Pay Homage to Martyrs by Hanging Afsal Guru

Leaders pay homage to martyrs of Parliament terror attack
Daily Pioneer – PTI | New Delhi/Indore

Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and leaders of political parties today paid homage to martyrs of the Parliament terror attack on its tenth anniversary.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, BJP leader L K Advani, Leader of Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, leaders of opposition in both Houses, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, along with other MPs paid floral tributes at the photographs of Parliament’s watch and ward and security personnel killed in the December 13 terror strike.

As security personnel saluted the martyrs, parliamentarians stood in silence for a minute. A blood donation camp was also organised on the occasion.

Recalling the December 13, 2001 attack, Advani said, “If even one of them had succeeded in entering Parliament House, it would have been horrific.”

On Afzal Guru, who is facing death sentence in the Parliament attack case, Advani said, “Afzal Guru has given his own evidence…If someone has created an impression that no justice has been done to him, it is wrong to say so.”

Swaraj said, “We come here every year to remember all those killed in the attack. There are two sides to the issue, one is to pay homage to those killed and the other is to carry out the sentence granted by the Supreme Court on the man responsible for being behind the attack conspiracy.

“Despite the Supreme Court confirming the sentence, the man is still out… The nation wants to know, why are we hesitating in punishing those guilty for the Parliament attack,” she said.

Referring to Guru’s case, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “When the entire legal process has been confirmed by the Supreme Court, why the delay in Afzal Guru’s (case). How long? Why? I think, the sooner that verdict is executed, it will be the biggest homage to those great warriers…”

Terrorist Afzal Guru’s effigy burnt

Protesting against the delay in hanging Afzal Guru, the mastermind of the 2001 Parliament attack, the BJP youth wing today burnt an effigy of the terrorist here.

Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) also observed this day as the ‘kalank divas’.

Wearing Gandhi caps, hundreds of BJYM workers gathered at the Chavani Chauraha here shouting slogans against the Union Government and demanding that Guru be hanged without any further delay, police said.

BJYM state president Jitu Jirati and district BJP office-bearers Shankar Lalwani, Manoj Mishra, Kamal Vaghela and Ramdas Garg participated in the protests.

It was ten years ago on this day, the terrorists had made an unsuccessful attempt to storm the Parliament complex.