2001 Indian Parliament attack

Last updated

2001 Indian Parliament attack
Sansad Bhavan-2.jpg
Location New Delhi, Delhi, India
Coordinates 28°37′02″N77°12′29″E / 28.6172°N 77.2081°E / 28.6172; 77.2081
Date13 December 2001 (UTC+05:30)
Target Parliament Building
Attack type
 Mass shooting
Weapons AK-47 rifles, pistols, grenade launchers, hand grenades, explosive belt
Deaths9 (excluding 5 terrorists)
Injured18
Perpetrators Jaish-e-Mohammed [1]

The 2001 Indian Parliament attack was a terrorist attack on the Parliament of India in New Delhi, India on 13 December 2001. The attack was carried out by five armed assailants that resulted in the deaths of six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel, and a gardener. All the five terrorists were killed by security forces.

Contents

Indian authorities accused Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) – two terrorist groups operating from Pakistan – of perpetrating the attack; [2] [3] however, LeT denied involvement.

The incident led to increased tensions between India and Pakistan, resulting in the 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff.

Attack

On 13 December 2001, five terrorists drove into the House of Parliament in a car with Home Ministry and Parliament labels. [4] 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. [5] More than 100 people, including major politicians, were inside the parliament building at the time. The gunmen used a fake identity sticker on the car they drove and thus easily breached the security deployed around the parliamentary complex. [6] The terrorists carried AK-47 rifles, grenade launchers, pistols and grenades. [7]

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 shooting. The Vice President's guards and security personnel shot back at the attackers and then started closing the gates of the compound. A similar attack was carried out on the assembly of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, in November 2001, killing 38 people. [6]

Constable Kamlesh Kumari of the Central Reserve Police Force was the first to spot the militants and was shot by them as she raised the alarm. She died on the spot. One gunman's suicide vest exploded when he was shot dead; the other four gunmen were also killed. The ministers and MPs escaped unhurt. The total number of people killed by the attackers was 9 and at least 17 other people were injured in the attack. [8] [6]

Perpetrators

Delhi Police stated that five terrorists carried out the attack and the names given by them were: Hamza, Haider alias Tufail, Rana, Ranvijay and Mohammed – who were members of Jaish-e-Mohammed – were killed. [9] [7] [10]

Delhi Police officials said that the gunmen had received instructions from Pakistan and the operation had been carried out under the guidance of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. [7] In their book The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden, Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy state that then-CIA station chief Robert Grenier and Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin suspected that the ISI had approved the attack in order to force the redeployment of troops under the command of Ali Jan Aurakzai away from the Durand Line, allowing Osama bin Laden to escape into Pakistan during the Battle of Tora Bora. [11]

Trial

Following the attack, many suspects were arrested, and in December 2002 four Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were convicted for roles in the attack. [12] In 2003, the Border Security Force (BSF) eliminated Ghazi Baba, the commander-in-chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed and the mastermind of the attack, in the Noor Bagh neighborhood of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. [1]

The attack triggered extensive investigations, which revealed the involvement of four accused, namely Mohammad Afzal Guru, his cousin Shaukat Hussain Guru, Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani [13] (also spelled "Gilani"), and Shaukat Guru's wife Afsan Guru (maiden name: Navjot Sandhu). Some other proclaimed offenders were said to be the leaders of the banned terrorist organization 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 (IPC), the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA), and the Explosive Substances Act by the designated sessions Court.

The designated Special Court was presided over by S. N. Dhingra. The accused were tried and the trial concluded within a record period of about six months.[ when? ] 80 witnesses were examined for the prosecution and 10 witnesses were examined on behalf of the accused S.A.R. Geelani. About 300 documents were exhibited. Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain and S.A.R. Geelani were convicted for the offences under Sections 121, 121A, 122, Section 120B read with Sections 302 & 307 read with Section 120B of IPC, sub-Sections (2), (3) and (5) of Section 3 and Section 4(b) of POTA and Sections 3 and 4 of Explosive Substances Act. The accused 1 and 2 were also convicted under Section 3(4) of POTA. [14]

Accused 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. [14]

On appeal, the high court subsequently acquitted S. A. R. Geelani and Afsan, but upheld Shaukat's and Afzal's death sentence. Geelani was represented by Ram Jethmalani in the Delhi High Court and subsequently in the Supreme Court of India. [15] Jethmalani said it almost cost him his political career for defending Geelani. [16] Geelani's acquittal blew a gaping hole in the prosecution's version of the parliament attack.[ citation needed ] He was presented as the mastermind of the entire attack.[ citation needed ] Geelani, a young lecturer at Delhi University, received support from his outraged colleagues and friends, who were certain that he had been framed.[ citation needed ] They contacted the well-known lawyer Nandita Haksar and asked her to take on his case.[ citation needed ]

