New Delhi: On the very date of maximum suspensions from the two Houses of Parliament, for asking an absent home minister to come to the House and make his statement on a serious security breach, exactly 22 years ago, on December 18, 2001, then home minister L.K. Advani had arisen in Lok Sabha to give an account of the attack in Parliament.
In his concluding paragraphs, he said, “The only answer that satisfactorily addresses this query is that Pakistan – itself a product of the indefensible Two-Nation Theory, itself a theocratic State with an extremely tenuous tradition of democracy – is unable to reconcile itself with the reality of a secular, democratic, self-confident and steadily progressing India, whose standing in the international community is getting inexorably higher with the passage of time.”
Advani reminded MPs of Atal Bihari Vajpayi’s address to the nation on the day of the attack, “The prime minister in his address to the nation on the 13th December, 2001 has declared that the fight against terrorism had reached a decisive phase. The supreme sacrifice made by the security personnel who lost their lives in this incident will not be allowed to go in vain. Those behind the attack on Parliament House should know that the Indian people are united and determined to stamp out terrorism from the country.”
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The security breach inside parliament on December 13 this year was the third in the series of notable attacks, the first being on November 7, 1966. It was two and a half years after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru and the religious right wing was emboldened after his demise. Indira Gandhi had been in office for less than two years. Bharatiya Jan Sangh’s MP, Swami Rameshwaranand, of Punjab’s Karnal delivered a rousing speech near parliament and thousands of sadhus who had gathered demanding an immediate end to cow slaughter across India, marched towards parliament house to attack it. The gates were shut down by security, but the sadhus attacked other buildings nearby.
Jairam Ramesh in a recounting of the attack 50 years on has written about how the then Congress president, K. Kamaraj, who was in his residence nearby, “had a narrow escape.” It was “about an hour of mayhem not seen in Delhi since 1947, the police responded and brought about some semblance of order. Official numbers put the death toll at seven or eight but the loss to commercial property was substantial.” The Associated Press recorded how the All India Radio building was vandalised and the adjacent irrigation, labour and transport ministry buildings. Nearby newspaper offices in IENS (now INS) building were affected too.
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Veteran political journalist Inder Malhotra wrote a news report in The Guardian, which was carried on the front page the next day, on how there was “absolutely no warning by intelligence services”. Congress and opposition members spoke and said “the entire structure of India was being endangered.”
But what did the government of the day do? A 48-hour curfew was announced in the area. The Lt Gov spoke of the rioting as “highly organised”. The concern was the fact that violence and mayhem took place under the “nose of parliament”. That was recognised for the symbolism it had.
The home minister, Gulzarilal Nanda, was sacked the very next day. He was held accountable, responsibility was fixed in other ways later.
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Who is accountable for the breach and who is responsible for the security are two distinct questions. This third serious breach of security under (inside?) “the nose of parliament” must establish accountability. Opposition MPs asking for the home minister and prime minister to be inside the house and not go missing is part of what MPs in any such situation must ask for.
Press releases from the Government of India now have Prime Minister Narendra Modi being thanked in every paragraph. With bombast and just one photograph ruling the roost, for MPs to ask who they should thank for the security breach is exactly what they are mandated to do. To try and shut them up by suspensions is only making the silence on accountability loom larger.
