Even though 24 years have passed ever since the 1993 Mumbai blast incident has occurred but victims continue to wait for compensation. After the occurrence of the blast, the government had announced compensation for bomb blast victims but they still have to run from pillar to post for receiving the assistance. Thus government has merely paid lip service to victims and is not serious about resolving their issues. More than 257 people were killed and over 700 were injured in a series of blasts that occurred in Mumbai on March 12, 1993. There were 13 explosions at prominent locations of city within a span of 140 minutes.
According to reports, Dawood Ibrahim is known as the mastermind of the attacks. Many victims had to undergo surgeries after the bomb blast incident but they had to bear the cost of treatment themselves as government has turned a blind eye towards their problems. They had to bear mental agony and physical torture after the blast incident as nobody is coming forward to help them.
Kirti Ajmera, a victim of 1993 Mumbai bomb blast incident said, “I had to undergo more than 40 operations after the bomb blast incident. I had to incur Rs 40 lakhs for my treatment but I have not received any single penny assistance from the government nor any politician has come forward to support me. The other culprits should have been awarded death sentence. The government should have come forward to provide financial assistance to bomb blast victims. When my family members had approached government officials for help they didn’t cooperate with them.”
Tushar Deshmukh, is another victim of Mumbai 1993 blast incident and whose mother Priti Deshmukh died in the blast. He said, “Victims had demanded life sentence for all the convicts. The manner in which Indian government has done a commendable job in bringing Abu Salem to India from Portugal, we expected that he will be awarded stringent punishment too. We believe court will rethink on this verdict.”
RTI activist Anil Galgali said, “The government has never disclosed the expenses incurred by them for offering compensation to bomb blast victims. They should reveal details of all the expenses including trial, compensation granted to victims. Citizens should be aware of it. I have also filed an RTI with the government but failed to receive a proper response from them.”
A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activity (TADA) Court on Thursday sentenced gangster Abu Salem to life imprisonment for his role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts. Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005. The court has also awarded life term for another convict Karimullah and slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him.
