‘How will I survive now?’ asks father who lost sole son in Red Fort carnage

NEW DELHI: No hope lives in the heart of Ram Balak Sahni who lost his only son in the Monday Red Fort blast.

"How will I survive now?" he said, staring blankly at a survivors gathering on Thursday.

The meeting was organised by the survivors of the 2005 Sarojini Nagar blast to commiserate with the kin of the latest victims.

"My two daughters are still studying and I have been unwell for a long time. My son was the only earning member of the family," said Ram Balak, father of an autorickshaw driver, who had left for Old Delhi around 4.45 pm with a passenger the day a blast tore through a busy city road.

"He must have got another ride there. We had no idea such a thing could happen," he said.

According to Ram Balak, he got a call around 8.30 pm on Monday about the incident. His hopes ebbed at the sight of his son's mangled auto.

"I first saw his auto -- it was in terrible condition. I knew he must have been badly injured but never imagined he would be gone. I saw his lifeless body, there was a red mark on the left side of his face," he said.

Ashok Randhawa, the president of the Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Association and a survivor of the 2005 attack, said he knew what it felt like to be a victim of the blast.

"We have witnessed that horrifying incident in 2005 and know what kind of situation it must be for the families," he said.

"We are here to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on Monday and urge the government to provide at least two per cent reservation in government jobs to the victims of such blasts," Randhawa added.

The powerful explosion near the Red Fort on Monday evening killed 13 people and injured many. The police and forensic teams are investigating the nature of the explosive and possible links to previous attacks. The October 29, 2005, Sarojini Nagar blast was part of coordinated Delhi market explosions on Diwali eve, killing over 60 and injuring more than 200. with agency inputs