LONDON, 2 November 2005 — Britain remembered the victims of the suicide bombings on the London transport system on July 7 in a poignant memorial service at St. Paul’s Cathedral yesterday.
Fifty-two people died in the four bombings — three on underground tube stations at Edgware Road, King’s Cross and Aldgate, and the other on a No. 30 bus at Tavistock Square. Members of all faiths — Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists an others — attended the ceremony.
The occasion in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Tony Blair and London Mayor Ken Livingstone, was a fitting tribute to the victims and their families, the survivors and members of the emergency services and transport services. But it was also an affirmation of the multicultural nature of Britain in the 21st century. For in the 2,300 strong-congregation were representatives from all the major faiths and communities.
However, representatives of the families of the four suicide bombers — Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shezhad Tanveer, Hasib Hussain, and Germain Lindsay — were not invited because it could have upset some members of the victims’ families. Some community leaders, however, did urge the government to invite the bombers’ families as an act of reconciliation and closure for all. The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams stressed: “Those who so pointlessly and terribly died were...nonreplaceable. Those who suffered injury and deep trauma and loss are likewise unique, their minds and hearts scarred by this suffering. Time gives perspective and may bring healing; but the trauma of violence, and even more the death of someone we love, makes a difference that nothing will ever completely unmake.”
He described the terrorist as an “enemy not just of a system or a government but of the whole idea that we are each of us unique and responsible and nonreplaceable. To those who proclaim by their actions that it doesn’t matter who suffers, who dies, we say in our mourning, ‘no’.”
The memorial service was planned to emphasize the multifaith nature of London and the bombing victims. The faith leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury; Sheikh Dr. Zaki Badawi, chairman of the Imams & Mosques Council of the UK; Cardinal Murphy O’Conner, head of the Catholic church; Rabbi Jonathan Sachs, stressed: “As representatives of London’s faith communities we stand united in our determination to resist and overcome the evil of terrorism. We belong to different faith but we share a common grief at the suffering inflicted on so many of our fellow Londoners. We acknowledge also with confidence the common values which enable us to cooperate in building a city at peace with itself and where people of faith can work together in cherishing, not disfiguring, our common humanity.”
However, the service was not spared political controversy as a result of the Blair government’s Iraq policy and participation in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Seven-year-old Ruby Gray, from Ipswich, whose father Richard was killed in the Aldgate blast, presented a posy of flowers to the queen. But her 11-year-old brother, Adam, refused to attend the ceremony because he blames the Blair for making London a terror target.
