 2005, at least 30 mine and IED-related incidents in Kashmir resulted in 94 casualties (10 killed and 84 injured): 13 incidents reported in north Kashmir resulted in 42 casualties (three killed; 39 injured); eight incidents reported in Srinagar resulted in 41 casualties (two killed; 39 injured); and nine incidents reported in south Kashmir resulted in 11 casualties (five killed; six injured).[60] Casualties recorded in the media in 2005 include one boy killed and two youths injured in separate landmine incidents in Jibram, Imphal East, bordering Churachandpur district.[61] On 24 November, two sisters were killed and a third girl injured by an IED in Phagla Gaon village in Surankote, Poonch district.[62 ] Three boys were seriously injured in an IED incident near Ngariyan community hall on 28 December, when they encountered a device apparently left undetected from a previous ambush at the same location.[63]
Many casualties reported in the media during 2005 were attributed to Naxal insurgents in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal; between 1 January and 30 March 2005, 48 civilians and 28 members of the security forces were killed by explosive devices, most believed to be command or time-detonated rather than victim-activated.[64]
Casualties continued to be reported in 2006, with at least 271 new mine/IED casualties as of 15 May 2006 (47 killed; 224 injured). At least 19 of those killed were women and four were children; most casualties appeared to be civilians.[65] There was an upsurge in Maoist and Naxalite incidents throughout central India in early 2006. According to one news item, more than 150 people had been killed in Chhattisgarh alone since the start of 2006; most were said to be killed in landmine blasts; no information was provided on the number of people injured.[66] The government reported 168 casualties (eight killed, 160 injured) in Kashmir from January to March 2006.[67]
The total number of casualties from mines, IEDs and other explosive devices in India is not known. According to a survey by IIPDEP, between December 2003 and March 2004, at least 1,295 civilian casualties (325 killed and 970 injured) were reported in the border states of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir; 168 were children.[68] According to government sources, between 1989 and 1999, there were 10,709 casualties (1,489 killed, 9,220 injured) in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.[69] Reportedly, 2,000 landmine victims were recorded in villages of Mendhar sub-district in Poonch.[70]
India has a system of free medical care for all citizens. However, in rural areas the quality and availability of services can be problematic. First aid is generally not available in remote border villages, but state hospitals provide treatment to mine casualties, including amputation surgery. Conflict, internal displacement and lack of medical equipment and staff further impede service provision.[71] In 2005, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the National Rural Health Mission 2005-2012 to improve access to healthcare for rural populations in 18 states with weak public health indicators and infrastructure.[72] Only 10 percent of Indians have health insurance, 40 percent of hospitalized Indians need to borrow money or sell assets to cover their expenses, and more than 25 percent fall below the poverty line because of hospital expenses.[73]
The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences is a joint venture of the northeastern states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. It is fully funded by the government and the six beneficiary states. Most landmine/IED casualties from Manipur receive treatment at the institute.[74] Manipur casualties also receive initial treatment at Churachandpur and Bishenpur district hospitals and the Jawaharlal Nehru State Hospital, which is the primary referral center in the area. All the hospitals are able to provide both general and orthopedic surgery, and have blood banks.[75] Despite extensive and good health infrastructure in Manipur, the areas currently mine-affected are not easily accessible.
Several NGOs operate within Jammu and Kashmir, assisting the population with medical care, rehabilitation, education and training, including the NGO ICNA Relief-Helping Hand, which provides medical assistance through the Kashmir Surgical Hospital and primary health centers in refugee camps.[76]
Mine survivors living in remote border villages reportedly have no access to physiotherapy or prosthetic services. The Disability Division of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is responsible for people with disabilities, including mine survivors. The Ministry has indicated its support for rehabilitation issues in the National Programme for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, a partnership between central government and state authorities in cooperation with national institutes and others.[77]
Since 1985, the 11 district rehabilitation centers in India have aimed to provide rehabilitation services, both center-based and via community-based rehabilitation, to people with disabilities in remote areas, and raise awareness about disability and available services. Composite regional centers provide more comprehensive rehabilitation services, including mobility devices and training for rehabilitation professionals; this has been supplemented since 2003 by 120 district disability rehabilitation centers with a variety of services such as referral to medical and rehabilitation care, physiotherapy and vocational skills training.[78] Some mine/IED survivors receive assistance or compensation via these centers.[79] Although the national rehabilitation program committed the government to provide rehabilitation centers to more than 400 districts, services remained concentrated in urban areas. The impact of government programs has been limited, since funding was provided to a small number of government organizations. The overall performance of the disability sector is monitored by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.[80]
In 2005, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued support to the prosthetic/orthopedic department of the Jammu Government Medical College and the Bone and Joint Hospital in Srinagar. It provided materials, components and equipment, as well as on-the-job training. The ICRC sponsored the formal training of two technicians in prosthetics and orthotics from Jammu Government Medical College at the Mobility India Centre in Bangalore, who graduated in 2005, and sponsored another two technicians from the Bone and Joint Hospital. From January to December 2005, the department produced 71 prostheses (28 for mine survivors) and distributed eight wheelchairs and nine crutches.[81]
The Indian Army opened a prosthetic repair center in Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2005. The project is part of the Army’s Operation Sadbhavna, a goodwill gesture to aid amputees living in remote border areas.[82] Other army activities include general medical services and provision of 198 fiberglass prostheses and tricycles to people with disabilities. The Indian Army website stated that they “would continue to provide artificial limbs to all affected and deserving persons, free of cost. The affected [disabled] personnel needing assistance should contact any Army unit in their neighbourhood for the needful.” The prosthetics outreach was coordinated by Nevedac Prosthetic Centre, Chandigarh, with support from Jyot Charitable Trust.[83]
The Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India, in Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh, produces and distributes prostheses, orthoses, wheelchairs and other mobility devices, accessories and components to hospitals, rehabilitation centers and individuals with disabilities. In 2004-2005, it held rehabilitation camps in northeast India and distributed mobility devices.[84]
The northeastern Composite Rehabilitation Centre organized camps at Rajauri and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir and distributed devices to 500 persons with disabilities.[85] The NGO Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahita Samiti began operations in Srinagar in July 2004, and as of March 2006 had provided prostheses free of cost to 249 patients: 200 were landmine/IED survivors.[86] Other organizations and NGOs assisting people with disabilities in India include Handicap International and Ortho Prosthetics Care and Rehabilitation.
The Rehabilitation Council of India is responsible for regulating training policies and programs for disability professionals; it maintains a central rehabilitation register for all disability professionals and promotes research.[87]
India is not known to have any psychosocial support programs for survivors.
At the central government level, the district disability rehabilitation centers and the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation provide economic reintegration opportunities for people with disabilities. The corporation promotes economic empowerment through microcredit schemes and vocational training to people in rural areas with at least 40 percent disability whose annual incomes are low. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implements scholarships for people with disabilities.[88]
The social welfare departments of states in northeastern India implement schemes for economic reintegration of the disabled, potentially including mine survivors. Scholarships are available for vocational training programs depending on type and level of disability.[89] The labor departments of state governments facilitate access to employment in the normal job market or via special employment exchanges for the people with disabilities.[90]
The Persons with Disabilities Act 1995 is not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir. The practical benefits of the legislation have been minimal, due in part to a clause that makes the implementation of programs dependent on the “economic capacity” of the government and a limited definition of “disability.” As of May 2006, the law was under review because, “with the passage of time and developments in the disability sector, certain amendments to the Act have become necessary and these amendments will be carried out in consultation with the stakeholders.”[91]
On 10 February 2006, the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment presented the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities. This recognizes that people with disabilities, “are valuable human resource for the country and seeks to create an environment that provides them equal opportunities, protection of their rights and full participation in society.” The policy will focus on prevention of disability, medical, physical, psychosocial and economic rehabilitation measures, women and children with disabilities, disability certificates, promotion of NGO activity, amendments of legislation and collecting regular information on people with disabilities.[92]
At the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities coordinates with the Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities of the state authorities. Every year a national meeting is held to review the implementation status of legislation in the states and to discuss good practice.[93]
The government provides special railway fares, education allowances and scholarships, customs exemptions, as well as rehabilitation training and budgetary funds from the Ministry of Rural Development to assist the disabled; however, implementation of entitlements is not comprehensive. The government provided special arrangements for voters with disabilities during the April-May 2005 parliamentary elections; most polling stations in larger cities were made accessible, but access in rural areas was uneven.[94]
[1] Statement by Muktesh K. Pardeshi, Counsellor (Disarmament), Permanent Mission of India to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Sixth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Zagreb, Croatia, 28 November 2005.
