MUMBAI: Mumbai and cities across the country paused in homage to the victims of the terror attack here on its first anniversary marked by candlelight vigils, prayer meetings and reassuring display of security by city police.
Bearing its sorrow with fortitude, Mumbai remembered its dead as the country stood united behind it in grief and resolve to vanquish terror a year after 10 gunmen arrived here from Pakistan with their weapons blazing to snuff out the lives of 166 people during a bloody 60-hour siege. One gunman Ajmal Kasab was captured alive.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal, teeming with ordinary people, Cama hospital tending to the sick and dying, India's icons of hospitality -- Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Oberoi and Trident, or the modest Jewish centre in Nariman House, all silently remembered the unprecedented attack on the country's financial capital as the terrorists scripted a gory tale in blood with bullets.
From Shahrukh Khan who turned painter for the occasion to Amitabh Bachchan joining a chorus of singers, India's film fraternity also paid tribute to the heroes and victims of the 26/11 terror attacks.
Black-clad commandos rappelled down tall buildings, as prayers and vigils were held across Mumbai and silent tributes were held in Parliament and before India's cricket Test match with Sri Lanka in Kanpur.
Showing solidarity with the people of Mumbai, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram unveiled a martyrs' memorial for 18 security personnel including policemen killed during the terror attacks.
Onlookers waved Indian flags and banners with slogans such as "End The Violence" as police commandos with new weapons and armoured cars tracked the route taken by the 10 gunmen who staged the attack.
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