When Salahuddin, now aged 13, Abdul Malik's best friend, stepped on a landmine in the village school's courtyard in Bajaur in 1999, and lost one of his legs, Malik could never have imagined that three years later, in 2002, he too, would become a landmine victim, left to survive without his arms.

          Salahuddin cannot recall much of what happened to him that fateful day, saying only,"I woke up and found myself in the hospital with one leg broken and one missing." Malik, however, vividly remembers "the deafening noise, the screams and the stampede that followed as the children rushed out of school. Quite a few were injured. I was alright, but I've never run so fast in my life, I was that scared. All I wanted was to run away as far from the school as possible."

           For 40 days, seven-year-old Salahuddin remained in the Tehsil Headquarter Hospital in Bajaur Agency, writhing in pain and pining for his mother who could not be with him.

          Following Salahuddin's tragic accident, his father Mohammad Nazir, a high school teacher in the village, has made it his life's mission to wage war on landmines and unexploded ordnances (UXOs). "I monitor all landmine accidents taking place in my tehsil (sub-district). I visit all the victims personally, report accidents to organisations working for landmine victims, mobilise the respective communities, and, if possible, draw media attention towards the issue," says Nazir. "I do all this voluntarily, for I don't want other parents to go through what I go through every single day when I look at my child." And for this he has to take a lot of flak from the political agent - a representative of the federal government working to maintain law and order in tribal areas - but Nazir is determined to carry on with his campaign.

           After six years of Nazir's ceaseless efforts, the Sustainable Peace and Development Organisation (SPADO), an outfit working actively on mine action and a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), was able to secure funds for a prosthetic limb for Salahuddin. But his friend has not been so lucky. Malik, who lost both his arms when a landmine he mistook for a "shoe-shine polish box" exploded, is coming to terms with his life.

            One can't help but marvel at the way Malik deftly picks up a spoonful of rice with his forearms, and puts it in his mouth without dropping a single grain. But rice is not an everyday meal in his household. Someone has to break the chapatti they normally eat, dip it in curry, and feed him. Another person assists him with his daily routine of washing up, dressing, combing his hair etc. Malik is fortunate in that he has four older sisters and three younger brothers who are all extremely supportive.

          Malik missed a year at school as he was unable to write. But now he can hold a pen with what remains of his hands, and write. He hopes to fulfil his dream of becoming an engineer and "building roads."

           Both Salahuddin and Malik belong to the village Ghakhi, in the most picturesque area of Bajaur Agency, where the meandering metalled road is lined on both sides with yellow mustard fields and where young wheat is just beginning to make its appearance in the form of lush green patches against the towering snow-capped Himalayas that guard the valley.

          "Unfortunately, this remote village, located in one of the seven Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in the north-west, is also among the least developed, religiously conservative and poorest parts of Pakistan," says Raza Shah Khan, director of SPADO.

            Moreover, despite claims to the contrary by Said Ahmed Jan and Khaista Rehman, the two assistant political agents (APAs) of Nawagai and Khar, the fact remains that the area is still infested with landmines. If that were not the case, why would SPADO and CMDO and community organisations like Kamore continue to work here, and why would locals tell you that the last accident took place just a week ago?

          Bajaur's beauty is marred by glimpses of men, women and children with one or both legs, or arms, amputated - innocent people scarred for life. When you meet them, you marvel at the resilience of these simple souls, who, despite the odds, manage to muster warm smiles.

            For instance, 30-year-old Gul Sahat, who is married with five children, one born after she lost her leg, says, "I don't like to look at my amputated leg in the night when I take off the artificial limb." Then there's 15-year-old Mohammad Zeb, showing telltale signs of a moustache, who expresses a different concern altogether, wondering "if anyone would marry me now that I don't have a real leg." Inspite of their personal trauma, Gul and Zeb have not become cynical. Zeb loved to play cricket until he stepped on a landmine on his way to school. "Now I just listen to the commentary," he tells me quietly.

