The recent incident of gas attack in the Indian Parliament on 13 Dec 2023 reminds us of a parliament attack. Then on 13 Dec 2001, 5 terrorists trained from Pakistan attacked the Indian Sansad Bhawan (Parliament). The incident resulted in the deaths of 8 Indian security personnel, one gardener, and all the 5 attackers. The injured personnel which included press, officers and security staff were 18 in number.
This attack triggered a military standoff between India and Pakistan in 2002 with an eventual disengagement in
Aim of the Attack
As per an interview of Afzal Guru, the aim of the attack was to cause maximum damage to the MPs present inside the parliament.
Chronology of the Events
- 13 Dec 2001: Five terrorist enter parliament compound in a car marked as Home Minister.
- 15 Dec 2001: Delhi Police Arrest Afzal Guru from J&K, Syed Geelani from his house in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi, Shaukat was arrested later from Srinagar and his wife Afsan too.
- 29 Dec 2001: Afzal sent to a 10 Day Police remand
- 4 June 2002: Charges framed
- 16 and 18 Dec 2002: Trial court gives death sentence to all except Afsan, who received 5 years imprisonment
- 30 Aug 2003: Ghazi Baba, the mastermind of the attacks was killed in a clash with BSF
- 29 Oct 2003: Delhi High Court upholds trial court judgement
- 4 Aug 2005: Supreme Court upholds the judgement of Delhi High Court, commuted Shaukat’s death sentence to 10 years imprisonment.
- 26 Sep 2006: Delhi High Court orders Afzal to be hanged
- 3 Oct 2006: Tabasum (wife of Afzal) files mercy petition
- 12 Jan 2007: Afzal’s plea seeking review of death sentence is rejected by Supreme Court due to no merit
- 19 May 2010: Delhi Govt receinves Afzal’s mercy petition
- 30 Dec 2010: Shaukat released from Tihar jail
- 10 Dec 2012: Shushil Shinde (Home Minister) says he will examine Afzal’s petition
- 26 Jan 2013, President P Mukherjee rejects mercy petition
- 9 Feb 2013: Afzal hanged in Tihar Jail
Trial and Judgement of 2001 Parliament Attacks
A designated court for the Parliament Attack was constituted which was presided by the Judge S.N. Dhingra.
The 3 main perpetrators of the attack received death sentences.
- Mohammed Afzal (Guru)
- Shaukat Hassan
- Syed Abdul Raza Geelani
Another accused Navjot Sandhu (Afsan Guru, Shaukat’s wife) was acquitted of all charges except under Sec 123 IPC and was convicted. She received 5 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine also was imposed.