NEW YORK: Thus began the meeting between the families of the victims and Vajpayee at New York Palace Hotel on the evening of September 11, 2002, exactly a year after the attacks took place. A hush descended on the room where the families were waiting, along with External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Ambassador Lalit Mansingh, Ambassador at Large Bhishma Agnihotri, New York Consul General Pramathesh Rath, and other officials, when Vajpayee walked in. As the prime minister surveyed the faces of the families, no one spoke. Rath then spoke: "There were 2,800-odd victims of the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks and another 200 of the Pennsylvania crash. Of that, 117 were of Indian origin, and 70 were Indians. Each of the families gathered here has a sad tale to narrate. Let them say it in their own words." Listening to him were Shafali Agarwal, who lost her husband Alok, and her son Ankush. There was Sampath Pakkala, who lost his wife Deepa. There was Deepa Gopu, whose brother Kiran is still listed as "missing." There was Eva Narula, who lost her sister Monika. There was Navnit Bharde, who lost her brother Nitin Parandkar. There was Vasantha Velumuri, who lost her husband Shankar Shastri. All 21 of them had arrived to meet with the prime minister from Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers of the WTC once stood, after participating in a moving ceremony in the morning, where the names of all 2,801 victims of the September 11, 2001, terror strikes in New York were called out. For some, the day proved too much to bear. Sonia Gavas, who lost her husband Ganesh Ladkat, fainted in the morning at Ground Zero when names of the victims were being called. According to Pakkala, Gavas had said she would try to make it to the evening meeting with Vajpayee. But she did not. The prime minister did not intrude on their grief, making only a brief statement: "The devastating events of 9/11 will always be remembered. Terrorists make innocent victims their target, and play havoc with their lives." He went on to say that India had been a target of terrorism for long, "but the world was not ready to listen". When India voiced its concern about terror, he added, "they said America was far away and that there was no danger to them." Today, he said, the whole world is fighting terrorism and even those who lost their loved ones in the September 11 attacks were part of the war against terror. On behalf of the victims, Col. Shamrao Thatte, who lost his son Harshad, thanked the prime minister for taking time out and meeting them. "We are confident that this meeting will give us the strength to carry on," he said. Nine-year-old Ankush then walked up to Vajpayee and thanked him. He also recited a poem in Hindi on India. The ice was slowly being broken. The family members, one by one, went up to the prime minister and spoke to him. He listened to them, reassured them and consoled them. Indira Mansingh, wife of Ambassador Mansingh, also went around to the victims and spoke to them. Narula, who lost her sister Monika, was there with her parents. "That day, Mona (Monika) and I both left our Long Island home and parted as usual at New York Penn Station. She for her job at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 101st floor of the North Tower. I to my job. That was the last I saw of her," Narula told IANS. For Shafali, it was a harrowing experience. She was in Delhi when she saw the tragedy unfolding on TV on September 11 last year. Alok Agarwal was working for Cantor Fitzgerald on floor 103 of the North Tower. She rushed to the U.S. Today, she lives in Cantor Park in New Jersey, with her aunt, who also lost her son, Mukesh Agarwala, in the attacks. "Mukesh was working in Fiduciary Trust. And he had joined (work) only the day before." Her son Ankush, who also visited Ground Zero in the morning, said all he saw there was a huge and dirty space. "I have seen the twin towers before in 2000. Now it is totally different," he said. Ankush is in the Fourth Grade at South Brunswick Aceres School. Vasantha Velumuri said she had lost her 56-year-old husband. A U.S. citizen, she works with the New York State Insurance Fund. Her husband, Shankar Sashtri, was a tax auditor with the New York Taxation and Finance department. "I am alone now. I don't know what to do," she said. Deepa Gopu, her father Subbha Reddy Gopu and mother Adilakshmamma had come down from Cudappah, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her brother Kiran, who used to work with Marsh & MacLennen on the 97th floor of the North Tower, is still listed as missing. "He was just 27 days into the job. We are all heartbroken," said Subba Reddy Gopu. Navnita Bharde, who lost her brother Nitin who also worked for Marsh & MacLennen on the 97th floor of the North Tower, is still recovering from the tragedy. "It was nice of Vajpayee to meet us. But I don't know how much he can help," she said. All the families said they had got aid from the various city agencies. But many had problems. Shafali, who was on an H-4 visa, was changed to a B-2 visa and now has time till November to stay in the country. "I wish the Indian government can speak to the U.S. government and help us to stay on," she said.
Source: IANS