Neelam Azad was one of ‘The Six’ instrumental in planning the Parliament security breach. The 2001 attack was by real terrorists and planned by the infamous Afzal Guru, who was tried and hanged. Neelam Azad and Co., will not hang but like the Jan 6 Capitol Hill “attackers”, she and the other co-conspirators face long imprisonments.

A couple of the Jan 6 accused and convicted have been sentenced to 22 years with nobody to speak for them. For, at the end of the day, parliamentarians of all hues stick together. And Capitol Hill is equivalent to India’s Parliament. Neelam Azad will after this never ever get a government job. Her mother the other evening defended Neelam for being part of the conspiracy to breach Parliament security. The mother probably has never heard of UAPA, but will not forget UAPA after she gets to know UAPA.

Important thing is, ‘The Six’ have been termed “misguided youth” by some people of the same bent of mind. For now, at least, ‘The Six’ are heroes. The fate that awaits them is hard to contemplate but it becomes incumbent on the INDI-Alliance to do all within its bounds to oust the Narendra Modi regime and come to power, which is what ‘The Six’ aimed for with its attack on Parliament.

On being nabbed and paraded to the Parliament Street police station, Neelam Azad kept up the protest, shouting “tanashahi nahi chalegi” again and again, despite the police grip on her throat. Her defiance called for determination and since then, videos have surfaced of Neelam Azad in CAA protests and at venues of the anti-farm laws agitation.

Neelam Azad was truly with the believers and should be rewarded with the INDI-Alliance coming to power in 2024. Not Neelam Azad alone, but ‘The Six’ together deserve vindication, is also why a section of farmers have come out in support of them, knowing that the sitting dispensation will do its utmost to get the stringent-most punishment for Neelam Azad and her band – for retribution is not God’s alone.

‘The Six’ came from all directions of India and they had been planning this private adjournment of Parliament for a long time – 18 months. Six nondescript Indians. One of them from Mysuru, Neelam herself from Jind, Haryana. Sagar from Lucknow and another from Gurugram. Yet another from Latur in Maharashtra. All of them tied to the same leash and now to a same fate.

Just when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was getting the upper-hand, they have dealt a new hand. That the second attack on Parliament was carried out on the same date that the first one was carried out on was not only a shame, but also an insult to the memories of the security personnel who gave up their lives for the ‘Temple of Democracy’ and prevented hundreds of deaths.

This December 13, 2023 attack on Parliament was like the October 7, 2023 Hamas strike on Israel. The suddenness of the assault and the clockwork execution inside and outside Parliament. It reminded of Bhagat Singh who too had stood up in the ‘Visitors’ Gallery’ to shock and awe the enemy. Lucknow'sSagar and his Mysuru accomplice did just that, but with a dash of colour – canisters of yellow, blue and red gas.

Police now say ‘The Six’ were linked to a Social Media page called the ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’. Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D jumped into the Lok Sabha during ‘Zero Hour’. Sharma deployed the gas canisters after jumping over desks. MPs overpowered him and beat him up. Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde triggered gas canisters and shouted slogans against “dictatorship” outside Parliament.

One of the accused, Lalit Jha, is on the lam. The rest are in custody. Bhagat Singh was hailed for his dare-devilry. ‘The Six’ are already getting the stick for their act. It will take a bold Opposition politician/political party to take ownership of ‘The Six’. It must be acknowledged that the purpose and goal of ‘The Six’ aren’t different from that of the opposition parties.

Should this breach of Parliament security be called a bloodless coup? Does the INDI-Alliance have the guts to stand in solidarity with ‘The Six’? The Modi government will use its agencies to turn the tables on the Opposition with this attack on Parliament. ‘The Six’, according to those with an ear to the ground, had planned to use the Parliament breach to highlight issues being raised by the Opposition and included unemployment and inflation.

Looks like the ‘The Six’ believed in the philosophy of do your job and not think of the consequences. They were such a dedicated bunch that somebody like Neelam Azad preferred to remain unemployed if it kept alive the protests and the focus remained on unemployment, and unemployment alone. Age 42 and unmarried with a string of degrees and yet jobless but constantly triggered by unemployment protests, Neelam Azad faces dull days behind bars. (IPA Service)