Security men who saved Parliament ready to make any sacrifice

Ten years ago he fought Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists during the attack on Parliament and his spirit has not waned since then as he is ready to make any sacrifice for the country.

Sub-inspector YB Thapa, who was awarded Shaurya Chakra and is at present posted in the Northeast, wants to fulfil a promise he made to his children — to show them the place where he and his colleagues dealt with five terrorists on this day in 2001.

"I hope someday I will again be posted at Parliament House and I will tell my children what I felt when I stood there. I would love to guard Parliament again," 48-year-old Thapa said.

He said his family at that time had asked him about the importance of his medal, the second highest peace-time gallantry award.

"Back in 2001, my children were very young and my family was away. They couldn't at that time understand the magnitude of the attack. But now they know the importance and prestige of Parliament," Thapa told PTI.

Avdesh Singh, husband of Constable Kamlesh Kumari, who was posthumously awarded the highest peace-time gallantry medal, Ashok Chakra, had to bring up their two daughters.

"It's difficult as my daughters feel strongly about the absence of their mother who has gone away from their life forever," Singh, who runs a petrol pump in Kannauj in UP, said.

An emotional Singh said, "My daughters were very young when my wife was killed in the attack. Both of them get very emotional every time they see Parliament on the TV or somewhere".

CRPF head constable D Santosh Kumar, who was awarded a Shaurya Chakra for single-handedly killing three terrorists during the Parliament attack, has also a wish to take his children to Parliament.

A bachelor at the time of attack, Kumar's six-year-old daughter wants to see the place where her hero father had fought terrorists.

"Ever since the attack, I have been on postings throughout the country and did not get a chance to show my daughter where my colleagues laid down their lives for our tomorrow," the 36-year head constable said.

Besides Kamlesh, five more security personnel — four Delhi police personnel and one from Parliament watch and ward staff — were killed in the attack carried out in December 2001.