“You could say we were the Young Communists League (YCL) back then,” says BK, now 18, still a staunch supporter of the Maoist party. “I relate to their philosophy.”
Three years back, just a few days before Bhai Tika, BK along with his friend Bharat Raj Gautam and other cadres had carried for safekeeping the explosive devices from a nearby village.
“We were told by senior party cadres that the explosive devices wouldn’t explode without the fuse,” says BK.
“We would simply carry the explosive devices carefully, some of which were very heavy for a single person, for instance, the Balteen (bucket) bomb.”
But curiosity and mischief wrecked havoc as the junior cadres decided to burrow some ammo to go fishing on the day of Bhai Tika.
“Around noon, 15 to 16 of us had gathered as understood (cadre culture) in front of the ordnance store and we got ourselves some 2 to 3 kg of gunpowder,” says Gautam. “We didn’t know it was TNT back then.”
“We took the little amount we needed and hid the rest under the bed of the ordnance store. I had just sat down on the bed and no sooner, I found myself in a hospital with vague memory of what had happened,” adds BK.
“At Manipal Hospital, where I was first treated, wouldn’t allow me to go home. So one night I decided to run away. At night when the entire ward went to sleep, I hurried out of the bed and fell face flat on the hospital floor. It was then I realized that I had lost both my legs to the explosion. Since then, I have had no feeling of any sorts.”
“TNT explodes when it gets its temperature. Now, I know.”
The misfortune in the ordnance store cost BK both his limbs and the scars of the incident are still fresh on his face. Gautam hurt his right leg below the knee, which had to be amputated. Six others were also injured in the ill-fated afternoon.
“We were lucky that the explosion was small or else it would have ripped our bodies apart and killed us,” says BK.
“The store also had grenades and other explosive devices which could have exploded. We were lucky we survived,” adds Gautam.
Like all unexploded /abandoned explosive ordnance (UXO/AXO) victims around the country, both BK and Gautam did little realize the consequences of the incident back then. Today, they worry about their future and the social stigma of having to live with a handicap.
“We are discriminated in society because of our physical limitations,” says BK. “I want to put an end to this stigma attached to the disabled.”
The ten year conflict has come to an end but the threat of explosive remnants of war (ERW) remains even three years after the end of the insurgency and the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Both the army’s landmines and the improvised explosive devices (IED) planted by the Maoists still lie scattered across the land and in the barbed wire perimeters of army bases.
This year alone, landmines, IEDs and unknown explosive devices accounted for 61 civilian casualties in Nepal, including 33 children. Victim activated explosions accounted for the loss of 13 people, of whom seven were children. This child-casualty rate is one of the highest among countries affected by victim-activated explosions.
Earlier this week, Republica reported that the operation for disposing of IEDs laid by the Maoists during the conflict remained stalled for two months.
After destroying a stockpile of 46,850 IEDs in six major cantonments, the United Nations Mine Action Team (UNMAT), which has been technically assisting the Nepal Army and the Maoists in clearing the landmines and defusing explosive devices faced obstacles from the Maoists at Dasharathpur Camp in Surkhet district from September-end.
As per the CPA, the Maoists should have destroyed all IEDs within 60 days of signing the accord. Republica Correspondent Om Astha Rai reported that the IEDs which have yet to be destroyed at the Surkhet cantonments are said to be in significant amounts and are extremely explosive compared to other devices the Maoists previously destroyed.
UNMAT has put the IEDs of Surkhet cantonments in ‘A’ category, meaning highly dangerous explosives. Only ‘B’ and ‘C’ category explosives have been destroyed so far, according to Maoist sources.
Meanwhile, the Army claims to have cleared 14 landmine sites across the country and this year, it targets to clear as many as 19 landmine sites. During the conflict, the Army had laid landmine in 53 different locations to prevent attack in its barracks.
As part of its mandate to protect civilians from the effects of the conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is working to prevent injuries, assist victims and to reduce the socio-economic impact of UXO/AXO on civilian populations.
