Click to play videoAhmedabad is still coming to terms with the horrors of July 26, when within a span of 70 minutes, as many as 21 bombs exploded, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than a 150.
Civil Hospital in Asarva, Gujarat was, in many ways, the epicentre of the blasts. At least 25 people lost their lives when a Wagon R car exploded right outside the hospital. Good Samaritans who had come to help people were killed, and doctors who were supposed to provide healing touch to the injured, were blown to bits. Never before in the genealogy of terror has a hospital been targeted in this manner.
Aftermath of blasts
At the B4 ward of the hospital, victims of the blast are still coming to terms with that tragedy.
Manju Achalya, the medical superintendent of the hospital, was just 10 metres away from the blast site.
She says she hasn't been able to sleep since the fateful day of the blasts.
"I was so busy for the last five that I had no time to think about it. But last night, I had time to think about the incident, which happened in front of my eyes. I so felt threatened and scared, I couldn't sleep the whole night," she says.
What troubles her most is the realisation that the trauma centre, which is the heart of a hospital, too, could be a target of a terror attack.
She says she can never forget the blast scene. "I saw fire, parts of vehicles and what not up in the air. This is not an act any brave person can do. If you've got animosity, you fight on the war front and not with the people who are already injured and weak," she says.
Coming to terms with reality
Mukesh Patni's story, symbolises Ahmedabad's tragedy. He was rushing the injured to the hospital when another bomb exploded.
"I was rushing people to the hospital on a trolley. But as I was entering the hospital with the injured, another bomb went off. All those with me who were helping the injured were killed in that blast. I saw a man burning. He was crying for help but there was no one to help him, because everybody was just too scared," he says.
Mukesh Patni's story is reflective of what happened in Ahmedabad that day - he was trying to help others but he became a victim himself.
Among those injured were little children like seven-year-old Nisha, who were in the playground right opposite the Civil Hospital. Nisha suffered several injuries, but her brother, who was there with her, was killed.
"She and her cousin brother were playing in the ground. She got injured but her brother, unfortunately died. She doesn't know that yet. She fell unconscious so she doesn't know," Manju Achalya says.
How does a seven-year-old come to terms with what has happened?
"We are offering them psychiatric help. We've got a child psychologist who gives them psychotherapy sessions daily. We are planning the rehabilitation of all the children," Achalya says.
At the burns ward of the Civil Hospital, some of the most critically injured are receiving treatment. The Makwana couple are a particularly tragic case. Hansa Makwana works at the trauma centre of the hospital. On July 26, she and her husband were on their way to work when the bomb outside the hospital exploded.
Even though she and her husband have suffered multiple burn injuries, she still has a smile on her face. "My child has given me her blessings. It's because of those blessings that me and my husband are still alive," she says.
The heroes
Every terror attack gives birth to several heroes. Ahmedabad serial blasts stand testimony to the heroic act of doctors at the Civil Hospital.
"We have managed earthquakes, we have managed riots, and Akshardham attack, but I think we handled the terror attack in the most effective manner - in spite of the hospital itself being a target of the attack," a doctor says.
The doctors lost a couple of young colleagues but they say there's something to learn from it. "It tells us no matter what happens, work comes first," says one of the doctors. Another adds: "What we did came naturally to us. It had nothing to do with being in a special situation. Perhaps at a subconscious level we do prepare for things like these, which doesn't allow us to break down at that point of time."
The politics of it all
Of the 21 blasts, five took place in Maninagar, which lies in the heart of eastern Ahmedabad. It is a predominantly working-class constituency and a BJP stronghold. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi won by 87000 votes from Maninagar last year. Is there a connection, then, between terrorists targeting Maninagar and the fact that this BJP stronghold?
Six-time MP from the area, Haren Pathak says the blasts had nothing to with Maninagar being a BJP stronghold. "The eastern part of the city was targeted. Apart from that, crowded regions and areas near the hospitals were targeted," he says.
"The last 5-6 years," he adds, "the maximum number of blasts have taken place in UPA-ruled areas."
But is there a connection between 2002 Gujarat riots?
"I feel that blasts were to break down the pace of progress which Gujarat has seen during the last five years. There is no Hindu-Muslim divide. My 40 years of experience tell me that these blasts were not targeted against people belonging to a particular religion," Pathak says.
Contrary to the fears of many, Narendra Modi's public addresses after the blast appeared toned down in comparison to the ones after 2002 Godhra riots. Has the Gujarat CM changed?
"I have known Modiji for 30 years. He has always been like this. I feel he was misquoted during 2002 tensions. His focus is only on the development of Gujarat," Pathak says.
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