2001
Terrorist attacks on the Indian Parliament today claimed a dozen lives and
significantly escalated tensions between India and Pakistan. Two Islamic extremist
groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have been indicated as
perpetrators, although the Jaish-e-Mohammad denied improvement. The attack
began 40 minutes after the adjournment of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sessions.
Five gunmen infiltrated the parliament and shot at the Vice-President’s car. In
the confrontation that followed, all of the gunmen were killed. This incident
will have severe long term repercussions on the relations between India and
Pakistan. Already, there are talks of a military stand- off along the
international border and along the Line of Control.
There were about 100 members of parliament such as LK Advani in the building at the time of attack, although none is believed to have been hurt.
The gunmen are thought to have used a fake identity sticker to get through tight security surrounding the parliament complex.
After rigorous investigation, four accused were identified for involvement in the attack: Mohammad Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain Guru, SAR Gilani and Afsan Guru. While Afsan Guru was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine, death sentences were imposed on the other three accused.
Afzal Guru was hanged six days later on 9 February 2013. There were widespread protests in various parts of the country opposing the death sentence. In New Delhi, university students protests outside Jantar Mantar.
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