In a video which has gone viral on social media, controversial journalist Rajdeep Sardesai is heard that journalists behave like vultures.

Sardesai is recounting the December 2001 attack on Indian Parliament where he and his crew were preparing for a picnic owing to a slow news day. Preparing for a feast in garden near the Parliament, he and his team entered the Parliament at around 11 am. Within minutes of the team entering the Parliament, he says they heard gun shots. The Parliament was attacked.

He then recalls that when his colleague asked him to leave, he directed him to suggest the guard to close the gates. He explains with a wide grin that he did so so that no other channel crew could enter. Those days there were fewer channels and Sardesai was excited at the prospect of doing an exclusive story.

He then says how the exclusive story of parliament attack made the team forget the wine and kababs they were planning to picnic on. “It was a great day. We are like vultures. We feed on these moments.” he added.

The video is from November this year where he is communicating to students at St Pauls Institute of Communication Education.

During December 2001 Parliament attack, Sardesai was associated with NDTV. Barkha Dutt, another celebrity journalist associated with NDTV had also come under fire for their coverage of sensitive issues like the Kargil war and Kandahar hijacking as well as her views on Kashmiri Pandits among others.

2001 Parliament attack: The clothes worn by the terrorists are seen at the Parliament complex in New Delhi on December 13, 2001. (Archive Photo)

What happened on the day of attack

On the morning of December 13, 2001 five terrorists entered Parliament House Complex around 11:40 am in an Ambassador car fitted with a red light and a forged Home Ministry sticker on the car’s windshield. As the car moved towards Building Gate No. 12, one of the members of the Parliament House Watch and Ward Staff became suspicious.

When the car was forced to turn back, it hit then Vice President Krishan Kant’s vehicle, after which the terrorists got down and opened fire. By this time, an alarm was raised, and all the building gates were closed. In the ensuing firing that lasted around 40 minutes, five Delhi Police personnel, a woman Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper, two Parliament staff and a gardener were killed along with five terrorists.

As soon as the attack began, the Parliament was adjourned for the day with some 100 leaders, politicians and staffs stuck inside the building.

2001 Parliament attack: All five terrorists were killed, along with eight security personnel and a gardener. (Express Archive: Ravi Batra)

Who were responsible

L K Advani, then Home Minister, said in Lok Sabha, “It is now evident that the terrorist assault on the Parliament House was executed jointly by Pakistan-based and supported terrorist outfits, namely, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.”

He added, “These two organisations are known to derive their support and patronage from Pak ISI. The investigation so far carried out by the police shows that all the five terrorists who formed the suicide squad were Pakistani nationals. All of them were killed on the spot and their Indian associates have since been nabbed and arrested.”

He added: “Last week’s attack on Parliament is undoubtedly the most audacious, and also the most alarming, act of terrorism in the nearly two-decades-long history of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India.”

Afzal Guru was hanged on February 9, 2013.

What happened after the attack

The attack triggered extensive and effective investigations which revealed possible involvement of four accused. Within days, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested four individuals who were tracked down with the help of leads relating to the car used and cellphone records. These were: Mohammad Afzal Guru, a former Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) militant who had surrendered in 1994, his cousin Shaukat Husain Guru, Shaukat’s wife Afsan Guru, and S A R Geelani, a lecturer of Arabic at Delhi University.

Afzal Guru was kept in police remand while the trial court acquitted Afsan and sentenced Geelani, Shaukat and Afzal to death. Afzal Guru’s execution took place 11 years later.

In 2003, Geelani was acquitted. In 2005, the Supreme Court upheld Afzal’s death sentence, but commuted Shaukat’s sentence to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. On September 26, 2006, the court ordered that Afzal Guru be hanged.

References:

opindia.com - OpIndia Staff