Sunday 24 / November / 2024
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid homage to the victims of the dastardly 26/11 terror attacks, which shook the country's commercial capital, Mumbai, in 2008.
Sunday marked the 15 anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks.
Addressing countrymen in the latest edition of his monthly radio broadcast, 'Mann Ki Baat', on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi said it was the country's indomitable resilience and capability that helped it recover from the deep scars left by the coordinated attacks by heavy-armed terrorists from across the border in Pakistan.
“Now we are cracking down and crushing terrorism with full might and courage,” PM Modi said in Hindi during his monthly radio address.
“We can never forget November 26 and the deep wounds that the attacks inflicted on us. On this day, 15 years ago, the country suffered its most heinous terror attack. The terrorists shook up not just Mumbai but the entire country and the ripples of it were also felt across the world. However, it was our inherent capability that helped us recover from the 26/11 attacks and crush terrorism with all our might," PM Modi said.
“I pay homage to all those who lost their lives in the Mumbai attacks. The nation is and will remain eternally grateful to the bravehearts who lost their lives defending us during these attacks,” he added.
On this day, 15 years ago, a group of heavily armed terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba unleashed mayhem on the streets of Mumbai, spraying bullets on unarmed civilians at multiple key public installations in the city.
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 Pakistani terrorists.
The attacks left over 166 dead, including foreigners, and over 300 injured. While one of the terrorists, Ajmal Amir Qasab, was captured alive, the others were taken out in the final stages of the siege over four days.
In May 2010, Qasab was sentenced to death and was hung in a maximum security prison in Pune, two years later.
The Congress, meanwhile, also paid tributes to the 26/11 victims on the 15th anniversary of the attacks on Sunday.
Taking to its official handle on X, the party said the country has always stood strong in the face of enemies.
"We pay our humble tributes to all the martyrs and victims of the gruesome 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, which shook the whole nation in 2008. We've always stood strong in the face of enemies, and we pledge to fight all forms of “terror and threats directed at our nation,” the Congress stated in its post.
