India observes ninth anniversary of Parliament attack

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): Cutting across party lines, political leaders today paid homage to those who had lost their lives in the 2001 Parliament House terrorist attack.

It was nine 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, BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani and several other leaders offered floral tributes to the martyrs at a solemn ceremony this 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 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 the Supreme Court rejected his appeal two years later on August 4, 2005.

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. (ANI)