Tangdhar, Nov 8: Abdul Majeed Sheikh of Tangdhar, an army porter, was injured in a landmine blast on May 5, 1997. He had been deployed by an officer to fetch firewood from a nearby forest. On his way to the forest near Darshan Post, he stumbled on a landmine and lost his left leg. “It was afternoon and my officer sent me to the forest for collecting firewood. I was on my way when this incident happened. I was unconscious after the blast and was rushed to the Army Brigade Hospital for treatment,” recalls Sheikh.
“I have exhausted all the money I had on my treatment, nobody helped me. I spent Rs 16,000 on my operation and medicines. I got artificial limbs for Rs 4,000,” he says.
He says with anger that army has not given him any compensation. “After six days of the accident, the unit I worked for changed and some other unit came. I went to them and asked for help, but they refused and asked me to contact the unit I worked for,” Sheikh says.
He now gets a pension of Rs 400 per month from Social Welfare Department. “This lazy Government wakes up after 6-7 months and then gives me my pension” he says, as the pension doesn’t come regularly.
“If he submits the FIR with other documents stating that he was injured during militancy days, we will give him Rs 500/month as pension,” Muhammad Ayub Khan of Social Welfare Department told GK. “I have submitted all the documents required, including the FIR but Social Welfare Department is not paying attention to my application. If only I could bribe them, they will clear my case,” says Abdul Majeed Sheikh.
“There is a lot of corruption in Social Welfare Department. They only work when we bribe them. I got an artificial limb in JBC Bemina at my own expenses, it weighs 1 and a half kg. But the artificial limb Social Welfare Department gives weighs around 7-8 kg. It’s difficult to even move a step with it, and also it takes a long time for one’s turn to come for getting the limb,” he says.
Sheikh has a son who studies in class eight and a daughter who is married. His wife died many years back. “I am living in extreme hard conditions. I have a horse that I rent out and get some money, else I have no other way of earning. I can not go out and work, it’s practically impossible for me.”

Lastupdate on : Sun, 8 Nov 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 8 Nov 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 IST