On26/11 first anniversary, India resolves not to rest till perpetrators are punishment

On the first anniversary of 26/11 mayhem which traumatised the country’s financial capital Mumbai for 60-hours, people across the country paid a silent homage to the 130 people killed in the dastardly strikes at iconic Taj hotel, Oberai Trident, and Nariman point’s Jewish house besides the local central railway station.

The Federal Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram led the people in Mumbai in lighting candles at the Gate Way of India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is in Washington on a state visit to the US, in his tribute to 26/11 martyrs, said India would not rest till the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage are brought to justice.

He said, the attack on Mumbai was a calculated attempt by forces outside the country to destabilise India's secular polity and create communal discord. ‘The country’, he told a news conference, ‘expects that the master minds of the attack and their supporters should be tried and punished’. The issue has been taken with Islamabad. The US is also putting pressure on Pakistan to act fast to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Singh in his media interaction in the US capital, and Chidambaram in his address at various functions in Mumbai, spoke of ‘several measures’ taken to strengthen the security and intelligence system in the wake of Mumbai attacks. Internal security is the top priority of the government, the Prime Minister stated.

Singh used his visit to send out a fresh call to reverse brain drain. He invited Indians worldwide to return home.

Prime Minister Singh highlighted the Five Es - economy, energy, environment, education and empowerment that forms a critical part of the "next phase" of the relationship between the two countries. ‘Let me take this opportunity to extend an invitation to all Indian Americans and non-resident Indians who wish to return home to India in one capacity or another’, he told a meeting of India American community.

Singh assured them that modern technology and India’s flexible policies have opened possibilities of working in both US and India.

Touching on relations with the US, Prime Minister said the bilateral ties were not a result of any crisis but are long lasting and mutually beneficial. ‘Our relationship is not born out of a crisis or any one concern; nor does it exist in the context of any other relationship. It derives its vitality from recognition of the enormous potential for mutually beneficial cooperation’.

-Asian Tribune-