Afzal Guru, sentenced to death by Indian court and due to be hanged on 20 October 2006, 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. The family of Kamlesh Kumari Jatav, a CRPF Jawan who died in the attack has said that they would return the Ashok Chakra, if the president accepted the petition, and 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. [17] 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 then President Pranab Mukherjee. [18] He was hanged in Delhi's Tihar Jail at 8:00 A.M. [19] on 9 February 2013, and buried in Tihar jail with full religious rites. [20]

Shaukat Hussain was released nine months prior to his scheduled date of release on account of his good conduct. [21] [22]

Two Delhi Police officials, ACP Rajbir Singh [23] and Mohan Chand Sharma are credited for gathering prima facie evidence in the case. Singh was later shot dead by a friend over a property deal [23] and Sharma was killed during the Batla House encounter with militants in Delhi. [24]

Response

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays homage to those who lost their lives during the 2001 Indian Parliament attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays homage to the martyrs who lost their lives during the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.jpg
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays homage to those who lost their lives during the 2001 Indian Parliament attack

The Indian Government initially accused Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed of involvement in the attack. However, Lashkar-e-Taiba denied any involvement in the incident. [2] [3] In November 2002, four JeM members were arrested by Indian authorities and put on trial. [10] 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. [25] One of the accused, Afzal Guru, was sentenced to death for the incident. [12]

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, "We have received some clues about yesterday's incident, which shows that a neighbouring country, and some terrorist organisations active there behind it", [26] in an indirect reference to Pakistan and Pakistan-based militants groups. [27]

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. [2] 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.

Special OPS: The 2020 Indian action espionage thriller web series from Hotstar Specials created and directed by Neeraj Pandey and starring Kay Kay Menon in the lead role was based on the attacks. In 2022, another movie was released called Attack: Part 1 was also partially based on the attacks.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navjot Singh Sidhu</span> Politician and retired Indian cricketer

Navjot Singh Sidhu is an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress, television personality and retired international cricketer. He is the former President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Formerly, he was the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in the state government of State of Punjab. Sidhu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004 and contested the general election from Amritsar that year. He won the election and held the seat till 2014 winning also the next election. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2016 from Punjab before he resigned from the position the same year and quitting the party. In 2017, he joined the Indian National Congress and was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Amritsar East. He lost in 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election from Amritsar East Assembly constituency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002</span> Act of the Parliament of India

The Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was an Act passed by the Parliament of India in 2002, with the objective of strengthening anti-terrorism operations. The Act was enacted due to several terrorist attacks that were being carried out in India and especially in response to the attack on the Parliament. The Act replaced the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) of 2001 and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) (1985–1995), and was supported by the governing National Democratic Alliance. The Act was repealed in 2004 by the United Progressive Alliance coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syed Ali Shah Geelani</span> Kashmiri-separatist leader (1929–2021)

Syed Ali Shah Geelani was an Islamist, Pro-Pakistan Kashmiri-separatist leader in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, regarded as the father of the Kashmiri jihad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaish-e-Mohammed</span> Islamic Jihadist organisation

Jaish-e-Mohammed is a Pakistan-based Deobandi Jihadist terrorist group active in Kashmir. The group's primary motive is to separate Kashmir from India and merge it into Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afzal Guru</span> Kashmiri mujahid

Mohammad Afzal Guru was a radical Jihadist who was convicted for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. He received a death sentence for his involvement, which was upheld by the Indian Supreme Court. Following the rejection of a mercy petition by the President of India, he was executed on 9 February 2013. His body was buried within the precincts of Delhi's Tihar Jail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akshardham Temple attack</span> Terrorist attack in India

On 24 September 2002, multiple Pakistani terrorists attacked the Akshardham Temple Complex in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, killing 33 and injuring more than 80. India's National Security Guard intervened and ended the siege the next day, killing the terrorists. Six accused were later arrested by Gujarat Police. The Supreme Court acquitted all six persons in 2014.

Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi is a radical Islamist and terrorist, being the founder and leader of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed, active mainly in the Pakistani-administered portion of the Kashmir region. His actions are not limited to the South Asian region; for instance, BBC News described him as "the man who brought jihad to Britain." On 1 May 2019, Masood Azhar was listed as an international terrorist by the United Nations Security Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff</span> Period of military and political tension between India and Pakistan (Dec 2001 – June 2002)

The 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff was a military standoff between India and Pakistan that resulted in the mass mobilisation of both nations' military forces along the India-Pakistan border and the disputed region of Kashmir. This was the second major military standoff between the two countries since they both publicly declared their nuclear capabilities.