In Nepal, hundreds of people have also lost an arm or a leg to traffic and work related accidents, fatal injuries or diseases, but many have been able to resume normal life after receiving an artificial limb.
The ICRC is working with the Green Pastures Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre (GPH&RC) in Pokhara, where BK and Gautam have been treated. Today, they have artificial limbs and can walk even without crutches and this has boosted their confidence.
“After falling from the hospital bed that night, I had lost all hope. My life, I thought had come to an end but I was wrong,” says BK. “I wish they’d come with more superior technology to enhance the performance of the artificial limbs.”
Both BK and Gautam were in the hospital on Wednesday to have their artificial limbs checked, adjusted and repaired.
“With time, a person’s height and weight changes, so artificial limbs have to be modified from time to time. At some point, the limb will need repair or replacement,” says Santosh Baniya, one of the four orthopedic technicians at GPH&RC.
The ICRC has been running a physical rehabilitation program for disabled people in Nepal since 2004. The GPH&RC offer quality physical rehabilitation services to people with mobility impairment.
The institution also has a dedicated laboratory to manufacture prosthetic limbs and this year onwards, has started manufacturing artificial arms. If the loss of a limb or other disability is connected with conflict, the ICRC pays for the service. In other cases, people contribute depending on the severity of individual cases.
“It is difficult for many people to make use of physical rehabilitation services in Nepal because of inaccessibility and cost involved. Most of the patients at the camp come from poor families, so the ICRC covers the participants’ repair, travel, accommodation and food costs,” says Jagadish Shrestha, Head of Health Department of ICRC in Nepal.
“It took me three days to get here from Rukumkot,” says Bhagwati Gautam, 44, who had come to GPH&RC to get her artificial limb repaired. She had lost her limb ten years ago while making her way to the district headquarters en route army barrack.
The international humanitarian agency also works with the Nepal Army in their Rehabilitation Center in Swayambhu, Kathmandu. A Swiss technician works with the center at the workshop that even manufactures prosthetic limbs.
Brigadier General Dr Bachchuram K.C., head of Rehabilitation Center stressed on the need of serious rehab program for the disabled, including the mental and emotional trauma that they go through.
“The active treatment is always done in the hospital as soon as the incident takes place, for immediate assistance. All regional hospitals are well equipped to take charge. What happens to these people after the preliminary care is where we lack; the rehabilitation part,” KC told Republica.
“There are various ways of physical rehabilitation: supplementation of the lost limb with prosthesis and additional tool to increase the function of a lost limb with orthosis, wheelchair, crutches for the support and physiotherapy,” KC added, saying the victims can have their normal lives back with proper rehabilitation programs.
The mental rehabilitation is even more important since the trauma of a life changing experience within fractions of a second is too much of a burden for a human mind to come to terms with, opined Dr KC, who receives victims of land mine explosions, natural disasters and road accidents.
“To be able to come back to terms with life and evoking the spirit of fighting back is quite an ardent task.” And that is the idea of the rehabilitation program.
Back in Bhurchung Khola, BK locks himself in his room on weekends. He turns on his favorite music and does what he thinks he was born to do – dance. “I haven’t given up yet. Physical limitations are definitely a drawback but I will carry on to live my dreams,” he says.
Nepal is not a signatory of Cartegena Summit which prohibits governments from using landmines. The second review of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-personnel mines (also called the “Cartegena Summit on a Mine Free World”) will take place in Cartagena, Colombia from 29 November to 4 December 2009.
About 1000 participants are expected to attend the Summit, including representatives of the 156 States party to the Convention, of States not yet party (as observers), the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, United Nation agencies, international and regional organizations, more than 20 National Societies, and the ICRC.
On December 3 and 4, a high level segment will feature a number of Heads of State and Ministers, making it clear that the Cartegena Summit will have a global impact. As the world prepares to set the agenda for action over the next five years keeping the landmine problem on the public and political agenda, civilians in Nepal continue to face the threat of unexploded/abandoned explosive ordnance.
For during the month of November 2009, there have been 7 casualties, which included 2 children and a death of one adult.
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