Land War in Himachal
NATION
The state government and the Army lock horns over a piece of land near Shimla.
Aharshly worded press release has triggered off a war of words between the Indian Army and the Himachal Pradesh government. The April 14 press release, believed to have been authored by senior officers at the Western Command Headquarters in Chandimandir, questioned the state government’s attempt to recover a
“Annandale is worth thousands of crores and cannot be given up so that a few Army officers can play golf.”
PREM KUMAR DHUMAL
Chief Minister
48.4 hectare plot held by the Army in Annandale, 4 km from Shimla. “The state seems to be hell-bent on destroying the meagre forest cover, all at the behest of the land mafia, eyeing phenomenal profits,” the release says.
Incensed Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has threatened to sue the Army for defamation. He raised the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security in Delhi on April 16. He backed down from the threat following assurances from Defence Minister A.K. Anthony and a placatory call from General V.K. Singh who informed Dhumal that the Western Command had ordered a Court of Inquiry and would do everything necessary to “rectify” the problem.
The plot has been with the Army since 1955. It has not parted with the land despite the expiry of its lease on March 31, 1982. The Army has a nine- hole golf course on the plot. The state government wants it for use as a sports facility. In 1988, then defence minister K.C. Pant said that he had no objection to the land being returned to the state government “on the condition that the Army should have overriding priority to use the helipad”. The issue was raised again in 1999 by the Dhumal administration but the Army refused to hand over the land.
The Chief Minister’s anger also has to do with the Army’s attempts to in- volve his son and Member of Parliament Anurag Thakur in the controversy. The latter has spearheaded the move for a stadium as president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. In October 2011, Thakur restarted his campaign. On April 7, 14 Shimla-based sports associations submitted 1.08 lakh signatures to the chief minister’s office in support of the stadium. The Army press release questions the state’s proposal to build a stadium. “Annandale is of paramount strategic significance for the Army which can never be ignored in favour of any game,” it says. The ground is currently fenced off and guarded by the Army.
On April 16, civilian protesters shouted slogans against the Army from the fringes of the historic dale. The demonstrators, mostly members of local sports associations, accused the Army of “illegally occupying” property they believe belongs to the
people of Himachal Pradesh. Thakur says that the state needs the land for various activities. The Army can use the ground to land helicopters in an emergency, he adds.
Dhumal is sceptical of the Army’s claims. According to him, in 2002 the state had offered the Army an alternative 25 acre site within 8 km of Annandale at Ghandal village. “The Army sat on the proposal for nine long years before rejecting it,” he says. “Annandale is worth thousands of crores and cannot be given up for a few Army officers to play golf,” Dhumal told INDIA TODAY.
The Army is not backing down either. On April 16, when General Singh and Anthony were assuring Dhumal,
“We are on good terms with the chief minister. We have asked Western Command about it. We will rectify it.”
GENERAL V.K. SINGH
Army Chief
the Western Command flew in Mi-17 helicopters, special force commandos and infantry soldiers to showcase mock disaster management drills at Annandale. Brigadier A.K. Sharma, the officer supervising the exercise, reiterated the Army’s viewpoint. “Annandale is, logistically, operationally and from the disaster management point of view, very critical,” he said, describing the ground as a “mother helipad” essential for rapid deployment in times of crisis.