Aamir all praises for Mumbai spirit

Courtesy: IndiaFM

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

In an exclusive authored piece for the BBC News website, leading Indian film star Aamir Khan condemns the Mumbai blasts, hitting out at the people behind what he describes as a 'horrifying' act. He also appeals to the people of Mumbai to help the authorities and to be alert.

"This horrifying act shows the extreme level of cowardice that makes people place bombs in trains and kill totally unaware people. What can be more cowardly than something like this, which smacks of stabbing someone who is totally innocent? What was the point of killing ordinary people?", Aamir writes in his piece on bbcnews.com.

"These people have little value for life. What sense does it make to kill someone when you do not even know who you are killing? It is absolutely a senseless act."

"The way people are going out of their way to help is just like the generous Mumbaiite... I am glad that we have bounced back and are back at work - it just shows these people that we will not be cowed down by such stealthy, cowardly actions. I think the best we can do is stick together and be alert."

"In fact it is important that we stick together and help the authorities in whichever way we can. If we have any information that may help them, we should give them that."

Aamir also expresses his confidence in the police and the authorities. He writes: "The police are doing a good job, they are very capable. If it seems otherwise, if people feel impatient, we must remind ourselves that the police force and the army are used to dealing with crime on a daily basis and they know what is the best step to take in such a situation."

"It was and is an extremely tough situation for anyone to handle and we can only comment from the sidelines but in actuality we ourselves might not know how to go about handling such an unexpected and horrible situation... But this is not only the case in India, it also happened in the UK and in the US. They too were taken unawares."

"We must follow the leaders at this time. And trust them. They require our co-operation at this time," he adds.

The actor, who was in Satara at the time of the blasts, expresses his shock and writes that he was worried about the safety of commuters in Mumbai, including his own staff who use the local train network.