[sacw] sacw dispatch (18 Sept. 99)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
18 September 1999
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#1. Indo-Bangladesh Cross-Border Migration & Trade
#2. Book glorifying Sati condemned
#3. Carbide's Toxic Legacy [in Bhopal]
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#1.
Economic and Political Weekly 
September 4, 1999
Commentary 

Indo-Bangladesh Cross-Border Migration and Trade

by Paula Banerjee, Sanjoy Hazarika, Monirul Hussain and Ranabir Samaddar

I The Problem

BOTH India and Bangladesh have proved woefully inadequate in dealing
with the reality of the border between the two countries. It is ironic
that the border which was drawn by the British in 1947 to rationally
re-organise the political space in the region has eventually not only
generated its own irrationality, but has also created many new problems
for the region. The border, with its long history of movements between
people, cultures, beliefs, ideas and customs was completely unreal from
the beginning. Land on both sides of the border was mostly cultivable
and was locked, and there were farms within 40 yards of zero point on
either side. Perhaps the most important characteristic of the border was
that in many cases it was not contiguous. There are 53 rivers in the
region which make functioning of the border more complicated. Almost all
of India's disputes with East Pakistan related to this border, mostly
involving rivers (Report of the Indo-Pakistan Boundary Disputes
Tribunal, 1958). The dispute over the boundary between Murshidabad and
Rajshahi was a typical example of these initial disputes where even the
tribunal decided that the demarcation of the line made by the boundary
commission "is found to be impossible". Even more problematic was that
each country had its enclaves within the boundary of the other, meaning
that the border was rife with potential for problem.

After the liberation of Bangladesh it was hoped that the border would
lose much of its potential for creating disputes and enmity with the
improvement of bilateral relations. Sadly, even after more than 25 years
of the birth of Bangladesh, almost all the outstanding issues between
India and Bangladesh continue to be related to the common border. These
include sharing of water-resources of common rivers, CHT, demarcation of
maritime boundaries and the ownership of South Moore/Talpatty Island,
illegal cross-border activities, illegal migration, Berubari corridor
and the granting of entry/exit facilities. Conviction about the sanctity
of the border is weaker in this region than elsewhere in India.

Efforts to curb the movement of people and goods, including timber,
cattle, textiles, electronic goods, sugar, medicine and kerosene, have
failed. Out of a combination of despair and political pressure, the
government of India has built barbed wire fencing on parts of both Assam
and West Bengal sides of the border. Fencing programme of 358 kms and
159 kms in south Bengal and Assam respectively has been sanctioned.
Other measures such as regular patrolling and checkposts continue. But
these have not stemmed the flow of either people or goods; indeed, it is
no secret that border guards on either side accept and demand bribes
from those seeking to cross illegally. As a result of the influx, the
size of which is difficult to estimate, a constant state of tension ex
ists, in Assam in particular and other states of the north-east as well
as between migrants, perceived migrants and the host communities. If one
is to accept that migration is a natural human phenomenon that occurs in
varying degrees worldwide, one must also accept the fact that few
countries in the world have successfully contained it, be it a
superpower like the United States or a small country like Germany.
Again, if one is to go by the premise that immigration, especially
illegal immigration cannot be stopped, one must go a step further and
say that it can only be contained or regulated. Or rather, it can be
negotiated through a process of meaningful economic activities,
exchanges, regulatory mechanisms, and above all through dialogue.

The problem of cross-border migration is sometimes complicated by
religious factor. Either the people of the minority communities look to
the option of taking shelter in the neighbouring country exasperated
with majoritarian insensitivities, or remain potential refugees or
illegal migrants. During 1972-1993, a total number of 41,25,576 people
arrived in India from Bangladesh. Out of that a total of 8,36,524
overstayed (difference between the immigration and emigration figures).
Of them 5,38,501 were Hindus (GOI data).

II Some Policy Suggestions
In terms of the Indian side of the border, particularly on the eastern
side of Bangladesh, some specific suggestions that require inputs from
the legal specialists for improvement and better implementation are
given below. These suggestions need more study and detailed work.

(1) A system of identity cards acceptable to local population,
particularly those living on the border in the eastern and the
north-eastern region has to be ensured.

