New Delhi: Opposition leader L K Advani on Thursday asked people to be calm and maintain communal harmony in the wake of the horrific terror attacks in Mumbai.
Advani also told reporters that he planned to visit Mumbai shortly, perhaps later on Thursday or Friday, along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“It is a challenge in which the whole country must remain clam and resolute and try to overcome it unitedly,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, holding a clinched fist.
Advani's comments came a day after terrorists sneaked into Mumbai overnight and struck at seven places in India's most audacious terror attack, leaving at least 101 people dead and 250 injured. On Thursday, some terrorists too lay dead while others had taken hold of hostages.
Advani said security experts had told him that an operation of this kind “will need a preparation of at least two months”.
“This appears to be a continuation of the 1993 terror attacks,” he said, referring to Mumbai's first terror onslaught in January of that year that followed the razing of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in December 1992.
“I had earlier thought of going (to Mumbai) in the morning but I was told that the state government wishes that such visits will only be helpful once the operations are over. In the meanwhile, I have spoken to PM. The PM said I go along with him and I agreed," he said.
“So far as tackling terrorism is concerned, both the Central and state governments have a lot to answer for. But today is not the occasion for me to dwell on that.”
Advani paid his condolences to the police officers killed fighting terrorists in Mumbai.
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