Wounds of India!!!

Do you reminisce about Mandai Massacre? Well being a 90's kid you may not. It was a massacre of the Bengalis of Mandwi village near Agartala in the Indian state of Tripura on 8 June 1980, by tribunal insurgents. As per the independent sources and eyewitnesses, 350 to 400 Bengalis died in Mandwi. Since then our country has witnessed numerous attacks where terrorists have taken thousands of lives in the pursuit of their dark objectives. And these terrorists and such massacres, aren't history, they can happen in the centers of the peaceful and developed cities. Armed terrorism causing destruction to life and property has been in vogue for some time now and today most of the countries are victims of terrorism. Talking about the attacks in India itself, there have been myriad attacks in the form of bombings, explosions, mass shootings, intentional vehicular assaults etc. Let's see some of those attacks whose wounds are still fresh to every Indian.

• 1993 Bombay Bombings - Thirteen back-to-back blasts over three hours period had rocked Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killing 257, injuring over 710 people and destroying property worth over ₹27 crore. This worst terror attack had several conspirators and masterminds including Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Chota Shakeel, Yakub Memon, Tiger Memon, Abu Saleem, and few others. Yakub Memon was hanged to death in 2015, Abu Saleem was given 25 years life sentence and the other two were sentenced to death. Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was also convicted in 2013 by the SC for acquiring illegal guns from  Saleem and thus declared a five-year term jail. However two of the main suspects, Ibrahim and Tiger are absconding.

• 2001 Parliament attack - On Dec 13, 2001, India witnessed one of the most audacious terrorist attack directed at the heart of its a democracy. The Pakistan based terrorist's organizations, Laskar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad were the perpetrators behind this whose clear intention was to mock India, paralyze it politically and leave it totally devastated. Suicide squad of 5 terrorists with grenades in bag packs, used fake identity sticker on their car and breached the security. 12 people were killed including those 5 gunmen.

However, it left a question on the assurances about 'beefing up security', do even the highest security zones are safe?

• Akshardham Temple attack - Another heart wrenching terrorist attack which took place in the auspicious Akshardham temple of Gujarat in 2002 left 30 people killed and more than 80 people injured. However, the attackers were subsequently killed by National Security Guard (NSG) Commandos. After fourteen days of the attack, the temple was reopened with increased security measures.

• Samjhauta Express Bombing - Humanity was yet again assassinated when terrorists targeted the passengers of Samjhauta Express (that runs between Delhi, India and Lahore, Pakistan) around midnight on 18 Feb 2007. Around 70 people died in ensuing fire among which most were Pakistani civilians and victims included some Indian civilians as well. It was a crystal clear attempt of terrorist group Jaish-e-mohammad to derail the peace attempts between both the nations.

• 26/11 - Memory of those attacks on Taj Hotel, Nariman House, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Cama Hospital, Oberoi Hotel still haunts every Indian. We, the Indians can never forget those perturbing sixty hours of siege in which over 160 people were killed and hundreds were left injured. Ten heavily armed terrorists from Pakistan brazenly entered Mumbai through the sea route in a dinghy and targeted innocent people at different places in Mumbai. With the heroic efforts of our brave soldiers and police, all the militants were killed except one. Ajmal Kasab was the only one who was captured alive and was hanged four years later on 21 November 2012. Well, to be honest, all the wounds that the Mumbai attacks have given would take a lifetime to heal.

• Uri attack - The attack on the base camp of Uri can be considered as the deadliest attack on soldiers in Kashmir in the past two decades. Four heavily armed militants massacred an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri during wee hours when soldiers were sleeping in their tents. They lobbed 17 grenades in 3 minutes which led to the death of our soldiers, or rather say, asleep soldiers, who didn't even get the chance to fight. We lost our nineteen Lion-hearted soldiers in this odious attack which infuriated every Indian. This time, the Indian soldiers and the government was in no mood to spare those terror groups and thus carried out the "Surgical strike" to avenge Uri garrison attack.  

• Pulwama attack - Another year, another major attack on the Armed forces. On 14 Feb 2019, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district which resulted in the death of 40 CRPF personnel and the attacker. Not only the CRPF but the whole nation was hit badly. Pakistan based terror group, Jaish-e-Mohammad took the responsibility of the attack and Pakistan was yet again accused of harboring terrorists.

These were just some of the major attacks that shook the heart of every Indian and people all across the globe. Don’t you think that this so-called revenge for peace needs an end? Don’t you think that this blind and brutal killing of innocents needs a full stop? We as humans need to create harmony and promote togetherness on this day and promise to be the same every coming day. Respect humanity!!

Blog by Kritika Kashyap.