            I'm distracted by a group of children playing in the mustard field. I am apprehensive that they may step on a landmine the minute our backs are turned. I sigh helplessly at the indifference shown by people like Said Jan and Khaista Rehman, who are comfortably ensconced in their plush armchairs in a compound whose walls are heavily fortified with barbed wire and armed personnel. They live like kings and believe that landmines are "no longer an issue" and not even worth talking about.

            "The Pakistan government has cleared most of the area, and since 2002 not a single case has been reported," says Said Jan. Faiz Muhammad Fayyaz, director of a Community Motivation and Development Organisation (CMDO), which has been working on the issue since 1997 and collects data from various sources, including newspapers, agency headquarter hospitals, and by word of mouth, says "there is no comprehensive reporting system and as a consequence, landmine casualties often remain unreported, even though they continue to occur even now."

            In 2003, there were at least 138 new landmine/UXO accidents in which 90 people were injured and 48 succumbed to their injuries. From 2000-2003, ICBL's Landmine Monitor Report identified 428 new landmine/UXO casualties in the border areas with India and Afghanistan. Between January and June 2004, 32 new landmine casualties were reported by the Landmine Monitor.

            The Landmine Monitor Report of 2004 states that, "Pakistan reported in November 2003 that it had cleared about 99 per cent of the mines laid in December 2001 and early 2002 on its border with India." However, it fails to mention whether these mines were cleared from FATA.

            The report goes on to say: "Pakistani forces seized antipersonnel mines and other weapons in Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas," and "the government claims that weapons were being smuggled by non-state actors from Afghanistan into Pakistan." It also states that: "Landmines and improvised explosive devices have been used in tribal conflicts and against government law enforcement agencies, most notably in the province of Balochistan."

            The APA Ahmed Jan corroborates: "Whenever there have been any incidents, they have been triggered by personal feuds." However, he asserts that "there is no market, no dealer and no business… the tribal law is very strict on this issue."

            Muhammad Nazir disagrees, saying, "We are extremely poor and have nothing to offer. We are so busy making ends meet, that we don't have the time to get into personal feuds. And why would we involve our children?"

            Raza Shah Khan, who recently researched small arms in FATA, says, "You can buy a landmine for a mere 200 rupees. It's cheap, and getting it across the border is not a problem. You can put it anywhere. It remains dormant till someone steps on it and then it can kill or injure a civilian, a friend or a foe, a soldier or peacekeeper, even animals." He feels the "tribal culture is such that UXOs and weapons have become imperative, if not to use actively, then to prove your strength." However, Fayyaz of CMDO maintains, "Personal feuds are few and far between." CMDO had only recently started work on landmines in North and South Waziristan but were forced to suspend their activities despite continuing landmine accidents in the region.

            During an escalation of tensions with India in 2001, Pakistani forces engaged in a massive mine-laying operation along the eastern border, which continued until mid-2002.

            However, the government maintains that 99 per cent of the area has now been de-mined. India, for its part, claims to have cleared 90 percent of the mines laid along its borders with Pakistan.

            There were reports of the use of mines by Pakistani troops during the Kargil crisis in 1999, and allegations of Pakistani-manufactured mines being supplied to armed groups fighting in Indian-held Kashmir. This has been denied by the Pakistan government.

            According to ICBL, Pakistan was a major exporter of antipersonnel mines. Pakistani mines have been found in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sri Lanka and other locations. Incidentally, there were reports of attempts by the Pakistan Ordnance Factory to sell anti-personnel mines to British journalists posing as representatives of private companies in both November 1999 and April 2002.

            Says Raza Khan, "Of the 48 non-signatories to the 1997 Landmine Ban Treaty, Pakistan has the fifth largest stockpile of landmines, with an estimated six million anti-personnel mines in stock." However, the government, according to the ICBL report, has neither confirmed nor denied these figures.

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