18 years since 2001 Parliament attack: Politicos pay tributes to the martyred

A martyr tribute was held at the Parliament House complex to mark the 18th year since the 2001 Parliament Attacks. At 10:30 AM, almost all the Members of Parliaments (MP) - including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, and Congress President Sonia Gandhi - paid homage to the soldiers who were martyred in the Parliament attack.

On December 13, 2001, the Parliament House was attacked. Several major leaders of the country were present at the Parliament House at the time when the militants attacked. Some of them recalled the painful moment of the attack on Parliament in a conversation with Zee News and saluted the brave soldiers.

Former Union Minister CP Thakur said, "At that time, everything happened so suddenly that we could not immediately understand what was happening. The House was adjourned, and we heard loud noises outside. It was the bravery of our skilled security personnel that did not allow the terrorists to enter the main Parliament premises.

Former Minister Satyanarayan Jatiya also said that on the fated day, the parliament complex was marked with an atmosphere of terror, but the security personnel saved the country's leaders and MPs by putting their lives on the line. "We salute these brave souls," he said.

Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav said that he had not gone to Parliament that day and was watching Zee News at home, where he came to know that the complex had been attacked. Ram Gopal had immediately called Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was present in Parliament at that very moment, to get an update of the situation. He, too, saluted the courage of the security personnel.

DMK MP Triruchi Siva also recalled the Parliament attack. "We can never forget those days," she said, "Today, a security system is in place to deal with this, but even at that time, the security personnel immediately closed all the gates, saving so many lives."

Sangeeta Singh Deo, current BJP MP who was also present inside the Parliament premises on that day, said that there was a lot of uproar in the House on December 13, 2001, which led to the adjournment of the House. "Some MPs had left for the house and most of them were still inside. If we are alive today, it is because of the actions taken by the security personnel. We thank them."

BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy also paid homage to the soldiers who were martyred in the Parliament attack.

The terror attack on Parliament was carried out by terrorists from the Pro-Pakistan terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). At the time of the attack, security personnel gunned down five terrorists. The mastermind of the attack was Afzal Guru, who was hanged on February 9, 2013.