M A I N   N E W S

A nation remembers: An attack on Parliament & near war
Ajay Banerjee/TNS

Saluting the bravehearts Cutting across party lines, political leaders on Tuesday paid homage to victims of the Parliament attack. Families of most victims boycotted the homage ceremony, demanding the expeditious execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Though the families have been compensated -- a government job has been given to one member of each household -- the grieving families want that justice be done and Guru hanged. Guru was convicted for conspiracy and sentenced to death that was to be carried out on October 20, 2006. His wife filed a mercy petition that was forwarded by the government to the President. The President is yet to decide on it. Among those who paid homage were Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader LK Advani. Recalling the attack, Advani said, “If even one of them had succeeded in entering Parliament House, it would have been horrific.” As security personnel saluted the martyrs, parliamentarians stood in silence for a minute. A blood donation camp was also organised on the occasion.

New Delhi, December 13
On December 13, 2001, the stillness of the winter sun over Delhi was ruptured by staccato firing outside Parliament. Five heavily armed militants of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) posing as security personnel stormed Parliament House and opened indiscriminate fire, killing nine persons, including security personnel. The attackers were also gunned down.

The attack was the brainchild of Maulana Masood Azhar, who was released from a Jammu prison in December 1999 in return for passengers of the IC 814 flight hijacked to Kandahar.

The attack on Parliament had led to an escalation of conflict between India and Pakistan, as New Delhi was convinced that the terror strike had been masterminded in the neighbouring country.

Two days after the Parliament attack, the Cabinet Committee on Security under Prime Minister AB Vajpayee ordered full-scale mobilisation of forces on the Western border. The 1.3-million strong Indian Army along with its strike corps were asked to move to the borders.

The IAF bases in North and West India were put on runway readiness -- the pilots were ready to strike, pending orders. The Navy’s western sea-board was alerted. In military terms, it was one of the biggest deployment in decades. Some experts even rated it as the biggest military movement after World War-II.