Ansari leads tributes to martyrs of Parliament House attack
December 13, 2011 11:45 IST
Cutting across party lines, political leaders on Tuesday paid homage to those who had lost their lives in the 2001 Parliament House terrorist attack.
It was 10 years ago on this day when terrorists made an unsuccessful attempt to storm the Parliament complex.
Vice President M Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani and several other leaders offered floral tributes to the martyrs at a solemn ceremony in the morning.
Mohammed Afzal Guru, who was held guilty in the case, was awarded the death sentence by a Delhi court on December 18, 2002, after being convicted of a conspiracy to attack Parliament on December 13, 2001, waging war against the country and murder.
The Delhi high court upheld the death sentence on October 29, 2003, and his appeal was further rejected by the Supreme Court two years later.
Following this, Afzal filed a mercy petition with the President, who forwarded it to Union home ministry for its comments.
The 2001 Parliament attack led to the death of a dozen people; five terrorists, six policemen and a civilian. It also caused increased tensions between India and Pakistan resulting in Operation Parakram in 2002.
Source: ANI
