Issue 5.1 | April 2001 | Information in this issue may be out of date. Click here to link to the most recent issue.

India

History

The British East India Company established trading posts in the 1600’s in India and became a major power through the mid-nineteenth century. A controversial massacre of Indians by the British in 1919 encouraged demands for Indian independence. By 1920, Mohandas Ghandi emerged as the leader of Indian independence based on non-violence. The nation gained independence in 1947. Disputes occurred with China in 1959 and 1962 over border conflicts.

Landmine and UXO Overview

While India is not a mine afflicted country, there have been reports of uncleared mines on the India/China and India/Pakistan border. Mines laid in the 1965 and 1971 conflict with Kashmir are still claiming victims. According to the army, no mines are laid for border protection or armed infiltration. Armed groups in India hold a wide variety of mines and explosive devices. From 1990-1999, 44,768 AP mines and 382 AT mines were recovered from militant groups by the police. The People’s War Group in Central India also uses mines. On March 7, 2000, Raj Minister Madhav Reddy was killed in a landmine blast.

Casualties

Because of insurgency activities in Kashmir, Jammu and elsewhere, landmine incidents have been reported. In the states of Jammu and Kashmir, from 1990-1999, 889 civilians were killed and 7,798 were injured. Indian medical agencies have developed prosthetics for mine victims and it has been reported that mine victims receive proper medical and rehabilitative services.

Demining

The Indian armed forces have extensive mine clearance capabilities and have been involved with the U.N. in mine clearance and rehabilitation programs. Their services have included all aspects of humanitarian mine action from survey to clearance, developing databases, mine awareness and victim assistance. They are currently working in Sierra Leone.

Reality Check

Pakistan-backed militant groups massacred Hindu civilians in at least six separate incidents in the first nine months of the year. Most of the killings took place in Doda district and in border villages and appeared to represent a tactical shift for militant groups that had been largely driven out of major towns in the Kashmir Valley. The Parents of Missing People, the first organization of its kind in Kashmir, stated at its inaugural press conference that 2,000 people had “disappeared” since 1990 after being taken into custody in Kashmir, and that no legal remedies were available for discovering their fate. Other human rights groups reporting on conditions in Kashmir reported harassment and fear of possible reprisals by the security forces.

Contact Information

India’s United Nations Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma