Mishra recalled the day of the blasts at Sankatmochan temple and the efforts of hardline groups to exploit the resultant outrage to create religious rift. ‘‘It is clear that each religious community will have to address its own hardline fringe,’’ he said. ‘‘Hindus must talk to Hindus and Muslims to Muslims. We are heirs to a great civilisation. We cannot give in to terror.’’

A host of anonymous citizens, largely people who live and work by the train tracks who helped rush the injured to hospitals and retrieved mutilated bodies from the wreckage of the trains, also recalled scenes from 7/11.

‘‘When we helped the people affected by the bombs, nobody thought what community they belonged to,’’ said Usman Wakaria, who runs a workshop near the Jogeshwari rail tracks. ‘‘Our only message to terrorists is that Indians are one and they cannot win against us by sowing seeds of discord.’’

Teesta Setalvaad said that while nabbing the guilty was important, it was only necessary to ensure that innocents do not suffer at the hands of the state that acted through crude tactics like combing operations. ‘‘An entire community cannot be held guilty for the acts of a deplorable few,’’ she said.