India's ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar has condoled the death of hundreds of innocent persons in the Mumbai bomb blasts on July 11 and expressed the hope that such an incident would not be repeated. He paid rich tribute to the Mumbaikers who gathered courage and helped each other in their hour of crisis.
He said he would do his part to help the blast victims. "I have just come back, and I can't disclose it here. There are responsible personalities (whom he has talked to)," he said. "The damage is irreparable, lives were lost. But we can rehabilitate the suffering families."
The spirit of the Indian people, he said, has helped the country quickly overcome the devastating serial blasts in Mumbai, and urged his countrymen to believe in the power of love.
"It was extremely unfortunate, so many innocent lives were lost. But it has also shown the strength of our Indian people. People were back to work on the same trains the very next day," Tendulkar said. "This is the strength of Bharat (India), to help each other in difficult times. When we do this, our strength grows, our love for each other grows.
"We have to keep helping each other, it will only strengthen our bonding."
Tendulkar said the blasts reminded him of the 1993 serial blasts which had devastated the city. "It happened in 1993 and has happened again in 2006. There was an eight-year old boy who suffered in the blasts and nobody could even identify him. I hope it doesn't happen anymore," said the cricketer who was in New Delhi for a promotional event. "Let us fight the menace of terrorism together."
Tendulkar returned to Mumbai yesterday from London where he underwent rehabilitation after a shoulder surgery and played five matches for Lashings cricket club.
