COLOMBO, July 3: Sixteen-year-old Nirupama was chasing the family cow, which having freed itself from the rope it was tied to was quietly making its way towards a shrub, when a deafening explosion sent the girl crashing to the ground.

She had stepped on an anti-personnel mine, believed to have been planted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to slow down advancing soldiers during a massive offensive mounted by the military last year to capture Jaffna from the guerrillas.

Nirupama and her family had just returned to their home in Sri Lanka's war ravaged northern Jaffna peninsula, after living in a government refugee camp for nearly six months while government troops battled separatist Tamil guerrillas. The military took over Jaffna and the separatist rebels fled the peninsula. But the young schoolgirl paid the price of war. She lost a leg.

Sri Lankan soldier Athula Chandrasiri wanted to get a drink of water while on patrol at Velvettithurai, formerly an LTTE stronghold. He walked towards a well, but a sudden explosion brought the 33-year-old soldier down. ``However much I tried, I couldn't stand up. To my horror, I realised my left foot was missing,'' he said. Chandrasiri is now recuperating at Ranaviru Sevana, a rehabilitation centre run by the Army for disabled soldiers, waiting to be fitted with an artificial limb. Naturally, he is uncertain about his future. The LTTE are waging a war for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in north and east Sri Lanka. While government statistics show that more than 50,000 people have been killed in the 13-year-old conflict, doctors here say that they probably were the lucky ones. According to Gamini Goonetilleke, a Lankan surgeon who specialises in treating land mine victims, land mines are one of the worst weapons of war; they make victims suffer for the rest of their lives.

Mines do not distinguish between the footfall of a soldier and that of a child. And long after the fighting has stopped they will continue to maim and kill peasants foraging for food and firewood or tilling their fields.Goonetilleke said at least 3,000 soldiers and policemen have been permanently disabled by landmines and anti-personnel mines. ``The number of LTTE rebels and civilians who have been disabled by anti-personnel mines is not known, but undoubtedly it is higher than the number of soldiers,'' he added.

Most victims, as it is with the Army and probably with the rebels, are in the age group of 18-30, felled in the prime of their lives, according to Brigadier Dudley Perera, Director of Army Rehabilitation. ``What the enemy wants is to disable soldiers so that the liability to the state is more. Even if the war ends, these people will suffer and the state has to look after them,'' Perera said.

For its soldiers, the Lankan Army has a rehabilitation programme, which begins with treating war wounds and ends with vocational training which enable victims to engage in suitable jobs.

Yet, returning to civilian life without an arm or leg is a painful experience for many young soldiers. Goonetilleke points out, ``In most cases, they are the breadwinners of their families.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.