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Not forgotten: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh pays tribute to the people who lost their lives in the 2001 attack on the
eleventh anniversary in December. Parliament also observed a minute's silence.
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INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Indian_Parliament_attack
The
2001 Indian Parliament attack was a high-profile attack by
Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists against the building housing
the Parliament of India in New Delhi. The attack led to the death of a dozen
people, including one civilian and to increased tensions between India and
Pakistan, resulting in 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff.
Location
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New Delhi, India
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Date
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13 December 2001 (UTC+05:30)
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Target
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Parliament of India building
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Attack type
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Shooting
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Deaths
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12, including 5 militants
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Injured (non-fatal)
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18
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Perpetrators
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The
attack
On
13 December 2001, five terrorists infiltrated the Parliament House in a car
with Home Ministry and Parliament labels. While both the Rajya Sabha and Lok
Sabha had been adjourned 40 minutes prior to the incident, many Members of
Parliament (MPs) and government officials such as Home Minister LK Advani and
Minister of State for Defence Harin Pathak were believed to have still been in
the building at the time of the attack.
The
gunmen drove their vehicle into the car of the Indian Vice President Krishan
Kant (who was in the building at the time), got out, and began firing their
weapons. The Vice President's guards and security personnel shot back at the
terrorists and then started closing the gates of the compound. Constable Kamlesh
Kumari was first to spot the terrorist squad. One gunman's suicide vest
exploded when he was shot dead; the other four gunmen were also killed. Five
policemen, a Parliament security guard, and a gardener were killed, and 18
others were injured. The ministers and MPs escaped unhurt.
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A commando takes-up position besides a plain
clothed policeman near the Parliament building in New Delhi on December 13,
2001. Reuters/File photo
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Policemen stand guard outside the Parliament
building in New Delhi on December 13, 2001. Reuters/Files
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Trial
The
attack triggered extensive and effective investigations which revealed possible
involvement of four accused namely Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain and S.A.R.
Gilani and Navjot Sandhu a.k.a. Afsan . Some other proclaimed offenders said to
be the leaders of the banned militant organisation known as Jaish-e-Mohammed.
After the conclusion of investigation, investigating agency filed the report
under Section 173 of Criminal
Procedure Code, 1973 (India) against four accused persons on 14 May
2002. Charges were framed under various sections of Indian Penal Code, the Prevention
of Terrorism Act, 2002, and the Explosive Substances Act by the
designated sessions Court.
The
designated Special Court was presided over by S.N. Dhingra and accused were
tried on charges and the trial concluded within a record period of about six
months. 80 witnesses were examined for the prosecution and 10 witnesses were
examined on behalf of the accused S.A.R. Gilani. About 300 documents were
exhibited. Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain and S.A.R. Gilani were convicted for the
offences under Sections 121, 121A, 122, Section 120B read with Sections 302
& 307 read with Section 120B IPC, sub-Sections (2), (3) & (5) of
Section 3 and Section 4(b) of POTA and Sections 3 & 4 of Explosive
Substances Act. The accused 1 & 2 were also convicted under Section 3(4) of
POTA.
Accused
No.4 namely Navjot Sandhu a.k.a. Afsan was acquitted of all the charges except
the one under Section 123 IPC for which she was convicted and sentenced to
undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine. Death sentences
were imposed on the other three accused for the offences under Section 302 read
with Section 120B IPC and Section 3(2) of POTA. They were also sentenced to
life imprisonment on as many as eight counts under the provisions of IPC, POTA
and Explosive Substances Act in addition to varying amounts of fine. The amount
of a million Indian rupees, which was recovered from the possession of two of
the accused, namely, Afzal Guru and Shaukat Hussain, was forfeited to the State
under Section 6 of the POTA.
On
appeal, the high court subsequently acquitted S.A.R Geelani and Afsan, but
upheld Shaukat's and Afzal's death sentence. Geelani's acquittal blew a gaping
hole in the prosecution's version of the parliament attack. Geelani was presented
as the mastermind of the entire attack. Geelani, a young lecturer at Delhi
University received support from his outraged colleagues and friends, who were
certain that he had been framed. They contacted the well-known lawyer Nandita
Haksar and asked her to take on his case.
This
marked the beginning of a campaign for the fair trial of Geelani. The media
continued to target Geelani throughout the trial as a terrorist. Eventually,
the supreme court upheld the acquittals and reduced Shaukat's punishment to 10
years of rigorous imprisonment. However, it not just confirmed, but enhanced
Mohammad Afzal's sentence. He was given three life sentences and a double death
sentence.
Shaukat
Hussain was released nine months prior to his official date of release, because
of his “good conduct”
Response
Main
article: 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff
Indian
Government initially accused LeT and JeM to be involved in this attack.
However, Lashkar-e-Taiba denied any involvement in the incident. In December
2002, four JeM members were caught by Indian authorities and put on trial. All
four were found guilty of playing various roles in the incident, although the
fourth, Afsan /Navjot Sandhu, wife of Shaukat Hussain (one of the accused) was
found guilty of a minor charge of concealing knowledge of conspiracy. One of
the accused, Afzal Guru, was sentenced to the death penalty for the incident.
World
leaders and leaders in India's immediate neighbourhood condemned the attack on
the Parliament. On 14 December, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
blamed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack. Home
Minister LK Advani claimed, "[w]e have received some clues about
yesterday's incident, which shows that a neighbouring country, and some
terrorist organisations active there behind it", in an indirect reference
to Pakistan and Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
The
same day, in a demarche to Pakistani High Commissioner to India Ashraf
Jehangir Qazi, India demanded that Pakistan stop the activities of LeT and JeM,
that Pakistan apprehend the organisations' leaders and that Pakistan curb the
financial assets and the groups access to these assets. In response to the
Indian government's statements, Pakistani forces were put on high alert the
same day. On 20 December, India mobilised and deployed its troops to Kashmir
and Punjab in what was India's largest military mobilisation since the 1971
Indo-Pakistani War.
Following
the attack, many suspects were arrested, and in December 2002 four
Jaish-e-Mohammed members were convicted for roles in the attack. In 2003, India
said its forces had killed the mastermind of the attack in Kashmir.
Afzal
Guru, sentenced to death by Indian court and due to be hanged on 20 October,
had his execution stayed. His family had camped in New Delhi to meet the
President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam to accept the mercy petition. Also the family
of Kamlesh Kumari, a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) Jawan who died in the attack has said that they
would return the Ashok Chakra, if the president accepts the
petition, but it is unclear if it had been done so. On 13 December 2006, the
families of the deceased returned the medals to the government. As of April
2007, the then President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, refused to interfere in
the judicial process.
The
sentence was scheduled to be carried out on 20 October 2006, but Afzal was
given a stay of execution and remained on death row. On 3 February 2013, his
mercy petition was rejected by the current President of India Pranab
Mukherjee. He was hanged at Delhi's Tihar Jail around 08:00 A.M. on
February 9, 2013, and buried in tihar jail with full religious rites.
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