Mumbai’s grief was tinged with some relief as solemn tributes were paid to the victims and martyrs of the 26/11 terror attacks on its fourth anniversary, five days after sole surviving perpetrator Mohammad Ajmal Kasab was hanged in Yerawada prison.
Mumbai’s grief was tinged with some relief as solemn tributes were paid to the victims and martyrs of the 26/11 terror attacks on its fourth anniversary, five days after sole surviving perpetrator Mohammad Ajmal Kasab was hanged in Yerawada prison.
Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde led Mumbaikars in paying homage to the police personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty at the Martyrs Memorial at Marine Lines.
Shinde’s cabinet colleague Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, home minister RR Patil, Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh and family members of victims and heroes also paid floral tributes to those felled during the three-day siege that brought the city to its knees on November 26, 2008.
Eighteen policemen, including Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare, had made the supreme sacrifice, gallantly fighting Kasab and his band of nine other LeT terrorists, indoctrinated and trained in Pakistan.
There was no uncontrolled outburst of emotions, no photographs of martyred policemen peering down from massive hoardings in bustling streets and no smart parade by the anti-terror force.
A group of former employees of Leopold Cafe also paid tribute to 26/11 victims on Monday at Azad Maidan. Ten former employees, along with their families, have been observing a hunger strike since November 22 over their alleged illegal dismissal from the cafe. The sacked employees who formed a union called The Leopold Cafe Kamgar Sanghatana were unsung heroes of the 26/11, who dreaded bombs and bullets, to save several lives. On Monday, the group paid candle light tributes to those who lost their lives and also to martyrs and police officers who risked their lives to save many.
The employees claim that they were allegedly sacked between March and May 2012 because they formed a worker’s union and demanded their dues that have been pending over a long time. Tukaram Ilake, one of the staff, said, “On this day, four years back, we sacrificed our lives and took injured to the hospital. In the process, we even lost two of our dear colleagues. But today, we are jobless and we are fighting for our dues.”
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