The visuals of the Boston Marathon victims made disturbing viewing. But it was heartening to note that instead of fleeing the scene, runners and spectators rushed to tend to the wounded. Tragedy was at its extreme when an eight-year-old waiting for his father at the finish line lost his life in the blasts.
The breach of security at Boston, known for its hospitality, by hitherto unidentified men should not prompt the U.S. administration to re-harden its resolve to punish the “suspected” sections. In fact, it should seize the occasion to realise that the loss and pain of senseless violence is the same for all humans, no matter what their nationalities or religion.
G. David Milton,
Maruthancode
The blasts have proved that terrorists can strike at will. Although the U.S. has been largely able to prevent terror attacks on its soil for long, it cannot afford to be complacent and assume that its security cannot be breached. The attack deserves to be condemned by all peace-loving people.
G. Ramachandran,
Thiruvananthapuram
Whether the terrorists who struck at Boston are home-grown or part of an international network, they sought to inflict the maximum damage at a place that was supposed to have been screened and scanned with the best of safety and security mechanism.
What was heartening even amid the tragedy was that the security agencies plunged into action in full swing immediately after the blast. We need to learn many lessons from the U.S. not only on reducing the impact of such heinous acts but also moving the injured to hospital, and the crowd to safety without giving room for melee and confusion.
R. Sampath,
Chennai
I have been to Boston 10 times. I never felt that I was in a foreign land. The Boston Marathon is a popular annual event. It may be pertinent to note that it was Boston from where the terrorists diverted the ill-fated plane bound for Los Angeles to strike the World Trade Center on 9/11. Monday’s terror attack is condemnable and no effort should be spared to trace the perpetrators and bring them and their organisations to book.
V. Sethumadhavan,
Chennai
It is clear from the Boston blasts that however much a country may try to take preventive steps against terrorism, breaching the security is not a difficult task for terrorists. All they need is a small crack somewhere to sneak in.
S. Narayanan,
Ramanathapuram
After the blasts in Boston, Barack Obama cautioned that “people should not jump to conclusions before we have all the facts.” Do we ever hear such mature words from our leaders? Even the police start pointing fingers at some organisation after a terror attack. It is sad that while the victims suffer, their misery is exploited by political parties. The police manufacture evidence to show that they have cracked the case.
Ahamad Fuad,
Kochi
