On 13 December 2001, terrorists attacked the Parliament House, the soul of Indian democracy. This date is etched in the minds of all Indians. This was the date when terror reached the doorstep of the Parliament. Usually, no one pays attention to the coming and going of white Ambassador cars in the Parliament, but that day one car created a lot of chaos. On the morning of 13 December, 5 terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed arrived in a white Ambassador car to riddle the temple of democracy with bullets. But 9 brave sons of the country, without caring for their lives, bravely fought those terrorists and foiled their plans of entering the Parliament House outside itself.

The security personnel killed all five terrorists. In this entire operation, 9 soldiers were martyred while 16 were injured. The martyred soldiers included Jagdish Prasad Yadav, Matbar Singh Negi, Nanak Chand, Rampal, Omprakash, Bijendra Singh, Ghanshyam, a woman constable of Central Reserve Police Force, Kamlesh Kumari and a CPWD employee, Deshraj.

Why did the hanging have to be postponed for a day?

Then the mastermind of the attack, Afzal Guru, was given the death sentence on 9 February 2013. Although Afzal was to be hanged a day earlier, the then UPA government had to postpone the date by a day. Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was the Home Minister at that time, has described the entire incident in detail in his autobiography. In his autobiography 'Five Decades in Politics' published by Harper Collins, Shinde writes that the date of 8 February 2013 was first fixed for the hanging of Afzal Guru, but it had to be postponed by a day.

Sushil Kumar Shinde has written that the government felt that the news of Afzal's hanging could spread tension in Jammu and Kashmir. There could be a law and order challenge, so the hanging had to be postponed by a day. He has written, "On the day Afzal Guru was to be hanged, we took utmost care to ensure that the media did not get the news. Along with this, arrangements were also made to ensure that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir does not deteriorate after Afzal Guru's hanging."

How did the hanging happen without an executioner?

Shinde further wrote, "To maintain secrecy, a high level meeting was called in the Home Ministry on the morning of 8 February in which Tihar Jail DG Vimala Mehra, then Home Secretary RK Singh, Tihar Jailor Sunil Gupta were present. I repeatedly asked them if they were confident about hanging. The problem was that Tihar Jail did not have a regular executioner. However, the jailor said that all the arrangements have been made. After this, we decided to go ahead and on 9 February, an officer of the Tihar Jail administration hanged Afzal Guru."

What did Afzal ask for in his last wish?

On 9 February 2013, it was decided to hang Afzal secretly in Tihar Jail. In his last wish, Afzal asked for the Quran which was given to him. After this, he was hanged at the appointed time.

Shinde has written that Afzal had exhausted all his legal rights, so he had no option left except hanging. Still, he regrets that Afzal's family could not meet him at the last moment because there was a delay in informing his family from the Home Secretary's office.