The burning train

 

 

For those going back home in the two bogies of the much-hyped Samjhauta Express, it was the end of the journey just 100 kms. away from Delhi. It also marked an end of dreams which had lingered in the eyes of passengers, torn apart by intricacies of borders. Many lives were snuffed out and all that remained were heart rending cries and loud wails. Hope turned extinct. People, who had just said a goodbye to their near and ones in Delhi turned into burnt corpses. For the rest, the journey continued, without those who were co-travellers till just a few hours ago. This is what life is. And the show must go on.

Pain lurked like a shadow in the eyes of Waqar, a resident of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, as he began searching bogies of the Samjhauta Express. He was trying to locate his six relatives whom he had just dropped at the Old Delhi railway station a few hours ago. They all had come to visit Waqar from Karachi in Pakistan in January, in the same train. He was trying hard to muffle his sobs by putting his hand over his mouth like a lid. He repeatedly pointed towards a seat, “They were sitting here...please let me see once...please let me see once.” Officials, who were busy with the visit of VIPs like Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and Former Defence Minister George Fernandes advised him to look for his relatives in the hospital.

The scene in the civil hospital was even more horrifying. Coffins were lined up outside the room where the dead bodies had been kept.Even those, who had not lost anyone, were crying at the sight of these coffins.

Amidst sounds of chest beating and loud wails, a young man almost begged the cops on the duty to look for his brother who happened to be one of the Ticket Examiners aboard the train.

Another young man, Faiyyaz was surrounded by TV cameras trying to get closer to him. He had just recognised his mother's body. A mother pleaded with the authorities to show her the bodies. Her four children were missing.

“Allah raham kar (God, have mercy)” said an old man listening to her cries. ”Are you also a relative of any victim?” someone asked the old man. “Insaniyat ke naate main sabka rishtedar hun (By virtue of humanity, I am everybody's relative),” he replied. The old man was there since morning, helping the people in need.

That security for the train was non-existent was reflected in the words of forensic expert Dr. R. K. Kaushal. “We saw the live bombs at one glance and diffused them in the morning. It is strange why security personnel could not find them.”

Experts believe that there is a clear message behind this attack. “There is a history of terrorists getting desperate before any big Indo-Pak talks. This is one in the series,” says political analyst G. Parthasarthy.

Things have moved much ahead on the course of peace. With both India and Pakistan promising to continue with the peace process, the terrorists behind this attack may not have achieved much. This is also the first time that even after such a gruesome terror attack, the two countries, by and large, did not resort to blame game. But then many lives were lost. And all of them were precious.