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Centre draws flak for delay in compensation to 26/11 victims

New Delhi Bureau

Set up special cell in Home Ministry, says Advani

— Photo: PTI

Spirit of Mumbai: A section of Mumbaikars who flocked to the Taj Mahal hotel in the metropolis on Thursday to pay tributes to the victims of the terror attacks of November 26, 2008.

NEW DELHI: Even as both Houses of Parliament saluted the “indomitable” spirit of Mumbai as the nation remembered the terror strikes on the metropolis on the occasion of the first anniversary, the government came in for sharp criticism for the delay in payment of compensation to the victims.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani urged the government to set up a special cell in the Home Ministry to ensure that compensation was given in all 403 eligible cases at the earliest. Only 118 of those eligible had got compensation till date.

And, in the Rajya Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Prakash Javadekar said there were complaints from some of those who had got compensation, of cheques bouncing.

The matter would have rested there in the Lok Sabha but BJP leader Ananth Kumar’s insistence on a response from Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee led to an altercation between the Opposition and ruling benches.

Stating that the Leader of the House could not be responding to every issue raised during zero hour, a livid Mr. Mukherjee told Mr. Kumar: “I was in my room and came only to listen to the Leader of the Opposition and not you.” With the BJP persisting, Mr. Mukherjee shot back that once again the BJP was trying to draw political mileage from the terror attacks despite its having been taught a lesson in the first instance. “Again you will be paid back in the same coin,” he warned leading to an intervention from Speaker Meira Kumar.

Invoking the solemnity of the occasion, she said the Minister could not be compelled to respond. “The Leader of the House has heard the Leader of the Opposition and he has taken notes.”

While Mr. Kumar remained agitated, Mr. Advani asked him to stop and the member yielded.

A salute to martyrs

Mumbai Bureau reports

Mumbai remembered its worst-ever terror strike a year ago in a brisk businesslike fashion.

The faces of the bravehearts who were killed on November 26 stared from posters all over the city as people relived the nightmare. Few will ever forget those traumatic 60 hours when 10 gunmen laid siege to India’s commercial capital.

Early in the morning, the Mumbai police paid a rousing tribute to the martyrs of 26/11 by organising a grand parade along the scenic Marine Drive from the Trident hotel – one of the sites of the terror strikes. The anti-terror artillery of the police was on display as officers of Force One, Quick Response Teams and bomb disposal squads marched alongside a panoply of newly acquired bulletproof vehicles and amphibious vehicles.

Outside the Trident, a large glass casing was built for people to light candles. Joggers, morning-walkers, hotel staff and officers queued up to light candles.

All over the State and city, blood donation drives, memorial meetings and prayer gatherings marked the day.

Chabad House too witnessed a moving ceremony. “This event is a tribute to the memory of the precious lives,” said Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, director of the Chabad Mumbai Relief Fund.

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