(2) While the system of visa for nationals of either country will
continue, for those who cannot or do not want to use the visa system for
economic and quasi-economic reasons, a specific, time-bound legal system
sanctioning their presence in the host area for mutual economic benefit
of both sides, legal and acknowledged, has to be devised. We can take
the specific case of the Indian border district of Dhubri that shares
both a river and land border with Bangladesh. The process of acquiring a
passport (for which one has to travel eastward in an opposite direction,
to the capital city of Guwahati) and a visa (for which one has to travel
again to Calcutta) are both cumbersome and time-consuming. It is
therefore, often tempting to simply cross the contiguous border
'unofficially' by paying some money to the dalals or brokers who arrange
for a quick and safe cross-over for almost a paltry sum. A less
cumbersome and more practical system of arranging for both passport and
visa in the region will help in turning many such 'unofficial'
border-crossing into legal entrance and thus help in a meaningful
monitoring and negotiation of the phenomenon.

(3) This will involve the development of a scheme to allow migrants to
come legally into the region on the basis of work permits issued by a
Central Work Permit Authority with the backing of the relevant state set
up by an Act of the Parliament, with specific clauses involving the
officials of the local state and village-level administrators who will
act as checks and balances to each other ensuring that no one group
becomes too powerful so as to be able to bend the system. This may be
worked out in association with the home ministry as well as ministry for
law and company affairs. A retired Supreme Court/high court judge may
head such a panel and a member of the NHRC may be associated with it.

(4) Since the permits are intended to discourage illegal migration, and
promote healthy economic co-operation at sub-regional and local level of
both sides, the preliminary step may be that the permits be issued to
groups (of say, 20 or so) rather than to individuals. It should be
allowed in the following fields: agricultural operations at harvest
time; construction; boat-building; fishing and allied activities. In
doing so, the following procedure might be followed: the work permits
could be issued at the border at posts set up for this purpose by cells
that would include at its top a representative of the district
magistrate with one senior member of the local panchayat or village
council system, a police officer, a member of an NGO or some other
public organisation, a representative of the labour board, with one of
these five being a woman. Since the border is long, a system of such
posts needs to be worked out either situating them at present places of
checkposts or beside them.

(5) The permits will be issued on spot after verification of the
following documents: (a) the identity of the applicant(s) as proof of
nationality/residency; (b) a clear statement on the place he/she will be
residing for a maximum of next one year (work permits will be given for
a maximum of one year to begin with) and the name of the employer who or
whose representative must be present for the issue of the permit with
supporting documents from his side; (c) a document of undertaking signed
by the employer stating the employer's responsibility for the immigrant
group/individual and his/her duty to report to the local authority
(preferably local labour board) three times in a year; one, at the time
of arrival to register; two, after six months to reconfirm their
presence; three, at the time of departure at the end of the year. If
the permit is to be extended, it can be done by the DC or the labour
commissioner of the relevant district, for a period not beyond another
two years; (d) the work permit will carry the photograph of the permit
holder and will be laminated with his thumb impression/signature on the
document to prevent misuse of the same; (e) the permit holders will have
no voting or political rights but will have access to courts of the host
country if their civil rights are injured in any way and will be
permitted to receive payment for services at the same level as local
workers and repatriate their savings to their home country; (f) the
entire arrangement will also give due consideration to the rights of l
ocal citizens while making use of a dynamic human resource.

(6) For the Indo-Bangladesh border, an autonomous bi-national commission
can be formed to act as a flexible instrument for formulating strategies
of co-operation: (a) such a commission will form temporary working
groups of local parallels as existing between West
Bengal/Assam/Meghalaya/India and Bangladesh on matters of land-holdings,
employment, social and economic resources and formulate policies based
on common factors and the market; (b) border demography, settlement
problems in border areas, ethnic divisions within the region, viability
of developing environmental provisions to convert the area into a
self-sustaining unit with linkages to both countries will be ascertained
by groups set up by the commission, the ultimate goal being to hand over
local administration to largely de-centralised administrative units
which can work with greater competence and stability in comparison to
the vested interest groups and consequently the promotion of an
atmosphere of greater understanding between two countries and also in
the sub-region.

(7) Keeping in mind the enormous problems of surface communications
suffered by north-east Indian states, it is strongly recommended that
Bangladesh seriously considers the allotment of exit/entry visa
facilities that will allow them to travel to other parts of the Indian
mainland through Bangladesh territory. Bangladesh will generate a
substantial revenue from this traffic. It is recommended that such
exit/entry visa facility be available to Indian nationals who are
residents of the seven north-east Indian states - Tripura, Mizoram,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh - for a period
of four days. In case of transport problems due to unforeseen calamities
such as floods the visa may be extended for another three days. The
total duration of the exit/entry visa should not be for a period of more
than seven days. Bangladesh already has a mission in Agartala that can
be empowered to issue the exit/entry visas on the basis of an agreed
amount of foreign exchange endorsement. In issuing such visas the
Bangladesh mission may be guided by the permanent address of the visa
applicant's passport.

