December 13 Parliament attack: The day Indian democracy was hit

It has been 16 years since the heart of democracy, the Indian Parliament was hit. It was a dastardly act and it was for the first time that a Fidayeen attack was witnessed in the country. Fidayeen attacks prior to the December 13 2001 Parliament attack were witnessed only in Kashmir.

It was the year 1999 and chilling news of the IC814 being hijacked broke out. The crisis dragged on before a demand to release Maulana Masoor Azhar was made. It was for the government to take the ultimate call on whether to release this terrorist or risk the lives of so many onboard the IC814. Several agency officials part of that operation say that it was an extremely tough call. The question of negotiating with them was extremely bleak. After all the plane had landed at Khandahar controlled by the Taliban.

The ISI wanted Masoor Azhar at any cost for their Kashmir battle and with Pakistan's spy agency carrying out the negotiations while putting the Taliban in front, it only made matters worse.

Masood Azhar after his release went back to Pakistan and formed the Jaish-e-Mohammad. It took the Jaish less than two years to make an announcement. In no time was the Parliament attack planned and executed and the message was clear that they wanted to hit out at the democracy in India. This attack in fact boosted the Jaish to a large extent and it went on to become a formidable force in the Kashmir struggle.

Officers involved in the probe said that it was an extremely tough one. Former Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, C D Sahay points out that the terrorists (5 of them) were killed in the encounter and hence there was no confession to rely upon. The probe started from scratch and finally it was ascertained that the Jaish was behind it. The leads were picked up and followed and in the absence of quality evidence, I would say that it was an extremely tough probe, Sahay also points out.

Was India soft?

There was a lot of eye ball confrontation between India and Pakistan following the Pakistan attack. India had threatened war, but the question was how feasible was it. The Kargil war had just been fought and there was already a lot of international attention on the ties between India and Pakistan. Even if India had decided to go to war, the international com

There were several meetings at the Prime Minister's office to discuss the feasibility of a war. However it was decided that the issue would be tackled in a different way rather than go to war. After all a Kargil had been fought just recently before the attack on Parliament.

India however decided that it would not merely issue statements. A message had to be conveyed. India witnessed the biggest mobilization of forces along the border in the shortest time possible. The Pakistan army was in fact worried about this kind of mobilization and had even backed off to a large extent.

It is very debatable whether the decision not to go to war paid off or not. While on the international front India was commended for showing restraint, the other issue was that Pakistan had not and will never learn.

The Parliament attack witnessed fidayeens strike at the heart of democracy. After this there were scores of terrorist attacks. Pakistan orchestrated a new strategy of carrying out home grown jihad and even roped in the SIMI and later the Indian Mujahideen to do so. Since the birth of these two outfits, India has witnessed scores of attacks which also includes the audacious 26/11 attack.

For the investigators the hanging of Afzal Guru was a major closure. After all they had struggled to get evidence against him. To add to this was the pressure from separatist groups in Kashmir who continued to claim that he was innocent. Investigators say that it was disheartening to see the manner in which politics was being played out.

The government was also weighing several options where Guru was concerned. They had to take into consideration that violence in the Valley would not flare up after this hanging. The agencies and the Indian army had done a lot to ensure that some sanity in the Valley had returned and the government felt that they ought to maintain calm.

Guru was however hanged on February 9 2013. It was done under the UPA regime. The sudden decision to hang him was not because the government of the day had a conscience call. Instead the government was well aware that the elections were coming up and they wanted to tom tom about this.

OneIndia News