Mumbai attacks' 10th anniversary: India pays tributes to victims

MUMBAI:- Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday paid tributes to victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and said the time has come for the world community to come together to combat the menace of terrorism and isolate nations that harbour terrorists.

"The sacrifice made by the brave hearts in that inhuman attack should not go in vain and the time has come for the world community to come together to combat the growing menace of terrorism and isolate nations which harbour terrorists," the vice president's secretariat tweeted.

Naidu also remembered those who lost their lives in the attack 10 years ago.

In a tweet, Modi paid tributes to those who lost their lives in the 26/11 incident, saying the country stood in solidarity with the bereaved families. "A grateful nation bows to our brave police and security forces who valiantly fought the terrorists during the Mumbai attacks," he said.

In Mumbai, floral tributes were paid on Monday to those who laid down their lives while fighting Pakistani terrorists who had attacked the metropolis on this day 10 years ago.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was among the dignitaries who paid homage at the 26/11 police memorial site at the Mumbai Police Gymkhana in south Mumbai.

"I pay homage to the brave policemen who fought for Mumbai's safety and laid down their lives for us on 26/11. We are proud of them and we will strive hard for the safety and security of our state," Fadnavis said.

Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao, Maharashtra Police Chief Datta Padsalgikar and Mumbai Commissioner of Police Subodh Kumar Jaiswal also attended the ceremony.

Family members of the policemen who lost their lives during the 26/11 attacks were also present during the ceremony. On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores.

The then Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Army major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbai's additional police commissioner Ashok Kamte, senior police inspector Vijay Salaskar and ASI Tukaram Omble were among those killed in the attack.

The 26/11 attacks had begun on November 26 and lasted till November 29.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Hotel, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital and the Nariman House Jewish community centre, now renamed Nariman Light House, were some of the places targeted by the terrorists.

Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive. He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, after paying tributes, praised the Mumbai Police but pulled up the state government for lapses.

He said the Ram Pradhan Committee, constituted by the then government to probe the shortcomings that led to the 26/11 terror attack, had recommended the setting up of a protocol under an internal security committee.

This protocol was yet to be prepared and the internal security committee had never met in the past four years (since the BJP-led government came to power in the state), Vikhe Patil pointed out.

"Coastal police stations were announced by the state government, but nothing had been done about them in the last four years," the senior Congress leader said, adding that coastal policing should be a top priority post 26/11.

Vikhe Patil said the government should emphasis the need for technology and greater initiative in intelligence.

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar said the safety of people was of utmost importance and there could not be any compromise with that.

He said he did not want to draw comparisons between the previous and the current government, but made it clear that safety of the common man was of utmost importance