In Pictures - India unites in remembering 26/11 victims

By IANS,

Mumbai/New Delhi : There were official commemorations and private moments of grief, sombre reflections and avid debates - a speeding country paused in its tracks Thursday to remember the traumatic night of Nov 26 last year and the 60 hours of terror that followed.

They went to school, college and office but the fear and helplessness of that day was never far from the mind as Indians across the country and the world mourned the 166 dead in India's most wounding terror strike that had left behind scars perhaps never to be healed.

In the national capital New Delhi, parliament began with two minutes silence and a resolution in the Lok Sabha to wage a united war against terror. In Kanpur, the cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka began with a similar homage. Tributes to the brave who died - and those who survived - were planned in many cities with citizens collecting at designated places.

And all thoughts were with Mumbai, India's thriving commercial capital that was ravaged by terrorists who came by boats from Pakistan on the night of Nov 26 to begin a bloody siege that ended only on the afternoon of Nov 28.

"The house salutes the indomitable courage of the security forces who gave a crushing blow to the terrorists on Nov 26, 2008, and fortitude of the people of Mumbai. On this day the house resolved to unitedly fight and defeat the forces of terrorism and never again allow them to spill the blood of innocent people," Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said.

Events were slated through the day in Mumbai - at Gateway of India, the two luxury hotels ravaged by the attacks, Chabad House� every place the terrorists had left a bloody imprint.

The morning rush hour showed the famed resilience of the Mumbaikar with commuter trains and buses packed and roads as choked as ever with traffic.

But memories of that night were uppermost.

Thousands of commuters rushing to their offices halted to pay respects to those slaughtered in the blaze of bullets at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).

Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel also laid wreaths inside the station to remember the commuters and their colleagues brutally gunned down by terrorists.