Kamlesh Kumari was an Indian constable who served with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, the highest possible award conferred during peacetime by the Republic of India. Kamlesh Kumari died on 13 December 2001 after successfully preventing terrorist gunmen and a terrorist suicide bomber from reaching Parliament during the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.

The 25 August 2003 Mumbai bombings were twin car bombings in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 54, and injured 244 people. One of the bomb explosions took place at the Gateway of India, which is a major tourist attraction. The other bomb went off in a jewellery market Zaveri Bazaar near the Mumba Devi temple in central Mumbai. Both the bombs were planted in parked taxis and exploded during the lunch hour. No group initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba was blamed for it.

Vinod K. Jose, or Vinod Kizhakkeparambil Joseph, is a journalist, editor, and magazine founder from India. In 2009, Jose was hired by Delhi Press to re-launch the company's 70-year-old title The Caravan, which was discontinued in 1988. He was the executive editor of The Caravan from 2009 to 2023, which calls itself "India's only narrative journalism magazine" and is published in the English-language in New Delhi. Earlier, he was the founding editor of the Malayalam-language publication Free Press. Jose's contributions to Indian journalism are in the area of narrative or literary journalism, similar to the style of Granta, The New Yorker, The Atlantic and Mother Jones. He has won several national and international awards for his work. Jose also faces ten sedition cases for his journalism. Since he left The Caravan, Jose has been working on an investigative book on how political and economic power works in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee</span> Indian prime minister 1998–1999

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of India, first from 16 May to 1 June 1996, and then from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vajpayee was the tenth Prime Minister. He headed the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Indian Parliament, and became the first Prime Minister unaffiliated with the Indian National Congress to complete a full five-year term in office. He died at the age of 93 on Thursday 16 August 2018 at 17:05 at AIIMS, New Delhi.

Dawood Ibrahim is an Indian mob boss, drug lord, and terrorist from Dongri, Mumbai, who is wanted by the Indian government. He reportedly heads the Indian organised crime syndicate D-Company, which he founded in Mumbai in the 1970s. Ibrahim is wanted on charges including murder, extortion, targeted killing, drug trafficking, and terrorism.

The 2011 Delhi bombing took place in the Indian capital Delhi on Wednesday, 7 September 2011 at 10:14 local time outside Gate No. 5 of the Delhi High Court, where a suspected briefcase bomb was planted. The blast killed 15 people and injured 79. Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami claimed responsibility for the attack, and is believed to have carried out the attack with support from the Indian Mujahideen, it stated motive was the commuting of the death sentence for 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

On 9 February 2016, some students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) held a protest on their campus against the capital punishment meted out to the 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, and Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Bhat. The organizers of the event were former members of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU). The event was held despite the university administration withdrawing permission for the event shortly before it was due to begin, due to protests by members of the student union of ABVP. The event saw clashes between various student groups. A video was circulated by Indian news channel Zee news in which a small group of individuals, whom a later University investigation described as outsiders to the university wearing masks, shouted "anti-India" slogans.

Darsgah-Jihad-O-Shahadat is an Islamist group based in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, with branches in the state of Kerala. The group claims to have trained about 50,000 people in self-defence techniques at its training camps in Hazrat Ujale Shah Idgah grounds at Saidabad and Purani Haveli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Sunjuwan attack</span>

On 10 February 2018, at predawn, Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists attacked an Indian Army camp in Sunjuwan, Jammu, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Six soldiers, three attackers and one civilian were killed and 20 were injured including 14 soldiers, and five women and children. This attack coincided with the death anniversary of Afzal Guru, convicted in the 2001 Indian parliament attack. The attack has been described as one of the worst since the 2016 Uri attack.

The 2019 Pulwama attack occurred on 14 February 2019, when a convoy of vehicles carrying Indian security personnel on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethapora in the Pulwama district of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The attack killed 40 Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel as well as the perpetrator—Adil Ahmad Dar—who was a local Kashmiri youth from the Pulwama district. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist group, Jaish-e-Mohammed. India blamed neighbouring Pakistan for the attack, while the latter condemned the attack and denied having any connections to it. The attack dealt a severe blow to India–Pakistan relations, consequently resulting in the 2019 India–Pakistan military standoff. Subsequently, Indian investigations identified 19 accused. By August 2021, the main accused along with six others had been killed, and seven had been arrested.

