MINE TRAP: Border Security Force personnel at the India-Pakistan border near Amritsar

Fifty-year old Manjeet Kaur lost both her legs when she stepped on an anti-personnel landmine in her agricultural land in Jalalabad, Punjab. The landmine was planted by the Indian Army during Operation Parakram in 2001-2002 when there was a massive build up of Indian and Pakistani troops on both sides of the two countries’ international border.

Kaur is one of India’s 1,964 survivors of anti-personnel landmines — landmines that explode by the presence, proximity or contact of a person. Though some efforts have been undertaken to clear the mines left over from past conflict situations, experts are now calling for legislation aimed at sweeping out the mine fields and providing relief the victims.

“Mines are an antiquated weapon and they do not increase India’s security. India should frame proper legislation to clear existing mine fields and provide assistance to victims,” says Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, an editor of Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, the research arm of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) — an international coalition of non-government organisations working to ban anti-personnel landmines.

However, legislation appears to be a far cry when India has not even acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty — an international agreement that bans countries to “develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer” anti-personnel landmines. India is among 37 countries besides Pakistan, China and USA, which have not acceded to this treaty as yet.

Anti-personnel landmines have been used in all India-Pakistan wars in 1947-48, 1965, 1971 and 1999 and also during the India-China War in 1962. Plus, two million mines were laid along India’s northern and western border with Pakistan, covering parts of Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir during Operation Parakram, according to the ICBL.

Army sources reveal that the infiltration of Kashmiri militants across the Line of Control (LoC) between Pakistani and Indian-administered sections of Kashmir is the main reason for laying mines.

And it appears that the government is in no mood to give up this defence strategy. “We support a world free of the threat of anti-personnel landmines. But given the dispute that we have with Pakistan, we have to use them,” says ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vishnu Prakash.

Experts say that if India does accede to the Mine Ban Treaty, it has to frame a law to that effect. Under Article 9 of the treaty, countries should “take all appropriate legal, administrative and other measures, including imposition of penal sanctions, to prevent and suppress any activity prohibited.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also framed a model law for countries that accede to the treaty. “This model law covers almost all aspects — from marking, monitoring and the transfer of anti-personnel mines to destructing them. Also, this law deals with offences and penalties,” says Christopher B. Harland, regional legal advisor of the ICRC.

The Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), an NGO that works for landmine victims, states that 1,050 people have been killed by anti-personnel landmines up till 2010.

However, compensation to these victims has been few and far between. “ In 2008 and 2009, compensation was paid to three families for fatal casualties and to 26 survivors. But there is no specific scheme for compensation,” says CAFI secretary general Binalakshmi Nepram.

A ministry of defence (MoD) directive lays down that Rs 2.5 lakh is to be paid to victims of landmines for fatal casualties, Rs 2 lakh for 100 per cent disability, Rs 1.5 lakh for below 100 per cent disability and a sum of Rs 1 lakh for below 50 per cent disability.

But Yeshua says that this is a voluntary activity by the MoD and not a law. “Besides, this directive can be rescinded at any time,” he adds.

Moreover, there is no all-India norm for compensating victims of landmines. Balkrishna Kurvey of Indian Campaign to Ban Landmines, another NGO which works on the issue, points out, “Victims are paid disability allowance but the amount differs from state to state. There should be a unified law on compensation across the country.”

Yeshua seconds that. “A law should be framed for the care, rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration of victims,” he says.

Poor marking of existing mines is one reason for the large number of casualties, says Medha Bisht, an associate fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). “Besides, most of the mines planted in 2002 were plastic (M14) mines with low metallic content. They tend to shift in extreme weather conditions such as strong wind and snow and flow down into the fields of villagers, thereby posing a danger to local civilians.”

But ex-Army officers refute these allegations. “We use anchors to ensure that mines do not shift. Our marking and mapping system are advanced and we follow a rigid mine clearance process,” says Brigadier (Retd) M.B. Anand, who is also a consultant with the ICRC.

But Lt General (Retd) B.S. Malik, former chief of staff, Western Command, says that it is impossible to demine an entire area. The cost factor also comes into consideration here. “One anti-personnel mine costs just $1, but the demining process can cost up to $1,000,” he says.

The Indian Army, though, maintains that it has managed to clear most anti-personnel landmines used during Operation Parakram. ICBL’s annual landmine monitor report quotes the Army as saying, “All mines laid during Operation Parakaram were recovered and cleared (99.32%) by 2006.”

Ironically, the Indian Army itself has lost many soldiers in the process of laying mines and demining the areas. According to the Lok Sabha standing committee on defence in 2005, “The Army suffered 1,776 casualties due to mines and unexploded ordnance during the previous four years, of which 374 were killed and 1,401 were injured. 202 of the casualties occurred while laying the mines, of which 60 died, but the majority occurred during the subsequent clearance operations.”

According to the ICBL report, even in 2010 and 2011, the Indian Ordnance Factory board produced M14 and M16 anti-personnel mines. Moreover, it puts India’s stockpile estimates to be between four and five million anti-personnel mines. “But this is only for a warlike situation in future,” justifies Prakash. “Once we have a cost effective alternative military technology, we may do away with the landmines. But this strategy cannot be developed overnight,” he adds. However, Malik offers some other options: “We should increase our surveillance, intelligence and also strengthen our capacity for information warfare so that even our territorial defences are not dependent on landmines in such large numbers.”

Is the government listening?