Border villagers lose limbs to mines
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Shahpur-LOC (Poonch), April 10
India and Pakistan may be preparing for the next round of peace talks, but for the villagers here peace will come only after the deadly ghost of mines are defused permanently.

Hundreds of the people living in the border villages including Shahpur along the Line of Control have lost their limbs and have been rendered handicapped because of mine blasts during the last about six decades of animosity between the two neighboring countries.

For Akhbar Din (75) who was working as porter with the Army, life will never be the same again. Few years back, after a mine blew up his right leg, it has become difficult for Akhbar and his son, Muhammad Khursheed, studying in eighth standard in the local government high school, to live a dignified life.

Though, Akhbar Din says he gets Rs 300 per month as pension from the state's Social Welfare Department for being handicapped and are passing their lives in this very meager amount, what scares him the most was that his son might fall prey to mines since the area on the outskirts of this village lying just close to LoC is heavily mined.

“Even though I lost my right leg in the mine blast while I was working as porter with the Army, they didn't compensate me in any way. However, the Social Welfare Department didn’t let me down,” said Akhbar.

“We are getting money from the state government, but I am scared of the fact that our area still remains heavily mined and am constantly worried for my son. He is my only motive for life,” he added.

“I hope that two countries will work for permanent peace in the region so that our villages are completely de-mined and people don’t fall prey to these deadly mines,” Akhbar hoped.

In this border village consisting about 100 families, more than half a dozen villagers have lost their limbs due to mine explosions. These handicapped persons, who lost their limbs to mine blast include brothers Muhammad Javed and Muhammad Aslam, farmer Fakir Muhammad, Qamar Din and many more.

In the neighboring border village of Kaiyaan lying just close to fence, the villagers who lost their limbs in the mine blasts include two sisters Noor Jehan and Sauleh Bi. In another border village of Gutriyaan many people have lost their limbs to mines.