December 13 will mark 21 years since the deadly attack on the Indian Parliament by two Pakistan-based terrorist groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The attack that took place in 2001 left the entire nation aghast and further strained the relationship between the two neighbouring countries.
Five security personnel of Delhi Police, one lady constable of the CRPF and two security assistants of Parliament Watch and Ward section, a gardener and a photojournalist were killed in the attack. On the day of the attack, the winter session of the Parliament was underway, therefore, several people from the media were present on the premises. The entire gunfight was covered and broadcast live on news channels.
A look back at the horrific event
On the morning of December 13, 2001, around 11:40 am, five terrorists entered the Parliament House Complex in an Ambassador car with a beacon and a forged Home Ministry sticker.
As the car moved towards Building Gate No. 12, a member of the Parliament House Watch and Ward Staff got suspicious.
The car was then forced to turn back, but it hit then Vice President Krishan Kant’s vehicle. The terrorists, armed with AK-47s and grenades, then got down and opened fire while an alarm was raised, and all the building gates were closed.
The gunfight lasted about 30 minutes, and all the terrorists were eventually neutralised outside the Parliament building. In the attack, five security personnel of Delhi Police, one lady constable of the CRPF and two security assistants of Parliament Watch and Ward section, a gardener and a photojournalist lost their lives.
At least 15 other people were injured in the attack but the 100 or so ministers and MPs in Parliament at the time were unhurt.
What happened to the attackers?
The police filed an FIR and within days, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested four individuals who were tracked down with the help of leads linked to the car the terrorists used and cellphone records.
These four accused were: Mohammad Afzal Guru, a former Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) militant, his cousin Shaukat Husain Guru, Shaukat’s wife Afsan Guru, and SAR Geelani, an Arabic lecturer at Delhi University.
On December 29, the court acquitted Afsan and sentenced Geelani, Shaukat and Afzal to death. Geelani was acquitted for “need of evidence” by the Delhi high court in 2003, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 2005 and Shaukat was given 10 years in prison.
11 years later in 2013, Afzal Guru was hanged to death and his body was buried in Tihar jail.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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