Opinion: I was there when terrorists attacked Indian Parliament

I was standing with my boss, Sachidananda Murthy, the Resident Editor of The Week magazine when he received the call that gunshots could be heard from the Parliament. We worked on the 2nd floor of the UNI building in front of the VP House which is barely 300 metres from Parliament. I don’t think I took more than 5 minutes to reach the reception gate of the Parliament. I ran without thinking. I did not realise that terror attack has taken place. I only realised the gravity of the event when I saw injured policeman being dropped from the top of the outer wall of the Parliament so that he could be treated.

I heard police say, "aatankwadi sansad mein ghus gaye hain.” He was injured and bleeding from his knee. Everyone seemed to be in a shock and all gates to the Parliament were shut. The gates were being manned by highly charged faces. I immediately called the office and told them of the attack. I was asked to immediately move away from the spot to a safe location. I did the opposite. I ran towards the main gate of the Parliament which was shut.

I hid behind a pillar to take a peek inside, not realising the gravity of events which preceded my presence. Here, I met a man who pushed me aside and asked me to keep my head down. Later, I would know that man was Prabhakar whose photo would be flashed on the front pages of newspapers the next day.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

In those days, security was minimal and press operated freely. Even Parliament security was not much to name. I distinctly remember that within 15 to 20 minutes a shot got fired. Later, it was revealed that the last terrorist was shot down by the SPG personnel in the Parliament House Complex.

There were bystanders, journalists and policemen. All buildings around Parliament were also immediately shut down. Gradually as the news spread, security men from various branches of the government rushed to the Parliament. Both me and Prabhakar stayed put in that position for 30 minutes with his gun out.

Time had frozen for us. No one was sure whether all terrorists had been put down. Inside search and rescue operation continued and outside gathering of security forces. Since gates were locked even the senior officers were clueless outside. Meanwhile, two Member of Parliaments made their way outside and addressed the press. Police by then had moved most of the press back. I too was asked to move back which I did promptly.

After an hour or so I saw a column of Army with heavy machinery move to the centre of Vijay Chawk. Though they were withdrawn later, it became clear that every security institution in the country acted on its own and no proper coordination existed between them for hours to continue. It was only after one and half hour or so that I understood that the operation is over and sanitisation exercise has kicked into action.

I stood there for 4 hours. Empty Vijay Chawk turned into a crowded news reporting station within an hour. There were chaos and shock outside. India's most secure place had been breached.

Until that fateful day, I had not covered Parliament. I would not do so for the next 2 years. The first brush with Parliament took place in the most horrible form which I would remember forever.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).