16 yrs after Gokul Chat blast, survivors await assistance

HYDERABAD: Sixteen years on, the sounds and wounds of the twin blasts at Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park are still fresh in the minds and eyes of its victims, and indeed the city.

On Friday, the 16th anniversary of that attack, victims and families of the deceased gathered at the Gokul Chat in Koti to pay their tributes to the 32 victims.

" I may be partially blind but those visuals and the thunderous sound still rake up my senses, sometimes in the middle of the night. It's everybody's worst nightmare, to not only fall victim to it but also live to recall it every day," said Syed Raheem, who lost vision in one eye and lost 80 per cent of sight in the other in the blast.

What's worse than reliving those moments is justice being killed in the blast too, said another victim. "It's been more than a decade, most of the terrorists were apprehended, but today they are better looked after than us — given food, ventilation, and protection. My blood boils to think of their luck," said Sateesh, who said he was alive because he walked in just two seconds later than he was meant to, into Gokul Chat.

"I can't pay for the expenses of these very terrorists that killed my father," said the daughter of a man who died while receiving treatment the next day after the blast, implying that the innocent taxpayers' money ensured the criminals lived with no fear of tomorrow.

"They don't have to worry about what they eat the next hour or how they'll earn for tomorrow," she said, sobbing bitterly.

Raheem said that though the then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had visited him and assured him of justice, the BRS government promised him a double-bedroom home in 2018 but didn't deliver. "Today we demand that they give us what they promised, nothing in crores or like the bungalows they live in, just what was told to us,” he said.

“I suffer from several illnesses including hernia, but shudder at the thought of spending money. I spent close to Rs20 lakhs to treat the injuries caused by the blast. How tough is it for the government to give a handful of us a health card or a bus pass? We are losing hope and feel punished. Is it me that can’t see, or the government?" asked Rahim, who is 72 years old.