Impact of Antipersonnel Landmines: Voices from the ground

Kashmir Times, November 25, 2009

Impact of Antipersonnel Landmines: Voices from the ground
By Medha Bisht

Antipersonnel landmines is a less talked about issue in the South Asian security establishment. A key element which has limited the scope of this discourse is the highly securitised nature of the weapons and the minimal political or policy debate, which the issue receives. While the Government of India continues to state that landmines play an important role in the defence of the country with long borders, its impact on victims often receives minimal attention.
Landmine Monitor, 2009 has identified 2,391 casualties in India from mines/ERW/IED incidents between 1999 and 2008. In 2008 alone the number of casualties reported in the media was thirty-three. Though this number might appear miniscule in terms of the casualties that generally take place in conflict theatres, it needs to be kept in mind that there is no systematic documentation procedure or recording process of landmine victims in India. Most of the victims inhabit the villages, which border the Line of Control, are beyond the reach of media.
Though the Indian government claims that landmine survivors are provided with compensation, employment and assistance, the survivors on the other hand lament that they often struggle to access healthcare and rehabilitation services, which are either based in urban areas or lack the necessary equipments. In a field trip which was undertaken to the Pooch sector of Jammu, it was found that most of the victims were still awaiting substantive government interventions. Some of the points which emerged out of interactions with survivors were:
Compensation: None of the affected victims have received compensation. It was observed that none of the victims were aware of any compensation packages and neither did they know any one in their vicinity who had received the same.Though there are media reports which state that compensation package ranging between Rs 10,000- Rs 300,000 is given to mine victims, the number of victims who receive it remains miniscule. It was found that some files related to compensatory measures had been lying at the District Collectors office for the last 5-10 years.
Pensions: The second issue which impacts the mine victims is the pensions they receive. Pension to mine victims is generally given in two installments. By the end of six months they are given a total of Rs 1800, which amounts to Rs 300 per month. The rest of the money which the victim should receive in the second installment generally does not reach the victim. Further the victims also added that they are not compensated for the long distances they travel and argued that money for the pension should be increased.
The third issue of concern to the victims was that of lack of medical facilities. While a female survivor lamented about the unsuccessful operation she had an excruciating pain she often experienced, others reported that the hospitals are generally 2-3 hrs from the location where mine injuries takes place. In this case, the blood flows profusely and the victim suffers a great deal of blood loss. Also most of the victims were injured while grazing animals, ploughing their field or cutting grass in their backyard. It was found that one victim in particular had been maimed by a mine which was apparently dropped from a helicopter during the 1965 war. The field in his backyard when visited in 2009, lies vacant and has thick undergrowth on it.
Government intervention appeared to be minimal as part of policy awareness on the issue of landmines. There are no risk education camps which should take place in mine affected areas across the Line of Control. Victim assistance programmes limit themselves to distributing goods in kind (wheel chairs, crutches, artificial limbs etc). Though there are local groups or organizations working towards alleviating the plight of mine survivors, they need to be supported by central government agencies like Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. For instance to name a few, Composite Regional Center based in Srinagar has been established by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and is quite active in providing free services and artificial limbs to a number of landmine victims in Jammu and Kashmir.It also provides psycho-social support to mine victims and played a leading role in the rehabilitation of the people affected by the blast at the ammunition depot in Khundru in 2007. Also Pritam Spiritual Foundation is a philanthrophic trust which is working on both sides of the Line of Control to help mine -victims. It is important that the central and the state government encourage and fund such organizations, so that India can strengthen its victim-assistance and risk education efforts at the domestic level.
Revisiting India's Policy on Landmines
The Indian policy on landmines is shaped by two distinct strands. While the first underlines the security argument articulating the importance of landmines as a defensive weapon considering defence of long borders as its elemental concern , the second highlights the technical impediments in undertaking demining activities in a terrain, which is inhospitable to demining initiatives. Further the shifting of mines due to changing weather conditions or natural calamities has limited the potential of records which are kept by the army to establish the exact location of planted mines. This point becomes important in India not committing itself to the Mine Ban Treaty. As Article 1V of the treaty states, "each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction of all stockpiled anti-personnel mines it owns or possesses, or that are under its jurisdiction or control, as soon as possible but not later than four years after the entry into force of this Convention.
Though India in its official statement has highlighted the notion of "alternative technologies", it is assumed that the word has been employed as a garb to justify the use of landmines and can be termed as an excuse for not signing the treaty. Given the present constraints especially technical, it is imperative that the Indian campaign to ban landmines reformulate its strategy as often between the proponents and opponents of landmines, the issue of mine survivors gets marginalized. The Indian campaign therefore needs to start afresh by focusing on a gradualist style undertaking a phased approach on the issue of landmines in order to make an impact on policy circles.
Recommendations
The following policy options are recommended to the government.
The Mine -Ban Treaty is a classic example of a treaty with a humanitarian face. So though India might not be a formal party to treaty, it could perhaps adapt various humanitarian initiatives like risk education and victim assistance programmes in a systematic and accountable manner. Compensation under the Security Related Expenditures should be given to mine victims in a time bound manner. The procedures of pensions should be regularized, regulated and monitored. The pension money should be increased.
Second, documentation of landmine victims should be undertaken as it is necessary for understanding the gravity of the situation and sensitizing policies towards disabled people. The government should fund a comprehensive study on people affected by landmines, so that policy makers can be made more aware on the issue of existing land mine victims in India. This would enable policy makers to craft appropriate policies as per the requirements.
Third, the Army should work with other departments like the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as part of its risk education and victim assistance activities. Also cooperative ventures should be allowed between the International Committee for the Red Cross, India Red Cross Society and other local groups, who can facilitate the process of delivering necessary equipments to landmine victims. Documentation however is pre-requisite to these initiatives, which the government should undertake as part of confidence building measures between the central government and the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This would also bridge the gap between proponents and opponents of landmines and would endow much transparency to their arguments.
Such measures would not only benefit the people affected on the ground but would also shape the Indian policy on landmines in the long term. Thus addressing existing loopholes should however the first step towards justifying the use of mines along its border areas.