‘My son cannot be forgotten’

The first anniversary of the 26/11 attack brought together two women, one from Kashmir, the other from Kerala, who are bound by a common thread: they are both victims of terror. Rukhsana Kausar, 21, fought armed terrorists who barged into her house last month in Rajouri, Kashmir, and killed one. She and Dhanalakshmi, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s mother, hugged each other at the Gateway of India on Thursday. They had come to attend ‘Mumbai Shapat’, a commemorative ceremony by the state government.

Kausar, who came to Mumbai earlier this week, has been meeting families of terror victims. “The only way to tackle terrorism is to fight back,” she said. “That is exactly what I did, in my own little way.”

The two women spoke for a few minutes. “She praised me for my act,” said Kausar, who came to the city with her brother Ijaz Ahmad.

Dhanalaxmi sat with her husband Unnikrishnan in the front row dedicated to families of the 26/11 martyrs. “Wherever my son is being mentioned, I go there. That’s my way of being with him. I can feel him around,” she said. “He is still alive, nobody can forget him,” she added, holding back tears.

Dhanalaxmi maintained a stoic silence throughout the programme, only to turn back a couple of times to look at the Taj, where her son was killed.

Unnikrishnan said he was happy that the Mumbai police was getting modern weapons. “Nothing should let Mumbai down ever again. It is time to act,” he said. He also rued that everybody, including the public, has forgotten his son’s sacrifice. “But one cannot expect the public to remember such things,” he said.