Hyderabad twin blasts case: Survivors lament state apathy

Hyderabad: The verdict of the twin-blasts case that was supposed to be announced on Monday, and postponed to September 4, saw  two victims of  the Gokul Chat Bhandar blast, standing by the Nampally court gates demanding that the properties of the accused be seized by the government. They also demanded that the state government should stick to its promises to provide a government job and Rs 20 lakh compensation.

Though the number of deaths was 42 and several were injured in the twin blast, only two victims turned up at the court on Monday.  Not many were aware of the videoconference court proceeding, a first of its kind. The crowd forced themselves to have a glimpse of the blast accused.  Tight security was witnessed at the Nampally court, security at the entrance was on high alert, they frisked each and everyone thoroughly and took identity cards from some. 

Emotions of people were running high at the court premises minutes before the judge announced the new verdict date. The usually crowded special court at Nampally, witnessed crowds swelling as the time for the verdict neared. R. Chander one of the victims of the blast was returning from Koti after he purchased his degree textbooks, when the bomb pellets hit him so hard on his face, that he lost his right eye. Naik was hit when he stood close to  Gokul Chat Bandar.

The young boy lost one of his eyes, even before he completed his education. Chander was promised compensation and a government job.   He is now a 30-year-old man, unemployed and finding it hard to meet his medical needs.  Mr Chander, told this newspaper, “The government mainly concentrated on the people who died in the bomb blast and left those who were injured alone. Each and every day we are suffering.  I request the Chief Minister to act immediately and give government jobs to the people who have been permanently disabled in the blast. In 2016, I got a letter from the CM’s office that I would get a government job.  But when I went and met the collector I was told that the letter was not enough, a Government Order (GO) should be issued to get a government job.”

On October 31, 2015, the Government of Telangana released a GO stating that in case of permanent incapacitation in extremist/ terrorist violence, all the bomb blast victims would get a government job and '20 lakh as ex-gratia. “However, it does not apply to the earlier victims/ us because the bomb blast occurred before the GO,” Chander said.  He requested the government to include them in the compensation list.