Union minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday flagged off the “Swim of Peace” at the historic Gateway of India to pay tribute to the victims and martyrs of the dasdardly 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai eight years ago. Swim of Peace is a tribute led by world record holder triathlete, Wing Commander Param, who set swimming along with his five-member team from Mumbai to Mangalore. It is a distance of 1,000 kilometres.
“I invoke the spirit of Mumbai to give a message of oneness, peace, unity, goodness, to the whole world. This message will spread across the seas. It will set a new Guinness world record,” he said. He was addressing a gathering of international community comprising consular representatives of various countries. The programme was organised by Honorary Consular Corps Diplomatique Mumbai and Consular Corps Association Mumbai, in collaboration with the ITV Network comprising NewsX, India News and The Sunday Guardian.
Maharashtra Chief Minister’s wife, Amruta Fadnavis was present during the occasion. She rendered “Itani shakti humein dena data” to pay tribute to the martyrs of 26/11 attack. “The attacks left a lasting scar on Mumbai. The terrorists wanted to damage India’s image abroad. But they failed to do so. They couldn’t shatter our country. It taught us one lesson—to bring professionalism in our forces. Now we have new top line forces. These specialised units have been trained for such situations. We are now equipped with forensic labs, cyber labs, CCTNS, CCTV networks. Terrorism is a war against each one of us. Not one, but all of us together must fight it. Stay safe, stay alert,” she said in her short address to the gathering. The Navy Band enthralled the audience with its renditions. Renowned lyricist Prasoon Joshi rendered his own poem through audiovisual format, as a tribute to the 26/11 victims.
The foreign diplomatic community pledged its support to fight terrorism. Consular representatives from US, UK, France, Germany, Israel, Canada, Australia, Ukraine were present during the occasion.
“Though most of us from the consular community weren’t present here eight years ago, we pay our homage to the victims of 26/11 terror attacks. It was a tragedy that shook the whole world. India is now more proactive in anti-terror activities. The nations which lost their citizens to these attacks have pledged to fight against this scourge. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We owe this fight to our children,” the Italian Consul General to Mumbai said.
Foreign representatives from other countries too talked on this occasion and shared their commitment to fight terror.