3,000 Indians killed by landmines in 10 years
*Monday, Dhul-Hijjah 6, 1430
By Iftikhar Gilani*
NEW DELHI: Some 3,000 Indians, mostly in Indian-held Kashmir, have been killed in landmine explosions over the past 10 years, according to an NGO working to rid the world of antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions.
“In the last 10 years, around 3,000 Indians were killed by landmines and over 2,000 were injured. Most of the casualties occurred in Jammu and Kashmir, followed by Manipur,” according to the Landmine Monitor Report 2009.
Urging the government to sign the Mine Ban Treaty, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines said India’s antipersonnel stockpile was estimated to be between four and five million – the fifth largest in the world.
It said India’s last major use of antipersonnel mines took place between December 2001 and July 2002, when the Indian Army planted an estimated two million mines along its 2,880 Km northern and western border with Pakistan during Operation Parakram. The operation directly affected more than 6,000 Indian families across 21 villages.
Casualties: Indian Army units have sustained heavy casualties in the course of demining operations, notably since the start of mine-laying along the Pakistani border in December 2001, the report said.
Some 39 countries, including India, China, Pakistan, Russia, and the US, have not signed the treaty.
According to Control Arms Foundation of India member Binalakshmi Nepram, the global use, production and trade of antipersonnel mines had dramatically reduced over the years and casualties also declined. “But serious challenges still remain, with more than 70 states still affected by landmines today,” she said.
Wow, what are the Hindustanis doing mining their populated areas so much? Are they afraid that people will escape to China and Pakistan and seek political asylum?