(8) The proposed passenger bus service between Calcutta and Dhaka should
be extended to Agartala and if possible to Silchar and Guwahati. This
will provide cheap means of transport to residents in the area.

(9) To facilitate legitimate growth in Indo-Bangla border trade, customs
and banking formalities of both countries should be simplified through
direct interaction between Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh and those
in north-east India. Existing border area markets (hats) should be
identified to develop legitimate border trade.

III Larger Policy Issues
A successful negotiation of the immigration question is linked to the
larger issues of enhanced sub-regional communication and trade, though
this calls for a separate paper. Below we present some broad issues.

(1) In today's world, it is appropriate to emphasise the common
elements, the need for greater co-operation and the need to abandon an
'isolationist mind-set', particularly in the backdrop of the partition
of the subcontinent which has put both India and Pakistan/Bangladesh
into serious economic disadvantage apart from the immense human cost
that it has involved. The economy of East Pakistan remained as blocked
as that of India's north-east. Minus East Pakistan/Bangladesh, the
distance between the east and the north-east increased substantially,
thereby acutely burdening the region with a quasi-permanent state of
underdevelopment and underdeveloped communication. Experts have pointed
out that the road distance between Calcutta and Agartala is about 2,000
kms longer than the distance between Calcutta and Mumbai. However, bulk
commodities can be transferred from Calcutta or Haldia by ship along the
coast to Chittagong port in Bangladesh, thereafter taken by Bangladesh
railroad to Akhaura (about 100 km), adjacent to Agartala, and finally
transported by Indian trucks to various destinations in the north-east,
with the cost of transportation reducing drastically and the revenue of
the Chittagong port increasing. India and Bangladesh, particularly the
entire sub-region will gain consequently. Bangladesh can gain handsome
royalty for the use of Chittagong port and the railway between
Chittagong and Akhaura. This will help Bangladesh set off the current
adverse balance of trade with India and have a trade surplus with the ne
ighbouring states of the sub-region. Bangladesh does not have enough
goods for export to India, but can export services to the region. Then
again, this traffic will improve the berthing facilities at Chittagong.
The additional traffic to Akhaura will open up employment opportunities
along the route. The units of the sub-region enjoying common facilities
can undertake partial burden to construct berths at Chittagong port
dedicated to the traffic, and also railway wagons and may also save
foreign exchange.

(2) Another alternative is the re-activation of riverine traffic between
Calcutta and Assam through the Sundarbans and the Bangladesh river
system. There was considerable traffic on this route until 1965, when it
was closed. On paper this route was revived after the independence of
Bangladesh in 1971. But it has remained on paper only because of lack of
investment necessary for maintaining a navigable channel all the year
round, and because of inertia. According to experts, the river route is
navigable all through the year from Calcutta up to the river port
Ashugani on the Meghna, or even up to Karimganj. The distance between
Ashuganj and Agartala is only about 40 km. What is needed is the
activation of this route with advice and help from inland water transpor
t experts of both the countries and also from Germany, the Netherlands
and France which have traditionally used inland water-borne traffic.
What is lacking is the political will in this region to give effect to
this concept. With Haldia, Calcutta, Chittagong, Akhaura, Ashuganj and
Karimganj becoming the pivotal points of the coastal and rail routes the
entire sub-region will gain enormously. We may think of the
co-ordination of the roads also with the opening of the new Jamuna
bridge. What is principally needed is a fresh outlook which does not
regard the common border and the common river as a burden but an asset
to the entire region, i e, the sub-region.

(3) The two countries as well as the units in the sub-region must give
up its old attitudes and must get away from the habit of mutual
suspicion, and treat questions of security or espionage as of lesser
consequence to the prospect of economic co-operation between the two
countries, and particularly in the region. Once the two countries as
well as the units in the region decide on improvement of trade,
utilisation of common resources, arrangement of transit and mutual
co-operation in investment, they will realise that political differences
are of secondary importance. In short, to strengthen the communication
network we need in the first place a sub-regional perspective before we
adopt a metropolitan outlook symbolised by an Asian highway that covers
India (West Bengal and the north-east) and Bangladesh and can be
utilised for the maximum benefit of the entire region. The truth is that
the Asian highway can bring economic improvement in the region only when
it is linked with a network of local communication systems of rail, road
and water transport.