[2] Statement by Muktesh K. Pardeshi, Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Zagreb, Croatia, 28 November 2005. This language mirrors India’s statements about a mine ban for the past decade. Very similar language was also used in: Statement by Amb. Jayant Prasad, Head of Indian Delegation, Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 23 November 2005.
[3] In a June 2006 letter to Landmine Monitor, India confirmed that it “has not sought any deferral for any provision” of Amended Protocol II. Letter No. 1379/AS(IO)/06, from K.C. Singh, Additional Secretary (IO), Ministry of External Affairs, New Dehli, to Stephen Goose, Human Rights Watch/Landmine Monitor, 5 June 2006. This means that India committed not to use non-detectable antipersonnel mines from the time of entry into force of the protocol, rather than nine years later (an option available to all States Parties). There has been confusion on this point because India has on occasion referred to modifying its non-detectable mines “well before the stipulated period” of Amended Protocol II. See for example, CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form C, 27 October 2003.
[4] During the Canadian delegation’s meeting with India’s Engineer-in-Chief, Lt. Gen. Ranjit Singh, he referred to the joint moratorium proposal which he said was under consideration by the Indian Army.
[5] Statement by Amb. Jayant Prasad, Head of Indian Delegation, Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 23 November 2005.
[6] Letter No. AE-I/106/5/2005 from Meera Shankar, Additional Secretary (UN), Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, to Landmine Monitor (HRW), 10 August 2005.
[7] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, 18 October 2000, p. 6.
[8] Statement by Muktesh K. Pardeshi, Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Zagreb, Croatia, 28 November 2005.
[9] Sudan, Bangladesh, Mauritius and Tanzania have reported Indian-made mines in their stocks. India asserted to Landmine Monitor in August 2005 that it “has not exported any Anti Personnel Landmines to these countries.” Letter No. AE-I/106/5/2005 from Meera Shankar, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, 10 August 2005; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 529.
[10] Statement by Amb. Jayant Prasad, Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 23 November 2005.
[11] Letter No. AE-I/106/5/2005 from Meera Shankar, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, 10 August 2005; CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form C, 24 October 2005.
[12] Statement by Muktesh K. Pardeshi, Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Zagreb, Croatia, 28 November 2005. Similar language is used in Amb. Prasad’s November 2005 CCW statement.
[13] Oral remarks by retired senior military officer, Indian National Seminar on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Allahabad University, 27 February 2006, (Notes taken by Landmine Monitor/IIPDEP). The officer was involved in Operation Parakram and the subsequent clearance operations.
[14] Landmine Monitor (Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, JKCCS) interview with Lt. Col. V.K. Batra, Public Relations Officer, Army Headquarters, Srinagar, 8 April 2006. The officer acknowledged that this does render some agricultural land useless, but said the army compensates villagers by giving them wage labor for the military and sometimes hiring them as porters.
[15] Landmine Monitor (JKCCS) interviews with village residents in the four districts, March 2006.
[16] Landmine Monitor (JKCCS) interview with people residing in Baramulla District, March 2006.
[17] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 976-977; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp. 660-662.
[18] Ministry of Defence, Press Release, “De-Mining of Forward Areas,” 20 February 2003.
[19] Landmine Monitor (JKCCS) interview with people residing in Poonch District, March 2006.
[20] Landmine Monitor (JKCCS) interviews with residents in Pallanwala Sector, Kathua District, March 2006. Average exchange rate for 2005: Rs1= US$0.02275, as calculated on www.oanda.com, accessed on 7 June 2006.
[21] Landmine Monitor (JKCCS) interview with affected villagers during field visits to Kathua District, March 2006.
[22] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form B, 24 October 2005.
[23] Asian Centre for Human Rights, “Naxal Conflict Monitor,” Delhi, 30 March 2006. See later section on Landmine/IED Casualties.
