Yash Vyas, a 21-year-old blast survivor, wants to see those convicted hanged soon.
New Delhi: The Gujarat Special Court’s verdict earlier this month convicting 49 people involved in the serial blast case of Ahmedabad in 2008 has brought some cheer among survivors and victims of the blast that killed over 56 people and left hundreds of others injured.
The Sunday Guardian spoke to Yash Vyas, the 21-year-old survivor of the blast case who expressed his happiness over the Court’s verdict and said that he wishes to see all of those terrorists hanged to death soon and only then, he and his family would be fully satisfied. Yash, a Bachelor’s of Science student at a college in Ahmedabad was just eight years old when he lost his father and his 11-year-old brother, Rohan, to the dastardly bomb attack outside the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad some 14 years ago.
Yash himself is also a victim and survivor of the Ahmedabad blast case of 2008 where he had sustained 80% burn injuries and a permanent hearing impairment. Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Yash said that the absence of his father and brother reminds him of the horrific blast every day.
“The memories of the blast flashes in front of my eyes even today. Though I was very young at that time, I still remember the mayhem and the bloodbath that I saw in front of my eyes,” Yash said.
The blast has left Yash with bodily impairment as he sustained burn and splinter injuries. Even 14 years later, Yash’s body still has those burn marks and he has lost 40% of his hearing capability due to the massive sound of the bomb blast. However, Yash says that the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and now Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and his office had been extremely helpful to all the victims of the blast. He further said that the CM’s office was in constant touch with his family and it is only because of “Modi Saheb” that he was able to survive the blast.
“After the blast, my mother received a call from Modi Saheb and he had assured us that the government will take care of all the expenses of my treatment. Modi Saheb had also told my mother that they can take me to any hospital of our choice for my treatment and whatever the bill will be, it will be borne by the state government. The state government had also given us a compensation of R 20 lakh. We are very thankful to Modi Saheb for saving my life. It is only because of him that I was able to survive,” Yash said.
Yash was admitted to the Apollo hospital’s ICU in Ahmedabad for three months after which he underwent multiple surgeries for his burns and hearing impairment. Yash said that in total he was admitted to the hospital for five or six months, which cost them Rs 1 crore, 62 lakh and all of this was paid by the Gujarat government.
On 26 July 2008, Ahmedabad was rocked with 21 serial bomb blasts targeting hospitals, bus stands and other crowded places in the city within a span of 70 minutes. The blast had left 56 people dead and more than 200 others injured.
Then eight-year-old Yash, his 11-year-old brother Rohan and his father was outside the Civil Hospital of Ahmedabad on that fateful day, where Yash’s father worked at the hospital’s cancer centre laboratory.
Speaking to this newspaper, Yash said that he along with his father and brother had gone to the ground outside the Civil Hospital to learn cycling. They rode and learnt cycle for about 2 hours and at around 7:30 to 7:45 pm when they were about to return home, his father received a call saying that one of his patients or his family member was coming outside the hospital. His father then seeing an ambulance, moved towards it to see if it was his patient from whom he had received the call, while both Yash and his brother waited some 20 feet away from the ambulance. It was just within 4 to 5 minutes of his father going towards the ambulance a loud thud was heard by Yash and within seconds, he said he saw people falling on the ground and screaming. Yash further added that he does not clearly remember after that, but what he remembers is that with his burnt body, he started running towards his house which was about a kilometre away, following which he does not remember anything.
“I think I was taken to the Civil Hospital after some boys saw me fallen on the road side with burn injuries. I do not remember much after that. But I later heard from my mother that my father passed away just hours after the blast and my brother passed away five days after the blast. My brother could not be saved because he was sitting on the cycle, while I was standing beside him. I think he could not run and suffered massive burn and splinter injuries,” Yash said with his voice choking.
Yash said that even today, he wishes he had not gone for cycling on that fateful day. He said, “I think it was in our destiny, because that was the very first day, we went to learn cycling. My father had brought us cycle about a week ago, but we never went to that ground for cycling, it was on that day that we insisted that we go the big ground to learn properly. Had we not gone on that day, I would not have lost my brother and father,” Yash said.