(4) The improvement of air transport is also crucial here. Not being a
member of the IATA, the Bangladesh Biman (Bangladesh Airline) has its
freedom and advantage to operate at a lower rate than most other
international airlines. Once the Guwahati airport turns international,
the Biman will have easy access to Guwahati, the gateway to the
north-east. Besides operating passenger services, it can have cargo
services and hence can export/re-export certain goods from
Assam/north-east to the international market rapidly.

(5) Trade relationship can be augmented further when units in the
sub-region have access to each others' markets. In this context it is
important to note that most of the trade now is conducted illegally
depriving both the government of Bangladesh and its neighbouring states.
In such illegal trade, private traders have built a nexus with some of
their government officials and corrupt politicians, which has to be
countered at all cost.

(6) Some new items may be taken up for trade: to take the example of the
north-east, the Meghalayan oranges and pineapples (which may be exported
to Bangladesh and thence to Europe and the west Asia), in both raw and
processed forms, so also the ginger, a kilogram of which costs Rs 120 in
Dubai whereas the same costs Rs 10 in Guwahati. The famous Bangladeshi
jamdaani and other high quality saris will have good market demand in
Assam. Assam in turn is famous for her paat and mugaa silks which could
be sent to Bangladesh markets. Trade between India/Assam and Bangladesh
has not increased substantially despite 12 years of South Asian
Association for Regional Co-operation and the South Asia Preferential
Trading Agreement. What is needed today is a fast track approach and
equity in trade. Trade relations lead to improvement of relations on a
broad scale, like exchange of cultural troupes, artists, persons engaged
in literary work, journalists, academics, researchers, and others.

(7) Finally, a joint sub-regional project to study the problem of
borders and immigration should be initiated soon with a stipulated
time-frame to complete the study. Admittedly hurdles are there and pose
a challenge to our collective intellectual capacity. They also impel us
to negotiate the problem of borders and immigration in the broader
context of economic co-operation, sub-regional co-operation, cultural
dialogue and human security in this part of the globe which can hardly
afford to remain an island in a fast-changing world.
___________________________________
#2.
India Today News
Posted September 16, 1999 

Book glorifying Sati condemned

New Delhi, September 16: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has
demanded the immediate withdrawal of a book glorifying Sati and punitive
action against its author.

In a statement, commission chairperson Vibha Parthasarthi condemned the
publication of the book How To Worship Sati and the presence of the
wives of two senior officers at its release function. Quoting media
reports, Parthasarthi said the wives of the Commissioner and District
Magistrate of Meerut were present at the function and demanded a public
apology from them.

She also said that punitive action should be taken against the book's
author Vishnu Dutt, who had violated the Commission of Sati (Prevention)
Act 1987, which apart from forbidding the practice of Sati also
prohibits any action perceived as glorification of the act. "The book,
its release function and the participation of people in it, is a gross
violation of law. Such retrograde actions by responsible individuals
such as the wives of two responsible officers and upholders of law is a
big setback for the entire society, particularly, for the Indian women,"
she added.

"While we prepare to enter a new millennium, such acts will drag the
nation into the darkness of medieval ages when such inhuman customs were
meant to keep women subjugated," she added.
___________________________________
#3.

Carbide's Toxic Legacy, Poisoned Water, Wastes

By Meena Menon

BHOPAL, India, Sep 9 (IPS) - The walls still carry murderous
messages -- ''Hang Warren Anderson'', written in dark letters
outside the tomblike Union Carbide factory 15 years after the
world's worst industrial accident in this central Indian city.

The factory's solar evaporation ponds still contain waste,
poisoning cattle that has died after drinking water from the
ponds.

In March and April this year, two major fires broke out near
the chemical storage area. Tonnes of toxic chemicals and waste
tarry residues remain on the premises of the plant, now the
property of the government.

More seriously, the tarry residue is contaminated with mercury
from empty seal pots dumped in the waste, according to a source
who wishes to remain anonymous.

The mercury-filled pots were part of the U.S-based
transnational's 'Sevin' pesticide-manufacturing plant's chemical
reactor, and crumbled from disuse. While the mercury was scooped
up, the pots were carelessly dumped.

As a result, a proposal to use the tarry residues as fuel for
cement kilns had to be abandoned -- mercury is dangerously
volatile and one of the most toxic of chemicals. Long-term
exposure to mercury permanently damages the brain, kidneys and
even the foetus, posing a serious threat to poor communities
living around the plant.

Already people in the slums have been warned not to drink
water from some 200 shallow tube-wells identified with a red
board by the state government. Since there's no other source of
water, they drink from the tubewells. ''Where else can we get
water,'' said a resident of Atal Ayub Nagar, lugging water from a
tubewell.

An estimated 10,000 people live in the shadow of the Union
Carbide plant, in Atal Ayub, Annu Nagar, Nawab Nagar and New Arif
Nagar. 'Multinational Monitor' charges Carbide, which has a
reputation of little regard for the environment or worker safety,
of never having owed up responsibility for the tragic gas leak in
Bhopal on the night of Dec. 3, 1984.

In the United States, Carbide's long involvement in the
research and development of nuclear weapons, the Y-12 plant at
Oak Bridge built in 1943, and in uranium milling and mining are
plagued with problems of toxic waste disposal.

In 1977, a declassified Department of Energy report revealed
that 2.4 million pounds of mercury had been released into the
ground, water and air between 1950 and 1963, when the plant was
still under Carbide management.

The waste disposal system of Carbide in Bhopal was highly
suspect even before the disaster. Waste was dumped in open pits
and later into solar evaporation ponds. Toxic effluents were
discharged for many years into the open sewage drains nearby.

The plastic lining of the solar evaporation ponds (to prevent
seepage) was often taken away by indigent slumdwellers who used
it to cover the roofs of their houses. Attempts to landfill the
ponds only increased the risk of soil and water contamination.

A report of the PHE (public health engineering) department in
Bhopal dated Oct. 28, 1996, (which has been leaked recently) shows
the ground water is contaminated with bacteria and there is a
heavy presence of chemicals.

A press report to this effect was published in January 1988.
Ten samples were collected from J P Nagar, Atal Ayub agar, Arif
Nagar, Chhola and Kainchi Chhola all situated close to the Union
Carbide factory on Nov. 26, 1996, and tested at the State
Research Laboratory.

All samples were subjected to both bacteriological and chemical
analysis. The C O D (Chemical Oxygen Demand) value in ground water
is zero but the samples tested here had C O D values between 45
mg/l and 98 mg/l as opposed to the WHO standard value of C O D for
natural water which is 6 mg/l.

The report said that samples from tubewells in other parts of
Bhopal were also examined but chemical contamination was found
only in areas near the Carbide plant. Water from the tubewells in
these areas were tested five years ago and even at that time,
there was evidence of chemical contamination.

''It is established that this pollution is due to chemicals
used in the Union Carbide factory that have proven to be
extremely harmful for health. Therefore the use of this water for
drinking must be stopped immediately.''

In April 1990, the Bhopal Group for Information and Action
(BGIA) sent samples to the Citizen's Environmental Laboratory,

Boston, to analyse sediment from the waste storage area abandoned
by the company, surface soils near the plant and drinking water
from the adjacent community.

High levels of toxic materials were found in the samples from
the waste storage area and another highly toxic substances,
dichlorobenzene was found in the drinking water. Polynuclear
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a group of cancer causing agents,
were found in the waste area, apart from phthlates which were
detected in the surface soils and in the waste pond.

In 1985, a few months after the accident, the three large
effluent ponds were already posing a threat to local cattle and
people were complaining of water contamination.

The Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udhyog Sangathan of survivors of
the gas accident and the BGIA have repeatedly drawn the attention
of authorities to the environmental damage caused by the Carbide
plant. The reports of the government agencies remain inaccessible
to the people who live without basic amenities.

V.K. Jain, chairperson of the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control
Board, confirmed that the tarry residues at the plant which has
been taken over by the government, did indeed contain ''not
negligible'' quantities of mercury, but dismissed the charge that
the factory was responsible for water pollution in the area.

He said that the COD could be high due to industrial and human
waste -- the population of the area has swelled to 150,000. He
said he has not seen the PHE report -- it could be ''bogus'' and
the samples collected from anywhere.

Despite the mountains of evidence, the state government is
dragging its feet on a pollution clean-up. The poison clouds of
gas from the Carbide plant is not its only toxic legacy.
(END/IPS/mm/an/99)

[Origin: New Delhi/ENVIRONMENT-INDIA/ 1999, InterPress Third World News
Agency (IPS)]