VOA常速英语2007-Kashmir Insurgents Ban Use of Land Mines

By Shahnawaz Khan
Srinigar
29 October 2007

The International Committee to Ban Land Mines has been urging nations around the world to ban land mines. While India has resisted the ban because of security issues on its borders, an alliance of insurgents² fighting Indian rule in Kashmir says it will give up using anti-personnel mines. The groups will, however, continue to use explosives against military targets. Shahnawaz Khan reports from Srinagar.

The United Jihad Council, an alliance of 13 insurgent¹ groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, this month banned the use of anti-personnel mines in the region. The declaration came after meetings with delegates from the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The insurgent group called the use of anti-personnel mines equivalent to blind terror and said their use is prohibited under Islam.

The group, however, will continue to use remote-controlled explosives that can be manually detonated against military targets.

Khurram Pervez is a human rights activist³ and was part of the anti-land mine mission that negotiated with the insurgents on the land mine ban.

"It is significant for us that militants⁴ have responsibly responded to our request of banning the land mines because if militants who are considered by the government of India as disgruntled elements can behave responsibly, the government of India also needs to behave responsibly in the interest of the people of Kashmir," he said.

The armies of both India and Pakistan have placed land mines along the de facto border dividing Kashmir between the two countries. Rights activists⁵ say land mines are also placed around many military compounds close to civilian⁶ areas in Kashmir.

After the insurgents banned mines, the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines urged India and Pakistan to consider a moratorium⁷ on new mine use, and to begin clearing mine fields.

An Indian army spokesman who wished not to be named called the insurgents' announcement insignificant⁸. He said the insurgents use manually detonated bombs - or improvised⁹ explosive devises - that cause more casualties.

"IED's are mostly remote controlled devices. It is not a blind weapon like [a] land mine," siad Pervez. "The land mine cannot discriminate¹⁰ between friend and foe¹¹, between human and cattle, and between civilian and military also."

Since 1989, several insurgent groups have fought in Indian-controlled Kashmir for the right to self-determination. The region, which has a mostly Muslim population, is divided between Pakistan and India.

1 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

2 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

8 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

9 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

10 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

11 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。