By IANS,
New Delhi : The Ahmedabad and Bangalore serial bomb blasts brought back memories of the triple terror attacks in the capital nearly three years ago, causing a group of people here Wednesday to remember their near and dear ones whose lives were lost in Delhi and to pray for last week’s terror victims.
“When I watched coverage of the Ahmedabad and Bangalore blasts on TV, it took me back to that Saturday when we also suffered like these people. The fresh blasts have brought back those memories,” said 15-year-old Diksha Poddar, who lost her younger brother in the blast at the Sarojini Nagar market in south Delhi Oct 29, 2005.
“For several months I could not sleep. I just saw people dying, the fire… and kept hearing the noise of explosion. It faded out slowly. But after these recent blasts, I feel tortured again,” said Poddar, who too sustained 50 percent burns.
She has been advised to wear full sleeve shirts to help her burnt right hand heal completely. “I still feel pain while writing,” said the sad looking Class 9 student.
Diksha’s father Vinod lost his right leg in the same blast.
“Today we are here to pray for those who have lost their lives in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. It is sad that so many people are losing their lives for no fault of theirs,” Vinod Poddar told IANS.
Kuldeep Singh, a bus driver who managed to save the lives of over 50 people by throwing away a bomb planted in the city bus, said: “We are all here to pray to the god to give peace to the people who lost their lives in Ahmedabad.”
Though he saved many lives, Singh sustained burn injuries, lost his vision completely and cannot hear by his right ear.
Offering flower petals and lighting candles near a plaque displaying the names of the Sarojini Nagar blast victims, Singh said: “Can’t we stop terrorism?”
Three bombs ripped through the national capital only days ahead of Hindu festival Diwali. On that fateful Saturday, Sarojini Nagar, a middle class shopping paradise, suffered the maximum, with 50 people losing their lives in the blast and the stampede that followed it.
While a second bomb went off in Paharganj, near the New Delhi Railway Station, the third bomb was planted inside a city bus in Okhla in south Delhi. At least 65 people died and over 150 were injured that evening.
Ashok Randhawa, president of the Sarojini Nagar Market Association, who organised the all-religion prayer meet, said: “Our people are suffering outside Delhi. This is just a token of gesture to pray for their souls.”
Manisha Michael, 12, who lost her father, mother and brother, said: “I feel sorry for people in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. I don’t want others to suffer like me.”
“I am here to pray for all.”
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit joined religious leaders for prayers.
“We prayed for bringing solace to the families of blast victims. We need to be united to fight terrorism,” said Reverend Nirmal David, secretary of the Northwest India Council of Churches.
Granthi Randhir Singh of the Sarojini Nagar Gurudwara said: “Besides the police and security personnel, all people should stay alert.”
The serial blasts in Bangalore Friday and Ahmedabad Saturday killed at least 52 people and left injured over 200.