POREG VIEW: The report sends alarm bells at the outset but on closer examination it falls into a pattern Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir has become familiar with. The incident took place in September – October 2010 and it means it predates the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
It appears the Chinese troops, some of them on motor cycles, entered Gombir area in Demchok, which was about 300 kms south east of Leh, and threatened the civilian workers who were building a shed under the rural area development programme. The shed had no strategic importance. It was coming up at a cost of Rs. 2 lakhs at the T point, which meant that it is designed to serve people from nearby villages.
The Chinese army — PLA — came to the ‘T’ point and asked the contractor to stop the work, the report quoted an unnamed local official as saying. The arrival of Chinese troops triggered panic among the workers and they ran to the nearby Army post for help.
In the absence of full picture, the incident cannot be taken as an anti-India though China is known to interfere in neighbours’ affairs, and India has a long standing border dispute both in Kashmir region and Arunachal Pradesh sectors. Delhi has not accepted the contentions of Beijing and both sides are engaged in a long dialogue by now.
In November 2009 also, the Chinese troops entered Ladakh and threatened the workers engaged in road construction. The road was being built under the Centrally-sponsored National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).The link-road was to connect two villages – the last inhabited areas on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Sino-Indian border in Demchok.
Blanket ban on construction activities at least 50 km of the LAC, as the local army formation appears to have suggested will mean depriving the local villagers of their rightful share of wage employment schemes, which are named after Mahatma Gandhi.
Every problem has a solution, Winston Churchill used to say and the problem faced by the Gombir area also can be addressed if it is approached with understanding and not otherwise.
Ironically, Chinese army has done construction activities along the international border across Karakoram ranges in Ladakh sector for the first time in 2009 after the 1962 stand-off between the two countries. In 2009, the Chinese Army violated the International Border in Ladakh region and painted boulders and rocks in the area red.
The Chinese troops had entered nearly 1.5 kilometres into India on July 31 near Mount Gya, recognised as International border by India and China, and painted the boulders and rocks with "China" and "Chin9" in red spray paint.
The 22,420 ft Mount Gya, also known as "fair princess of snow", is located at the tri-junction of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, and Tibet. Its boundary was marked during the British era and regarded as International border by the two countries.
Before this, Chinese helicopters had violated the Indian air space on June 21 along the Line of Actual Control in Chumar region and also helli-dropped some expired food.
The Line of Actual Control in South-eastern Ladakh region has been generally peaceful in recent years. What the Chinese should realise is that there is a difference between rural roads and roads of strategic importance.
Rural roads provide increased connectivity to villages with the nearest growth centre. In Damchok area and Nyoma area for instance, the Jammu and Kashmir government has planned construction of seven link-roads to increase connectivity and provide some means of earning to the people of this remote and treacherous mountain region. Such work cannot be stopped just because the area is close to the Line of Actual Control.
Instead of marching up to or driving to the place where unarmed villagers are earning a badly needed daily wage, what the Chinese side should do is to get in touch with the local army commanders. Such a meeting on hotline or across the table will prove productive since both sides are on talking terms.
