Kavita Karkare, wife of slain anti-terrorist squad chief Hemant Karkare and the family of slain policeman Tukaram Ombale and Mumbaikars in general paid tribute to the 26/11 martyrs on the third anniversary of the terror attack. While Karkare and Ombale family quite visibly expressed their disappointment over government’s apathy towards strengthening of security, a large number of Mumbaikars, who had gathered at prominent places and corners, took oath to maintain peace and unity to weather crisis similar to 26/11.
Also, it was an opportunity for almost all political parties, gearing up for the civic elections slated in February, to reach out to the voters by organising peace rallies and meetings to pay tribute to the martyrs. Parties organised blood donation camps and launched public awareness campaigns too.
Kavita Karkare could not hide her dissatisfaction. She said leaders had made tall promises about upgradation of security system and no such attack taking place again. However, the July 13 blasts in Mumbai exposed hollowness of their claims.
On the other hand, Ombale’s wife Tarabai and four daughters still recall those memories. Vaishali, Ombale’s daughter told journalists that her mother was yet to come to terms with the loss. Ombale’s statue was on Saturday unveiled at the Girgaum Chowpatty.
Smita Salaskar, widow of Vijay Salaskar, encounter specialist who was killed with Hemant Karkare, attended the function at the police memorial. For Salaskars it was difficult to digest that Vijay was dead, however, they were happy that latter’s daughter Divya has joined the state sales tax department.
Speaking on behalf of Bollywood brigade, actor Aamir Khan said 26/11 terror strikes united Mumbaikars in a big way. Earlier, the governor K Sankaranarayanan, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan laid wreaths at the Police Memorial here on Saturday morning and observed silence for a while in memory of the 18 security personnel, including then ATS chief Hemant Karkare.
Thousands of commuters on the Central Railway paused briefly at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), one of the sites targeted by 10 Pakistani terrorists in 2008. Some kept flowers in memory of the commuters killed by the terrorists, who sneaked into the city unhindered through the Arabian Sea and created mayhem in the city.
Similar homage functions were held at the Hotel Taj Mahal Palace, Hotel Trident, Nariman House, Cama Hospital and at Chowpatty, where Ombale managed to catch one of the terrorists Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab alive. The terror attacks left 166 dead, including several security personnel and foreigners besides over 300 people injured
