10 years on, survivors ask why attackers not hanged

NEW DELHI: It's has been ten years since that bloody December 13 evening which nearly brought two nuclear powers to the brink of a war and can only be perhaps eclipsed by the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Yet for all those who were part of the anti-terror operations - and specially those who lost their kin - in the deadly attack can hardly forget the day.

For a few, several acts by the successive governments - including the clemency plea of Afzal Guru adopted by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has only added to their pain. But most others are happy to be alive; most claiming the enormity of the attack struck only hours after the operation was over. Even as the All India Anti-Terrorist Front led by M S Bitta will be meeting on Tuesday to submit a memorandum to the President of India demanding special terrorist courts to ensure speedy trials.

"If the lives of some ministers were lost in that attack, would the trial have been delayed? While seeking clemency for Guru, do the politicians realize what pain we are going through?'' asked Susmitha Bisht, wife of slain Vikram Singh. Munish, wife of Desh Raj said it pained her that after S A R Geelani was released in 2003, even Shaukat Hussain Guru, his relative was released from Tihar after serving ten years in jail under court order after 12 charges were dropped from him.

For those who are alive, the feeling is different. "I have been asked umpteen number times by my children to take them to the place where I and my colleagues battled terrorists who attacked the Parliament. I don't know when will I be able to fulfill the promise I made to them almost a decade ago," CRPF head constable D Santosh Kumar, who was awarded a 'Shaurya Chakra' for single-handedly killing three terrorists during the Parliament attack, said.

Kumar, now posted with the bomb disposal squad of his force, said the incident has taught him to face everything boldly.