Usha Mehra is a former judge of the Delhi High Court, in India. She authored a significant report on lapses in police and judicial procedure in investigating and prosecuting cases of sexual assault in India, following the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder.

The People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) is a militant terrorist organization actively engaged in insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, an ongoing armed conflict between Kashmiri separatist militants and Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir. PAFF was established in 2020 by Jaish-e-Mohammad or Lashkar-e-Taiba, two Pakistan-based Jihadist groups.

References

  1. 1 2 "Mastermind killed". China Daily . 31 August 2003. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Govt blames LeT for Parliament attack". Rediff.com . 14 December 2001. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Terrorist Attack on the Parliament of India". Embassy of India – Washington DC. 18 December 2001. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  4. ↑ "The terrorists had the home ministry and special Parliament label". Rediff.com India. 13 December 2001.
  5. ↑ "Terrorists attack Parliament; five intruders, six cops killed". Rediff.com. 13 December 2001.
  6. 1 2 3 "2001: Suicide attack on Indian parliament". BBC News . Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Vishnu, J T (17 December 2001). "ISI supervised Parliament attack Main coordinator of Jaish, two others arrested". The Tribune . Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  8. ↑ PTI (13 December 2011). "Parliament attack victims remembered". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "PM Modi pays homage to the 2001 Parliament attack martyrs: Key points about the heinous attack". India.com. Penske Media Corporation. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2018. The names of the terrorists given by Delhi Police were Hamza, Haider alias Tufail, Rana, Ranvijay and Mohammed.
  10. 1 2 Kaur, Naunidhi (21 December 2002). "Conviction in Parliament attack case". Frontline . Vol. 19, no. 23. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Levy, Adrian; Scott-Clark, Catherine (23 May 2017). The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 77–78. ISBN   978-1-4088-5878-3.
  12. 1 2 "4 convicted in attack". The Hindu . 17 December 2002. Archived from the original on 4 April 2003. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  13. ↑ "Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, ex-DU professor acquitted by SC in 2001 Parliament attack case, dies of cardiac arrest in Delhi". Firstpost. Press Trust of India. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  14. 1 2 State ( N.C.T. of Delhi ) vs. Navjot Sandhu alias Afsan(Supreme Court of India8 August 2005).
  15. ↑ "Ram Jethmalani: A look at his most famous cases". Hindustan Times. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  16. ↑ Mahapatra, Dhananjay (23 November 2011). "Defending Geelani almost cost me my political career: Jethmalani". The Times of India . Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  17. ↑ Vinay, Kumar (30 April 2007). "Kalam: law will take its course in Afzal case". The Hindu . Retrieved 3 March 2009.[ dead link ]
  18. ↑ Gupta, Smita (13 February 2016). "The role of Pranab Mukherjee in Afzal Guru's hanging". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 January 2018. Though Afzal Guru's mercy petition file came to Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 4, 2011 (when Ms. Patil was in office), Mr. Mukherjee, after taking charge, sent the file back on November 15, 2012 to the Home Ministry for a fresh look. The Home Ministry returned the file to the President on January 23 this year, and he sent it back, rejecting the petition, on February 3, paving the way for Saturday's execution.
  19. ↑ Roy, Rajesh. "Indian Parliament Attack Planner Hanged".
  20. ↑ Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar (13 June 2016). "In Tihar, officials feel 'tinge of sorrow'". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 January 2018. Thereafter Afzal's body was taken down from the gallows and buried with full religious rites near Jail No. 3, right next to the grave of Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Butt who too was hanged in Tihar.
  21. ↑ "All you need to know about the 2001 Parliament attack". Firstpost. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  22. ↑ Roy, Arundhati (15 December 2006). "India's Shame". The Guardian . Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  23. 1 2 "Encounter specialist killed by his own gun". The Hindu. 26 March 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  24. ↑ State vs Mohd. Afzal And Ors.(Delhi High Court29 October 2003), Text .
  25. ↑ Mody, Anjali (30 October 2003). "Geelani, Afsan Guru acquitted in Parliament attack case". The Hindu . Retrieved 5 January 2018. Ms. Guru (formerly Ms. Navjot Sandhu) had been sentenced to five-years rigorous imprisonment on the lesser charge of concealing knowledge of the conspiracy.[ dead link ]
  26. ↑ "Parliament attack: Advani points towards neighbouring country". Rediff.com. 14 December 2001.
  27. ↑ "Parl attacks proved terrorism biggest threat to democracy: Advani". Firstpost. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2018. Home Minister LK Advani made an indirect reference to Pakistan, saying that "clues" following the attack showed that "a neighbouring country, and some terrorist organisations active there behind" the attack.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.