10 years old Devika Natwar is not like other children any more, She can not play with other children. Her legs start to pain after walking few steps, she uses walking aids to walk.
Davika can never forget the night of 26th November when she was hit by a bullet at chatar shiva jee platform. Davika says she had seen Ajmal Qasab that night he had a gun in his hand and he was firing every where. Davika is one of the witnesses and she had also identified Ajmal Qasab in the court and court has recorded her statement.
Since than she has been aproached by many media personals, Davika has become an expert in giving her interviews. She starts talking no sooner than a question is asked “That night i was waiting at station to go to Pune, with my mum, dad and brother and all of a sudden voice of bomb explosion was heard”
Devika says he saw a man of rather smaller height was killing every one with his machine gun while a boy near he fell down she was looking at the boy that some thing hit her right foot she looked at the foor and after that she says she doesn’t remember what happened.
Davika’s 14 year old brother and her father were lucky that they didn’t suffer any bullets her brother Chetan had gone to toilet and after hearing the explosion father had gone took for him while Davika waiter there. Father says he had also seen Ajmal Qasab he statement is aslo recorded in the court.
Davika’s brother chatan says that he saw 2 men firing with their guns they also thrown bombs (Hand Grenades) than there was smoke and dead bodies every where.
Davika was in hospital for 5 weeks her foot has been operated 6 times and now she has rods in her foot. Davika in her statement in the court says she even today says hang the terrorist.
When I said this in the court Ajmal Qasab put his head down and sat down. Davika says she normally doesnt get scared but even today if she hears even a firecracker she gets scared Davika wants to become a Police officer when she grows up so that she can kill all terroists.
Balaji Kharat Malh was also at the station and was hit by the attackers he lost his 65 years mother that day he was going for the Darshan of Matajee to Sholapur with his mother that day.
Balaji says he had made his mother sit on theseat at platform while he was sitting on the floor suddenly an explosion was heard and there were sound of bullets everywhere seats were full of blood people were either falling down or were getting up after getting wounded with bullets while this was going on his mother fell on him and he says he understood the situation and he also slept on floor as he was also dead. ?He was also hurt from scractches of bullet but he kept quite and got up when all was quite. When he got up it was very quite every where there were dead bodies and blood.
Balaji still has parts of the bullets in his boday he was treated but doctors told him they cant take those parts out of his body as it may get complicated. Balaji says in winter it hurts and he has to take pain killers.
On 26th November 2008 164 people had died and about 300 hundred were wounded most of them had become handicapped.
Translated from Rehana Bastiwal’s article on BBC Urdu ?Photo credit?BBC
