"Mummy, I Love You": Doordarshan Staff's Video As Maoists Rained Bullets

Taking cover from Maoist fire in the jungles of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, an employee of national broadcaster Doordarshan recorded, in a quivering voice, what he was certain was his last message to his mother. "There has been a terror attack....We are in Dantewada for election coverage...the army was with us, suddenly the Naxals surrounded us," Mormukut Sharma, a lighting assistant, breathed into his phone camera. "Mummy, if I survive this...Mummy, I love you very much. I may not survive, the situation is not looking good...we are surrounded." But he also tried to reassure his mother. "I don't know why, as I face death, I don't feel afraid..."