Battleground Annandale

Anurag Thakur,BJP MP,Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association president and son of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal,recently led a rally and submitted to his father a list of 1.08 lakh signatures backing a demand that the Army surrender the ground so that a stadium can be built. And though Dhumal hasn’t yet forwarded either the campaigners’ signatures or the memorandum they have written to Defence Minister A K Antony,he has taken the state government’s battle with the Army to New Delhi.

The Army refuses to let go,saying the ground is strategically too important from a national security perspective,a claim again challenged by those campaigning for a transfer.

“The strategic significance of Annandale as a forward logistic and operational base for emergency operations in the sector adjoining Himachal Pradesh cannot be overlooked. It’s the foremost necessity and other things including sports are secondary,” says Brigadier A K Sharma of Western Command,supervising the mock drill. “It’s the most suitable ground for landing of at least two large helicopters,and could act as a mother helipad for small choppers during emergencies and rescue jobs by the Army,beside training of troops.”

The campaigners for a stadium have formed an “Annandale for Citizens” forum. The standoff peaked recently after a press release,apparently from the Army,linked the “Annandale movement” to the land mafia. The Army later disowned the statement,attributing it to a civilian public relations officer.

There has been bitterness earlier,too. When the state government sought to launch a heli-taxi service,the Army blocked the plan,telling the government that any commercial tourism activity would pose a threat to security on a ground being used for strategic operations. Only for state-owned helicopters has the Army been partly lenient,allowing parking on one portion of the ground.

“The Army is in illegal possession of the ground… The heli-taxi services could have contributed to tourism,” a fuming Dhumal says. About the Army’s claim about Annandale’s strategic importance,he says: “Except for playing golf,the Army has no records to show that the ground has been used for the national cause or in emergencies since 1962.Why should we allow them to keep the ground only for golf?”

Dhumal had fought for the ground during his earlier tenure,too,saying he almost got orders passed by then defence minister George Fernandes to transfer the ground to the state government. “At a meeting in presence of top officers at South Block,[then Prime Minister Atal Vajpayeeji and Fernades asked me to look for alternative land for the Army,which would vacate the ground for sports-related activities,” Dhumal recalls. “The state government identified several alternative locations and got these inspected by local Army authorities. They were all rejected.”

Back in power in 2007-08,Dhumal initially appeared to have withdrawn from the campaign but his son took it up,first raising the issue in Parliament and then launching the movement for a stadium,encouraged by his efforts at building an international cricket stadium in Dharamshala.

Not everyone is convinced about the motives behind the current campaign,though. When Anurag set about collecting the 1.08 lakh signatures from citizens,tourists and schoolchildren,some viewed it as a move by the state cricket association,which he heads,to take control of this immensely valuable piece of public property. A stadium would destroy the pristine beauty of the ground,some believe,also fearing a spurt in construction by those close to the ruling party,should the ground be returned to the government.

Former chief minister Virbhadra Singh is among those against a transfer. “It’s better if Annnadale remains with the Army rather than be transferred to the present BJP government,which has a lot of vested interests in the movement,” he says.

Tikender Singh Panwar,a CPM leader,has started a countercampaign. He accuses the BJP government of facilitating the cause of the land mafia by seeking a transfer.

“The government is simply acting as a facilitator for the HPCA,” Panwar says. “The insidious campaign has a very strong nexus of the land mafia,which is bent on changing the nature of the ground. There is already an investor who purchased more than 25 bighas of land surrounding Annandale ground. The buyers happen to be leaders of the ruling BJP and are closely linked to the HPCA.”

The press release now disowned by the Army,too,appeared to have been influenced by such concerns. Over the past few years,Shimla has seen constructions coming up close to forest grooves. A mega apartment project at Kanlog,sanctioned by the BJP government despite a strong public movement,will block part of the town’s green cover.

BACKGROUND

E J Buck,whose Simla — Past and Present is considered the most authentic historical document on Shimla,writes: “There is possible no name connected with Simla which to thousands of Anglo-Indians,past and present,can revive more memories of a pleasant nature than Annandale…”

Major Kennedy,a British officer,was so struck with the ground’s beauty that he named it after Anna,a young woman he was in love with back home,writes Buck. Dale,or a green valley surrounded by trees,was tagged on to her name to make the ground Annandale.

Evening parties,fetes,flower shows,balls,fancy-dress fairs,picnics,cricket matches,horse races and polo events were held between the early 1800 till the end of that century,and even later,writes Buck,citing many instances.

During WWII,the Army took over the ground for use as a training camp. Annandale has been in its possession.

In 1958,a lease deed between representatives of the Governor of Punjab (undivided) and the President was executed,with retrospective effect from 1955.

In 1971,Annandale hosted a Congress plenary session.

In 1982,the lease deed was renewed with representatives of the Himachal Pradesh government to “regularise the illegal period 1962 to March 1982”,for which the Army had not paid the lease amount (Rs 1 per annum as token money).

In May 1982,the renewed deed expired. Since then,neither has the Army paid the lease money nor has the deed been renewed.

Till 1990,the Army allowed cricket,hockey and football matches with local youths. In the early 1990s,Annandale also hosted a Gayatri Sammelan,a weeklong spiritual congregation. After being converted into a golf course,the ground became out of bounds for the public .

Onkar Sharma,Shimla deputy commissioner,says,“We have already invoked the arbitration clause of the deed and filed a case before the divisional commissioner. Some hearings have been held after the commissioner issued a notice to the Army and defence authorities.”