Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the country will never forget the cowardly attack on our Parliament in 2001. He also paid tribute to the soldiers who died protecting lives during the attack.
“We will never forget the cowardly attack on our Parliament on this day in 2001. We remember the courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives protecting our Parliament. India will always be grateful to you, ”Prime Minister Modi said on Twitter.
On this day, 19 years ago, a five-member suicide squad made up of terrorists Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad attacked the Indian Parliament, while the Lok Sabha was in session. Las Casas rose at the time of the attack, but several MPs and staff were present inside the building.
Five members of the Delhi police security personnel, a female CRPF officer and two security assistants from Parliament Watch and Ward had been killed preventing terrorists from entering Parliament. A gardener and a photojournalist also lost their lives.
Although the five terrorists involved in the attack were killed during the shootout with security personnel on December 13, four people were arrested and charged as masterminds within days. The case against the four, Mohammed Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain, Afsan Guru and HRH Geelani, dragged on for about a decade, with the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court eventually acquitting two and maintaining the death sentence of one.