Nation Pays Tribute To 26/11 Martyrs
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Joining the nation in remembering those killed in the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today pledged to redouble efforts to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice."On
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Joining the nation in remembering those killed in the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today pledged to redouble efforts to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
"On this day of remembrance, we salute the courage, unity and the resolve of ordinary Mumbaikars and the brave and selfless action of our men in uniform during the attack," he said in a statement here on the second anniversary of the Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.
Singh said, "It is this spirit and strength of character of the Indian people that will defeat such forces that seek to threaten our social fabric and way of life".
"We will never succumb to the designs of our enemies. We pledge to redouble our efforts to bring the perpetrators of this crime against humanity to justice," he said.
Marking the second anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks, Maharashtra Police today took out a parade in south Mumbai beginning from Oberoi Trident Hotel, one of the sites of the deadly strikes.
The parade, which was participated by the teams of Force One, Quick Response Teams (QRT) and Mumbai police, began after saluting Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
The parade displayed advanced anti-terror combat vehicles and weapons procured by the state police following the terror attack.
A 1.3-km long banner, which read 'The Great Wall of Mumbai', was held by hundreds of students from Mumbai. The banner starts from hotel Trident.
Home Minister P Chidambaram today said Pakistan has not fulfilled its promise to bring the masterminds of Mumbai terror attacks to justice and hoped it will realise its responsibility as a nation and take action against them.
"In Pakistan, we have a neighbour who has not fulfilled its promise to bring 26/11 masterminds to justice. We have learnt a lesson that while we will always trust our neighbour, we must always be on guard," Chidambaram said on the sidelines of a function in Mumbai.
"I sincerely hope that on the second anniversary of this horrific tragedy, Pakistan will realise its responsibility as a nation, as a government and fulfil its promises to bring to justice those who perpetrated the attacks," he said.
Recalling the unfulfilled assurances given by Islamabad, he said it had promised to bring to justice the masterminds, the controllers and the handlers of the terror strike by arresting all the seven persons whose names were handed over by India to it.
The Home Minister said Pakistan was yet to provide voice samples of the persons who had been named as perpetrators of the carnage.
"On a day like this while we honour those who laid down their lives, while we renew to our people our pledge that we will do everything in our power to secure this country and secure the people, it is my duty to caution the people that we have a neighbour who has not yet fulfilled the promises made to us," he said.
The Home Minister also said that there is a need to pay attention to proper training, weapons and housing needs of police forces.
"We must pay attention to police forces or else we won't have an efficient police. There are over three lakh vacancies in police constabulary in India. We must pay attention to proper shoes, uniform, training, weapons, pay and housing needs of police force," Chidambaram said.
Lauding slain Police Inspector Tukaram Ombale, who caught the lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab, Chidambaram, said, "If Kasab hadn't been caught alive, there would be no conclusive link to Pakistan in 26/11 attacks."
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil and Minority Affairs Minister Arif Naseem Khan, Director General of Police D Sivanandan, Mumbai Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Dayal were among the dignitaries who received salute from the parade. PTI