Sovereignty Under Siege continues....

The Ambassador car—with registration number DL 3C J 1527—that the terrorists had used was found near gate eleven, the site of the commencement of the attack. Later, investigation revealed that the car had been bought from a second-hand car dealer in Karol Bagh. Interestingly, the car had changed hands five times before Mohammad bought it.

The firing stopped after about fifty minutes. By then all five terrorists had been killed. Five Delhi policemen, one female constable of the CRPF, two Watch and Ward staffers and a gardener of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) fell to the terrorists’ bullets. In addition, sixteen security men, most of them from CRPF, were injured.

The incident shook the country. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the prime minister of India, thundered, ‘The punishment will be as big as the crime.’ L.K. Advani, the Union home minister, described the incident as ‘the most alarming act of terrorism in the history of the two decades of Pak-sponsored terrorism. We will liquidate the terrorists and their sponsors, whoever they are, and wherever they are.’

Shrichand Kriplani, a BJP leader from Rajasthan, declared, ‘The government should do what America has done in Afghanistan and what Israel is doing in Palestine. The government should not shy away from attacking Pakistan.’

Robert Blackwill, the US ambassador to India, observed, ‘It was no different in its objective from the terror attack of September 11.’

The US government announced, ‘India should take appropriate action.’ The Congress party, the main opposition party, said it would support ‘any well-considered step’.

Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf condemned the attack but warned India ‘against any precipitous action by its government. This would lead to serious repercussions.’ Pakistan denied any hand in the incident and alleged that India may have stage-managed the incident for its own political purposes.

To be continued….