The day his life changed

The road has been long and tortuous for the Convener of ‘Raising our voices for us’, Prasanna Kuruppu.

Joining the Air Force in 1985 and serving at Palali, he was the first casualty, among personnel of all three forces – Army, Navy and Air Force -- to survive after losing both his legs in a mortar attack in the north by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), at the commencement of Eelam War II in June 1990.

Fifty-year-old Mr. Kuruppu recalls with poignancy, the day that his life changed forever and the events leading up to Eelam II.

It was 25 years ago. “A ceasefire was on between the Government and the LTTE, but a dialogue towards a political solution was floundering. By June 9, 1990, hundreds of policemen in the East had been made to surrender and massacred by the LTTE. Final discussions between Minister A.C.S. Hameed and the LTTE on June 14 at Kadduwan had ended in a stalemate. The attack by the LTTE on the aircraft that was due to fly Minister Hameed to Colombo saw the end of the ceasefire in the North,” recalls Mr. Kuruppu.

Serving as the Administrative and Accounts Officer at Palali, Mr. Kuruppu went to the front when the ground defence personnel of Palali were hit badly by the LTTE attack on June 14.

“We began operations on June 20, along with the Army, to clear the runway as no aircraft could land or take-off, as the LTTE had bunkered down at a distance and was launching attacks,” he says.

It was just as he was about to fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the LTTE bunker when an LTTE mortar landed between him and his buddy, killing his buddy on the spot. The rest are only painful memories sans both his legs.

Staying on in the Air Force until 2000 when he retired, he had later worked in the private sector for three years before joining the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, getting exposure on the international scene. Many are the organisations for people with disabilities that he has worked for and held office. Currently he is an Advisory Board member of the Disability Organisations’ Joint Front and member of the Sri Lanka Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled.