Candlelight vigil held to express oneness with people of Lanka

Calling for unity, love and peace to fight terrorism, a section of Chennai residents Tuesday held a candlelight vigil here to express solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka which was rocked by blasts on Easter Sunday.

Senior citizens, members from churches, politicians, among others, from civil society joined the vigil and emphasised on remaining vigilant in unison.

Representing the Islamic Forum for Promotion of Modern Thought Faizur Rahman condemned the attacks and said the aim of extremists is to divide and rule.

"The only way to counter this is to remain united. In India, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, believers and non-believers have to exhibit strong unity even in the face of any kind of divisive agenda," he said.

Rahman said the aim of his forum is to counter any kind of extremist thought in society.

"We counter such thoughts, especially those emanating from some extremist muslim organisations. Our aim is to stop youth from radicalising," he said, underscoring the importance of addressing injustice in society that could trigger radical thoughts.

On Easter Sunday, a wave of bombings tore through the island nation killing over 300 people and injuring nearly 500 others.

Asking people to raise an alarm on seeing something suspicious, local MLA R Nataraj said,"Eternal vigilance is the price we pay for security."