By Mohammed Shafeeq Hyderabad, Nov 26 : .Noorjahan Begum still remembers the horror at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shiji Terminus (CST), on that fateful night in November 2008.
Her nightmares about her daughter, newly married, being shot by terrorists and her husband dying in the pool of blood will haunt her forever.
Noorjahan, 56, said that she was waiting at the station with her husband and their daughter, who were married six months ago.They had missed a train home to Nizamabad so Noorjahan was now back in Nizamabad.
They had traveled to Mumbai to pray at the Haji Ali Dargah in thanksgiving for Amina Begum’s wedding.
They missed the Devagiri Express and were forced to wait at the station for a new train.
They were all settled like other passengers waiting for their turn at 9.20 p.m.when gunshots sounded and panic ensued.People were seen running helter skelter around the station.
Amina Begum (20), was one of the 58 victims of two Pakistani terrorists, including Ajmal Kasab.He was later captured alive and sentenced in 2012.
“The attackers suddenly appeared and started firing indiscriminately.My husband and daughter were already on the ground, and I didn’t realize it was happening,” Noorjahan said.
He escaped with splinter wounds and a son, and a granddaughter.
“My six-month-old daughter was a bride, and she was lying in the pool of blood with a bullet through her neck,” Noorjahan said, crying inconsolably.
“There was blood everywhere.My forehead was covered in blood, and my feet were soaked in blood that had been poured on the ground.
She also described the horror, adding that there was heavy smoke.
Abdul Rasheed, Noorjahan’s spouse, was shot in the hand, thigh, and foot.
These injuries left him disabled and bedridden, and ultimately led to his death in 2011.
“My father was the sole breadwinner in the family.
He was an auto-rickshaw driver, and used to work in a factory that made cement pipes.He suffered a severed thumb from a bullet injury, and he was unable to recover,” Sheikh Anees said to IANS.
Noorjahan’s health was also affected by the shock at the murder of her daughter in front of her eyes and the subsequent death of her husband.
“She developed diabetes and blood pressure, and she often remembers that fateful night.She then goes into depression.” Anes, an auto-rickshaw driver, said that she doesn’t remind her of the tragedy.
He stated that the family lost two of its members, suffered psychological trauma, and fell into financial difficulties.
Noorjahan was disappointed that her family didn’t receive any assistance, even though the government promised them that they would be provided with a job.She said, “I have multiple health issues and all my children are doing menial jobs to survive.”
Anees believes that a family member could have had a better life if they were given a job in the government.
Two other families from Telangana lost their loved ones in terror attacks that rocked India’s financial capital.
Vijay Rao Bhanja (47), chief executive cook at Taj Hotel was killed in the attack against the star hotel.
According to his family he was trapped in the hotel’s first-floor kitchen.
They had heard about the terror attack and called him on his mobile phone.
He assured them that he was safe with the others in the kitchen.
Later, his friends informed them that he had been shot to death while helping his fellow cooks get out of the kitchen.
Nine months later, Vijay’s family was hit again when Fareeda, his wife, died in her sleep from cardiac arrest.Fareeda was working in Mumbai with visually impaired children.
Lakshmi Narayana Haridwarilal Goel (57) was another Hyderabadi who lost his life in the 26/11 attacks.
An IED exploded in the taxi that he was riding in near Vile Parle, killing the lawyer.
After missing the train to Hyderabad, CST, he was returning to his Mumbai home to visit a relative.
ms/pgh
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