According to news reports, two people entered Lok Sabha and opened tear gas canisters. In the latest visuals, yellow gas can be seen floating in the seating area of the Lok Sabha building. In the latest development, visitor passes to the parliament have been banned by the Lok Sabha Speaker for the ongoing session. Following the incident, Speaker Om Birla has now convened an all party meeting.
According to the news agency ANI, two protesters, a man and a woman have been detained by the police in front of Transport Bhawan. The incident took place outside the parliament,Delhi Police said.
Reactions on the incident have been coming in from various political parties.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “Two young men jumped from the gallery and something was hurled by them from which gas was emitting. They were caught by MPs, they were brought out by security personnel. The House was adjourned till 2 pm. This is certainly a security breach because today we observed the death anniversary of people who sacrificed their lives in 2001.”
2001 Parliament attack: A timeline
Paying tribute to those who died in 2001 Parliament attack, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, TMC MP Derek O’Brien and other leaders pay tribute to the fallen jawans, at the Parliament, on the 22 years of the Parliament Attack.
What happened?
December 13, 2001, around 11:30 a.m., the capital of India,Delhi. A white ambassador car enters the parliament. According to the statements of those present at the scene, the car had five terrorists from Pakistan-based organizations, Lashkar e Toiba and Jaish e Mohammad.
The police later clarified that the terrorists had used fake VIP cards and red beacons to get into the parliament complex.
As soon as the car brushed against the president’s convoy, gunfire followed. The five terrorists were killed in an hour-long operation with one of the terrorists blowing himself up.
Five Delhi police personnel, a Parliament security guard and a gardener were killed in the episode. About 22 people were also injured.
What followed?
The incident shook the entire country. Investigations after the attack revealed four names in connection with the case – Afzal Guru, Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani, Shaukat Hussain and Navjot Sandhu.
Afzal Guru was executed on Feb 9, 2013.
Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani was sentenced to death by a special court but was later acquitted. He died in 2019 due to a cardiac arrest.
Shaukat Hussain’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released nine months before his official release date due to ‘good conduct’.
Navjot Sandhu was acquitted of all the charges except the one under Section 123 IPC (concealing intent to… wage war) for which she was convicted and imprisoned for five years.
As a result of the attack, India’s relations with Pakistan deteriorated further.
