Tributes paid to martyrs on anniversary of 26/11 attacks
| Date :27-Nov-2021 |
POLITICAL leaders, Bollywood personalities and citizens on Friday paid heartfelt tributes to the people who lost their lives in the 26/11 terror attacks, which shook the country’s financial capital 13 years ago, with banners carrying pictures of the martyrs dotting various locations in south Mumbai to remember their supreme sacrifice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the country in paying tributes to the martyrs of the 26/11 terror attacks and President Ram Nath Kovind said the nation will always be grateful to the security personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and state Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil paid their respects at the memorial at the police headquarters in south Mumbai. Family members of some of the martyred police personnel also paid tributes at the memorial.
People paid tributes to the martyrs at Cama and Albless Hospital, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and near the Gateway of India, some of the places in south Mumbai that were targeted by the terrorists on November 26, 2008. Homage was also paid at Girgaum Chowpatty, where policeman Tukaram Ombale was shot dead by the terrorists during the attacks that lasted for three days.
Banners and hoardings of martyrs were put up at various locations in south Mumbai, where floral tributes were paid by citizens. As a mark gratitude, people were even seen offering flowers to the on-duty security personnel at the Gateway of India.
Police were deployed at various key locations in the city as a precautionary measure.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is recuperating in a Mumbai hospital after spine surgery, also remembered the 26/11 martyrs.
India asks Pak to expedite trial in 26/11 cases
INDIA cannot forget the wounds of the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday on the 13th anniversary of the carnage even as a senior diplomat of the Pakistani High Commission was summoned and told that Islamabad
must ensure expeditious trial in the case.
In a short video released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the 26/11 attacks, Modi also said that today’s India is combating terrorism with a “new policy and new ways” as he paid tributes to the victims of the strikes.
The MEA said a note verbale was handed over to the Pakistani diplomat, reiterating New Delhi’s demand for an expeditious trial in the Mumbai attacks case and asking that country to abide by its commitment to not allow territories under its control for terrorism against India.
“I pay homage to all those who died in the Mumbai attack. Many brave police personnel were also martyred in the strike. I also pay homage to them,” Modi said in Hindi in the video posted by the MEA on Twitter.
“India cannot forget the wounds of the Mumbai attack. Today’s India is combating terrorism with a new policy and new ways,” he said.
In a statement titled ‘Thirteen years of seeking justice for the victims of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the MEA
asserted that the terror attack was “planned, executed and launched” from Pakistani territory.
“It is a matter of deep anguish that even after 13 years of this heinous terror attack, the families of 166 victims from 15 countries across the globe still await closure, with Pakistan showing little sincerity in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” it said in a statement.
The MEA said India will continue to make every effort to seek justice for the families of the “victims and the martyrs” of the attacks.
“The former Prime Minister of Pakistan had gone on record and admitted that the terrorists were sent from Pakistan’s soil,” the MEA said, in a reference to comments made by former premier Nawaz Sharif.