2001 Parliament Attack: The martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the attack on Parliament were remembered, know the whole story of that day

Today is the anniversary of the terrorist attack on Parliament. On this occasion, the country is remembering its heroic sacrifices. President Draupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid humble tribute to the sacrifices of the Parliament attack. President Draupadi Murmu wrote in a post shared on social media that 'I pay my humble tribute to those brave people who sacrificed their lives while protecting our Parliament on this day in 2001. Their courage and selfless service will continue to inspire us. The nation will always be grateful to them and their families.' She wrote, 'On this day, I reiterate India's unwavering resolve to fight terrorism. Our country is united against terrorist forces.'

Tribute to the sacrifices made in Parliament

A program was organized in the Parliament House complex on Friday to mark the anniversary of the attack on Parliament 23 years ago in 2001. In a program organized outside the old Parliament House-Samvidhan Sadan, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and many MPs and ministers paid floral tributes to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the terrorist attack. CISF jawans saluted during the program and a minute's silence was observed after that. Till last year, CRPF jawans used to salute. Now since the security of Parliament is the responsibility of CISF, this time CISF jawans saluted. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Home Minister Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, etc. attended the program.

The terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists attacked the Parliament complex on this day in 2001, in which nine people were killed. Security forces killed all five terrorists. This attack was carried out by five armed terrorists, but the Parliament Security Service, CRPF, and Delhi Police personnel foiled the attack and no terrorist could enter the building. In that attack, six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel, a gardener, and a TV video journalist were killed.

What happened that day

On 13 December 2001, at around 11.40 am, an Ambassador car entered the premises of the Parliament House. This car had a red light and fake stickers of the Home Ministry. There were five terrorists inside. As soon as the car moved towards Gate No. 12 of the Parliament Building, a security employee of the Parliament House suspected something wrong. After this, the security personnel asked the car to turn back. But it did not turn, instead, the car collided with the car of the then Vice President Krishna Kant parked on the premises at a high speed.

After this, the terrorists got down from the car and started firing indiscriminately. The security personnel also started firing at the terrorists. All five terrorists were killed in this operation which lasted for about 45 minutes. At the same time, eight of our security personnel including a gardener were also martyred. About 15 people were also injured in the attack. About 30 kg of RDX was recovered from the terrorists' car. At that time, about 200 MPs and ministers were also present in the Parliament. But no one was harmed.

The then Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani had told the Lok Sabha that 'Pakistan's terrorist organizations Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed had hatched a conspiracy to attack the Indian Parliament. Both these organizations got help from Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. All the terrorists who attacked were Pakistanis.' Mohammad Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain Guru, Shaukat's wife Afsana, and Delhi University professor SR Gilani were arrested on charges of attacking the Parliament. After being found guilty, Afzal Guru was sentenced to death on 9 February 2013. Shaukat Hussain Guru was sentenced to 10 years in jail. The rest were released.