Hidden killers

A horrifying tragedy in Bishnah tehsil of this district in which a family has suffered enormously underlines the presence of hidden killers in our State. From all accounts it appears to be the outcome of fiddling with an explosive mortar shell. One finds it strange that a retired Military Engineering Services (MES) employee and a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan, who happened to be brothers, toyed with the object in the premises of their house. By virtue of their original avocations both of them ought to have been aware of the danger involved in any such exercise. It is always better to take precaution and proceed only with the assistance of experts. But, at the same time, a reality is that being a border region we are more often that not exposed to the sight of war material in one form of the other. There are remnants of full-fledged wars of the past. There is no end either to intermittent shelling from across the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB).It is generally thought that the deadly objects once fired lose their utility. Obviously it does not happen always. Some of them remain live. It is also possible that in their justified hurry to quell the enemy challenge our own forces may inadvertently drop a few pieces here and there. There is hardly any time to lose during an armed confrontation. In the wake of the 1965 and 1971 wars many inhabitants of this region have taken pride in keeping the empty explosives as victory trophies in their drawing-rooms. Of course, it is made sure that these substances are harmless and just decorative. The same can't be said about the similar stuff scattered almost all over the border villages. Some of it does not lose its fire.

That explains why off and on we come across reports of the people including totally innocent children coming to grief for playing with them. They pick up the outwardly bland junk and strive to either open or kick it only to be taken aback by the least expected blast. What has happened in Bishnah has turned out to be a big disaster far more cruel in every sense. It is not clear as to from where the ill-fated family members secured the mortal shell. Going by the available evidence it is apparent that they played with it. Did they want to put its metal to some other use? The bang that erupted left three of them dead --- the two brothers mentioned above and the minor daughter of one of them. Besides, five of their relatives were injured --- four sustaining splinter injuries as a direct fall-out of the explosion and one falling unconscious. The sound of it was said to have been heard as far away as two kilometres. What does it indicate if not the potency of the weapon? A reunion --- the brother in the BSF posted in Shillong in the north-east had come home on a holiday --- has ended into permanent separation. This is one of those happenings in which it will pay to be wiser even after the event. There is no reason to believe that it is the last live shell to have been discovered in and around Bishnah. The area is the border in itself and will continue to be infested with these explosives. Let there be no doubt about this. Our neighbour is in no mood to change its heart and, on the present reckoning, will spare no effort to keep us under pressure. The onus thus is on us to ensure our safety. All that is required is that we as the residents are extremely cautious.

As and when we notice suspicious articles we should alert the concerned agencies. We must adopt it as a habit to do so. The warning in this regard that is well publicised in crowded urban areas, trains and other modes of public transport is equally applicable to the border belt of the State. There is another threat that we as civilians face. It emanates from landmines buried along the LoC and the IB. These can be dangerous for unsuspecting walkers. It is not always that mined zones are properly earmarked. Their basic objective is to thwart the enemies of the nation. To that extent these serve a useful purpose. However, once the Army vacates these belts without demining them there is a problem. In fact, even the jawans not familiar to the territory can fall in the trap and lose their lives. Of course, shepherds and their cattle are the victims now and then. Often in the past we have in these columns highlighted the challenge on this count. There is no easy solution. For, it can't be our case that we should dilute our security mechanism against the hostile forces in any way. We do require effective deterrents which landmines are. Simultaneously, however, we must find a way to keep the ordinary citizens at bay. At the global level a Nobel peace Prize winner organisation, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), is leading a praiseworthy effort to make the earth safe. Yet, its best can't be good enough as long as the countries like ours have rogue states or non-state actors in their vicinity. The Army itself has taken the lead in clearing the border villages of Akhnoor tehsil of landmines. It is a delicate job. To demine a piece of land is difficult than perhaps mining it. Whatever that may be we should keep our eyes open for our own safety.

Blood begets blood?

A husband who killed his wife has been found dead subsequently in mysterious circumstances in Majalata area of Udhampur district last week. What does this mean? Prima facie a foul play has been ruled out. Therefore, the occurrence may not be described as a case to which we can straightway apply the expression blood begets blood. "Blood will have blood" normally involves revenge murders. It is suspected that the man may have committed suicide. Did he feel ashamed of his dastardly action? Was he smothered by the thought that he had committed a sin? Had he chosen the best option for atonement? He in fact may have gone on to commit one sin after the other. He gained nothing --- actually lost his better half --- by getting rid of his wife. He lost everything by taking his own life --- another act of cowardice. Is there no hiding place for the wicked? The only apology for a murder can be to submit to the law and courageously suffer all consequences.

Building border towns

IN AND AROUND J&K
By D. Suba Chandran

An earlier article in this column titled, "Three Regions, Multiple Peripheries" focused on problems of the peripheries in three regions of J&K. The primary focus of that article was what went wrong, and how the governments - Union and State, and the Civil Society should share the blame. This analysis focuses on what could be done. One strategy, the most preferred, would be to focus on investing on the entire peripheries, with an objective to bring them to the mainstream. Another strategy, relatively easier, would be to identify certain border towns and make them the center of development in the border regions; there will be developmental spin offs, of such a strategy, resulting in the classic filtering down and dispersing further.
One of the primary problems, of not having border towns with adequate infrastructure and connectivity with the rest of the State and the country, has been not only the failure of development of border regions as a whole, but also a massive migration to the regional capitals - Jammu, Srinagar and Leh. Besides the problems of violence, lack of adequate opportunities in the border regions, have also been the primary reason for the internal displacement within the sub-regions.
Consider the following three towns. Jammu, today is one of the most crowded regional town, attracting substantial movement from Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts. While Jammu is well known for being referred to as a "temple town", the internal displacement from the districts of economic and developmental reasons, has the dangers of making it as a "refugee town." Similarly, Srinagar attracts from Baramulla, Kupwara, Sophian and Pulawama districts. While there has been an attention (though limited) on this movement towards Jammu and Srinagar from their respective regions, what has not been focussed adequately, has been a similar movement towards Leh, from Nyoma, Nubra and Turtuk regions.
Reasons for the movement towards these three towns are not difficult to fathom. Two specific questions: should this movement be reversed? If yes, how could this be done? Clearly, as mentioned above, internal displacement resulting in the crowding of these three towns, upsets the ethnic and political balance, exerts extra pressure on the services sector and also increases the crime rate. Second, this also creates a vacuum in the border regions, which from a security perspective, is highly undesirable.
Historically, all the border towns of J&K, have always been a center of attraction until 1947 or 1962. Consider Rajouri, Poonch, Baramulla, Kargil and Leh. South of Pir Panjal, Rajouri and Poonch were busy towns interacting with Bagh, Bhimber and Mirpur, and with Sophian and Srinagar via the Mughal route. Both these towns, especially Poonch was the center of education. So was Baramulla; it was in the middle of the historical Jhelum road link from Srinagar to Rawalpindi. Gurez, was a part of the Silk Route feeder, linking Srianagar with Gilgit, Baltistan and Gunza regions in the Northern Areas via Astore and Burzil pass. Kargil stayed in the middle of Silk Route from Gilgit, Skardu, Srinagar, Leh and Amritsar; in fact, Kargil was a big trading town until 1947; perhaps, it remained until 1962.
Today, except for Leh, other towns have merely become the border posts, neglected by the State and worse, by its own people. Leh has been the only exception, thanks to the rapid growth tourism industry in Ladakh. Had it not been for the international tourism, Leh would also have become one of the abandoned towns with the rest.
The governments - State and Union should invest in building these border towns to start with - Rajouri, Poonch, Baramulla, Kupwara, Kargil and Leh. Perhaps, these six towns could be taken as a pilot project and all agencies advised to invest with a view to bring them to the national mainstream.
First and foremost, all these towns should be revived to become the primary educational centers. Though some of these towns are known for their literacy levels, the general educational standard from school to college levels need to be improved considerably. The unfortunate truth is, the neglect of education, over the last many decades, in these regions, have resulted in undermining the standard of students; especially, when they come to Jammu, Srinagar, New Delhi and Bangalore for higher education. They find it difficult to catch up with the rest of the students, because of the lack of adequate rigor in their respective districts. This places them at an extra dis-advantageous position. This lack of adequate infrastructure with sufficient standard, pressurize parents to send their wards at an early stage, to better places, than educate them in their districts. Thus the brain-drain starts at a much early stage in the border districts of J&K, which has its own domino effect. This early exile, robs these border districts, from having a good pool of well educated and properly trained teachers and bureaucrats who could, in turn serve the people and show the right path to the next generation.
Second, these towns should also be made into cultural and tourist centers, by reviving their heritage. From places of religious importance, such as temples and shrines to historical structures such as the forts and sarais, there are numerous avenues in these border towns, which could be used to revive them into a cultural and tourist centers. In particular, the State could invest in cultural festivals, like Gurez and Ladakh festivals. Each of the above mentioned towns have enough history and culture, to promote and sustain an annual festival. Such festivals, will serve as a two way agent, by highlighting these border regions to the rest of J&K, and by attracting people from the rest of J&K and India.
The most important ingredient to make the above border towns into places of educational, cultural and tourist attraction is by improving the connectivity with the rest of J&K and outside. Towards achieving this objective, first, certain existing measures should be strengthened further. The Mughal Route within J&K and cross-LoC bus and truck services are in place; these two initiatives need to be expanded. Opening the Mughal route for bus and truck services should be an immediate priority; this has taken too long.
Second, there should be better land and air connectivity, between these border towns with the rest of J&K and the rest of India. Except for Leh, none of the other border towns have air connectivity. Is the absence of air link in these border towns due to the lack of demand, or topographical problems or extra concerns of defense establishments?
Third, what about the land connectivity? Perhaps, this is where, we as a nation, should learn from how China is developing their peripheries. Finally, New Delhi should take extra step and pressurize China and Pakistan to re-link these border towns on the other side of the border. People in Ladakh would love to see the Kargil-Skardu, and Leh-Mansarovar routes opened.
Imagine these border towns, as center of educational and tourist attractions, with better connectivity through land and air, within J&K and across the border? This will make these border towns thrive in every sense, and solve most of the problems for India and J&K.
(The author is Deputy Director Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies New Delhi.)

Share mining profits with local people

By Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala

Ministry of Mines has proposed that 26 percent of profits of mining companies should be shared with local people. States like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are rich in minerals but poor because most profits from mining are captured by mining companies and remitted to the urban centers. Local people, in the main, bear the suffering of displacement and destruction of environment. Same situation prevails in Africa. The continent is rich in minerals but remains poor. Multinational Companies extract the minerals and remit most profits to their headquarters located in developed countries. Naxalite activities are increasing in mineral rich states because locals see their wealth being taken away. Sharing of profits can help solve this vexed problem as well.
Many mineral-rich countries have similar arrangements in place already. According to a release by Delhi-based Center of Science and Environment, it is obligatory for mining companies in Papua New Guinea to enter into an agreement with local people. 20 percent of the royalty is paid to local people. They are also entitled to a share of the profits and mining companies have to build local infrastructure such as roads and schools. In South Africa, landowners have the right to exploit the minerals lying below their lands or to sell mining rights to companies. They get a share in the ownership of the mining companies. They also get preference in employment.
Mining companies have to pay a Royalty Tax in Peru. This revenue is distributed as follows: 50 percent to the Central Government, 20 percent to the State Government, 15 percent to Provincial Government, 10 percent to District Government, 10 percent to local administration and 5 percent to local Universities. A 'Mining Development Fund' has been established in Ghana. Royalty is deposited in this fund. These revenues are distributed among affected households, local government and land owners. Local communities get a share of royalty in Canada. Xingyang Province of China has recently imposed a tax on oil, natural gas and minerals extraction companies. Beijing is planning to impose a similar tax across the country. Australia has imposed a 30 percent 'Mining Super Profit Tax' on all mineral extraction companies. Petroleum companies already have to pay 30 percent of their profits as extraction tax. The policy of taxing mineral extraction profits for local people seems to have international acceptance. Principle is that the bounty provided by nature in the form of minerals belongs to all the people-especially local people. Just as farmers have the right to extract the groundwater flowing below their lands, or fishermen have the right to fish in the sea adjoining their village, similarly local people have the right to extract the minerals lying below their lands.
The mining companies have, however, vociferously opposed the proposal. Federation of Indian Mineral Industries has suggested that an amount linked to royalty be provided to local people instead of imposing tax on profits. Note that royalty is generally paid on the amount of minerals extracted and has no relation to the price. Windfall gains obtained by mining companies due to increase in the price of minerals, therefore, remain outside the ambit of royalty. Profits, on the other hand, increase and decrease in tandem with price of minerals. Therefore, local people do not get share of the windfall gains through royalty. The Federation has expressed concern that mineral extraction will not remain profitable for investors if 26 percent of the profits are taxed away. This appears more hype than reality. Similar concerns were expressed when Australia imposed tax on profits. But mining companies like Xastra resumed operations quickly. Mining companies are making such huge profits that slicing off 26 percent will not make much difference.
Problem with linking local benefits to royalty is that rates of royalty are typically fixed very low. For example, the price of iron ore at present is about Rs 5,000 per ton while royalty is a paltry Rs 300 per ton. Thus local people will get only buttermilk through royalty. The cream will continue to be captured by the mining companies. Another problem is that rates of royalty remain unchanged for many years while prices of minerals increase. The Australian Labour Party tells on its website that few years ago Australia got $1 out of $3 of minerals exported. This has now declined to $1 out of $7 because the prices of minerals have increased while rates of royalty have remained unchanged.
Tata Steel has suggested that local people should be provided with sustainable income generating opportunities instead of giving away share of profits. The suggestion is logical. Saying goes that it is better to teach a poor man how to fish instead of giving fish to him. But this is difficult to implement. Government of India already has made a National Relief and Rehabilitation Policy. The Policy is being wantonly violated by companies in all sectors-including mining. Local people are not provided land compensation as per prevailing market rates. Livelihood of many local peoples is affected by acquisition of forests and village commons. They are not compensated for the loss of fuel wood and grazing etc. from these lands. Local people are rarely given permanent employment. It is difficult to believe that mining companies will actually create sustainable income generating opportunities for local people since they are not able to implement the Rehabilitation Policy. It is better to make a somewhat inferior policy that is executable than to make a good policy that remains on paper.
Nitya Nanda of The Energy Research Institute has expressed concern that mining companies will manipulate their accounts and show less profits in order to escape paying such tax. He has suggested that local people may be given shares of mining companies instead. This suggestion is also generally acceptable. Only problem is that shares can be got transferred by unscrupulous operators who are able to hoodwink the less-literate local people. Also, the fear of manipulation is unfounded. Companies have to show high profits in order to attract investors. So they will not artificially lower the profits.
In fact, the principle of sharing profits should be made applicable to all developmental projects. It should not be restricted to mining companies. The objective of development is the welfare of the people of the country. Among people, the rights of local people take precedence. Vinoba had said that all development projects should be assessed on the criteria of how they affect the welfare of the poorest. This applies to all schemes. Therefore, local people should be given a share in the profits of highways, thermal and hydropower projects, special economic zones and other developmental projects as well.

Can Nitish revive NDA magic

By Brij Bhardwaj

Can NDA rise again from ashes has become a point of discussion in the political quarters after the results of Bihar elections came out. The big win by JDU leader Nitish Kumar in partnership with BJP has given a fresh lease of life to NDA which had virtually ceased to exist after the last general elections as most of the allies had deserted BJP with the exception of JDU which continued to run the Government in Bihar in partnership with BJP.
Another change in the scenario has been that BJP had been withdrawing more and more into its shell and going back to policies of advocating the cause of Hindutav with influence of Saffron brigade growing every day. The BJP leaders across the board started looking to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to lead the party. It was during this period that even Varun Gandhi made headlines by advocating hard Hindu line in his election campaign in the last poll.
This scenario got a further boost when Nitin Gadkari was installed as a party chief who had strong backing of the RSS who wanted BJP to go back to its old agenda and give up the soft line projected by them to keep their allies happy who were part of the NDA. This policy may change with emergence of Mr. Nitish Kumar who has won the confidence of Bihar voters by his all inclusive agenda which appealed to all communities working for development of Bihar.
It is for the first since 2002 that a political party has been able to get the support of minority community in Muslim dominated constituencies in alliance with BJP thus wrecking the Muslim Yadav combination built carefully and nursed by Nitish arch rival Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar. Without this change Nitish Kumar could not have performed the miracle of changing the agenda in Bihar. In new agenda development is the Mantra with emphasis on roads, power and health care. Gone are the days when Bihar voted looking only at the caste mark of the candidate.
With Nitish Kumar’s massive victory many are looking at him as future candidate for Prime Ministership for NDA. He will be moving in footsteps and shades of Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and not Mr. Advani or Narendra Modi. Is BJP ready for this change as it would call for total transformation of BJP? Are they ready for it? Senior leader of BJP Mr. Arun Jetley when asked refused to commit either way, but added he would be always happy to see another NDA Prime Minister installed in Delhi.
Bihar election will also come as a warning for the Congress party and the front led by it. For sometime looking at the decline in fortunes of BJP their main rival and emergence of Mr. Rahul Gandhi as a builder of party machine at ground level made it look as if the goal of winning a mandate on its own in 2014 may not be difficult. Hopes were further raised when Mr. Gandhi succeeded in reviving Congress in a limited way in. U.P. in a state which elects largest number of members to Lok Sabha.
For all of them Bihar poll verdict will come as a rude shock. What worked to some extent in U.P has failed miserably in Bihar. The party fortunes have sunk to new low and all those who could become their allies in future have also been decimated to a point where revival of any Congress led front staging a come back in Bihar has become rather remote if not beyond repair. It will also make the UPA aware of the fact that a challenge of combined opposition to them could become more and more a reality in times to come as witnessed in their determination to get a Joint parliamentary Committee appointed to probe into alleged two G spectrum scam which has led to a massive loss of State revenue.
The recent series of scams including one in organisation of Commonwealth Games. Two G spectrum allocation, building of flats for politicians, bureaucrats and defence officials on defence land in Mumbai and latest bank scam in which senior executives of public sector banks are guilty of giving huge loans to tainted companies have tarnished the image of UPA Government including that of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh whose personal integrity is considered as above suspicion even by his worst critics.
Agreed BJP also has its own share of scams including series of charges leveled against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurrapa, who has defied the BJP leaders by refusing to quit and continuing in his post. Chief Ministers of Uttranchal Pradesh and Jharkhand are also involved in many scams. Under the circumstances the choice for voters will be difficult as they have to keep tainted out and reward the performers. Such clear choice may not be available to voters in all parts of the country. (NPA)