[24] Reports from the Statesman News Service/ Press Trust of India newsbase, including “Jail Storming Hints at Intelligence Failure,” 25 March 2006; “Maoist Training Camp Busted,” 4 January 2006; “Maoists may contest polls tactically,” 31 August 2005; “Efforts on to Boost Cops’ Efficiency,” 26 July 2005.
[25] “Renewed Battle,” India Today, 19 September 2005.
[26] IIPDEP media database (reports mostly from Hitvada). The seven states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.
[27] “The Tragedy of the Hmars,” Statesman, 25 February 2006.
[28] Posted on www.e-pao.net, 8 Dec 2005. In June and August 2005, the Zomi Students Federation requested government officials to clear mines from the same area of Manipur state and offer compensation to families of victims of mines.
[29] Zomi Human Rights Foundation, “Problems and Prospects of Marginalised Hill People of Manipur,” Constitution Club, New Delhi, 16-17 December 2005.
[30] “Woman killed by landmine on India-Burma border,” Mizzima News, 20 March 2006.
[31] Borderlines Journal, Volume 1, No. 3, Spring/Summer 2005, p. 12.
[32] Indian Army website, “Army in Kashmir,” table of captured weapons in Jammu and Kashmir, www.armyinkashmir.org.
[33] Data collected by Landmine Monitor (JKCCS). Insurgent groups recognized as responsible for explosive use included the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and al Arifeen.
[34] Information from villagers attending Landmine Survivors Association meetings in Sri Ganganagar in September 2005 and Youth Leadership Education and Action Training Program Workshops on 26-28 December 2005; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 979.
[35] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, pp. 718-720.
[36] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form B, 24 October 2005.
[37] Oral remarks by retired senior military officer, Indian National Seminar on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Allahabad University, 27 February 2006, (Notes taken by Landmine Monitor/IIPDEP). The officer was involved in Operation Parakram and the subsequent clearance operations.
[38] See for example: “Fear among villagers due to landmines,” Daily Jagran, 1 July 2005; “Bullock killed due to landmines,” Daily Jagran, 13 July 2005; “Mine Exploded Near Border,” The Hitvada Daily, 4 August 2005; “Troops detect landmine near Indo-Pak border,” State Times, 19 August 2005; “Army personnel demines 3 landmines,” Daily Jagran, 10 August 2005; “3 Mines recovered, tragedies averted,” State Times, 23 September 2005. For other media reports, see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, pp. 718-719.
[39] Landmine Monitor (JKCCS) interview with Poonch-based journalist, March 2006.
[40] Landmine Monitor (JKCCS) field visits and interviews in Baramulla and Kupwara districts, March 2006.
[41] Landmine Monitor (JKCCS) interview with Lt. Col. V.K. Batra, Public Relations officer, Army Headquarters, Srinagar, 8 April 2006.
[42] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form B, 14 October 2004.
[43] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 720.
[44] US Department of State, “Country Report on Human Rights Practices-2005: India,” Washingtom DC, 8 March 2006.
[45] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form B, 14 October 2004.
[46] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form B, 24 October 2005.
[47] “India, Pakistan seal deal on Srinagar-Muzzafarabad bus link,” The Hindu, 16 February 2005.
[48] Anil Bhatt Hajipeer, “Army faces onerous task of de-mining Poonch-Rawalkot road,” Outlook India.com, 4 May 2005, www.outlookindia.com, accessed 7 July 2005.
[49] “India-Pakistan Rail Link Reopens,” BBC News, 18 February 2006; “India-Pakistan Rail Link Reunites,” Christian Science Monitor, 24 February 2006.
[50] “India removes mines for relief camps along LOC,” State Times, 24 October 2005.
[51] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 720.
[52] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 982.
[53] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form B, 24 October 2005.
[54] “Indian army under fire for wasting lives clearing a million land mines,” Agence France-Presse, 6 May 2005.
[55] Email from Boris Cerina, Regional Mine Action Advisor, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), New Delhi, 15 May 2006.
[56] ICRC, “Annual Report 2005,” 1 June 2006, p. 202.
[57] Email from Balkrishna Kurvey, Coordinator, IIPDEP, 23 March 2006.
[58] Landmine Monitor analyzed media reports between 1 January 2005 and 16 May 2006, and included government casualty figures for Kashmir. For more information on conflict casualties, see South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) website, www.satp.org.
[59] Interview with Dr. Laishram Guneshwar Singh, Orthopedic Surgeon, Jawaharlal Nehru State Hospital, Manipur, 11 March 2006.
[60] Interview with Lt. Col. V.K. Batra, Ministry of Defence, Kashmir, 8 April 2006. Some incidents involving new use of mines and IEDs were noted in the preceding section Use by Non-State Armed Groups.
[61] “Boy killed in landmine blast,” The Hindu (Imphal), 26 November 2005.
[62 ] “Two minor girls killed in IED blast,” The Indian Express (Poonch, Kashmir), 25 November 2005.
[63] “3 kids hurt in Bishnupur blast,” nagarealm.com (Imphal), 29 December 2005.
[64] Asian Centre for Human Rights, “Naxal Conflict Monitor,” Delhi, 30 March 2006.
[65] “11 cops killed in Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh,” DNA India (Raipur), 16 April 2006; “U.S. offers India help to fight Maoists,” Reuters (Raipur), 26 May 2006 (according to the report, “More than 150 people, including policemen and dozens of Salwa Judum members, have been killed in Chhattisgarh since the start of this year. Most were killed in land mine blasts.”)
[66] “U.S. offers India help to fight Maoists,” Reuters (Raipur), 26 May 2006.
[67] Interview with Lt. Col. V.K. Batra, Ministry of Defence, Kashmir, 8 April 2006.
[68] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 722.
[69] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 494-495.
[70] Information from Anuradha Bhasin, Executive Editor, Kashmir Times, and Parvez Imroz, Editor, Informative Missive, Public Commission on Human Rights, Srinagar, Kashmir, 8 April 2006.
[71] Interview with Dr. Laishram Guneshwar Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru State Hospital, Manipur, 11 March 2006; State Health Department of Manipur, healthmanipur.nic.in, accessed 27 February 2006.
[72] Government of India, “National Rural Health Mission (2005-2012),” New Delhi, 2005, p. 3, www.mohfw.nic.in, accessed 29 May 2006. The 18 states are: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh.
[73] Government of India, “National Rural Health Mission (2005-2012),” New Delhi, 2005, p. 3.
[74] Interview with Dr. Laishram Guneshwar Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru State Hospital, Manipur, 10 March 2006.
[75] State Health Department of Manipur, http://healthmanipur.nic.in/healthstatus.htm, accessed 27 February 2006.
[76] ICNA Relief, Medical Help Program, www.reliefonline.org, accessed 24 April 2006; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 983-984.
[77] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, socialjustice.nic.in, accessed 29 May 2006.
[78] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, “Annual Report 2004-05,” New Delhi, 2006, pp. 50-51, and “National Policy for Persons with Disabilities,” New Delhi, 10 February 2006.
[79] “Landmines turn Manipur farms into deathbeds,” Indo Asian News Service (Delhi), 20 November 2005.
[80] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 984; see also US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2005: India,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006.
[81] ICRC, Physical Rehabilitation Program, “Annual Report 2005,” (draft), Geneva, p. 22.
[82] “Indian Army opens artificial limb center in Kashmir’s border district,” Defence India, 24 August 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 984.
[83] Indian Army in Kashmir, “Medical help for the remote villages, Artificial Limbs to Militancy Victims and Handicapped Persons,” www.armyinkashmir.org, accessed 25 May 2006.
[84] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, “Annual Report 2004-05,” New Delhi, 2006, p. 58.
[85] Ibid.
[86] Interview with Mohammad Latief, Officer in Charge, Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahita Samiti, Bhagwan Mahaveer Center, Srinagar, 8 April 2006.
[87] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, “Annual Report 2004-05,” New Delhi, 2006, p. 48.
[88] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, “Annual Report 2004-05,” New Delhi, 2006, p. 57.
[89] Social Welfare Department, Government of Manipur, socialwelfaremanipur.nic.in, accessed 30 April 2006.
[90] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, “Annual Report 2004-05,” New Delhi, 2006, p. 57.
[91] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, “Inviting suggestions for amendment in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995,” May 2006.
[92] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, “National Policy for Persons with Disabilities,” 10 February 2006.
[93] Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, “Annual Report 2004-05,” New Delhi, 2006, p. 47.
[94] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2005: India,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 984.