Prasad said if one of the terrorists with an AK-47 would

have entered Parliament, the lives of top leaders of political parties would have been imperiled or many would have been killed. "This was the severity of the terrorist act," he said. On the delay in Guru's execution, he said, "This question would remain important and an answer would have to be found out." Prasad said the nation should rededicate itself and take an unflinching resolve of zero tolerance against terrorism. Seeking to silence those raising the issue of human rights on Guru's execution, the BJP leader reminded them of the human rights of all those killed by terrorists and their patrons from across the border. "Do the families of those innocents killed have human rights or not. Those brave watch and ward staff who secured the Parliament and secured the lives of the leaders of the country that India remained safe, does their family have any human right or not. This question is equally important," he said. Rudy said the BJP has always been pressing for strong and prompt action against perpetrators of terror. "Any action against terror like the hanging of Afzal Guru should be immediate. It cannot be delayed. If the highest court of the land upheld the conviction of Afzal Guru in 2007, thereafter there was no reason that any mercy petition should have been delayed for so long. "Though delayed, we still feel that the hanging of Afzal Guru was a right action. It has been done and the people of this country have been wanting and waiting for it for a long time," he said. Guru was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on Parliament and his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2005. On December 13, 2001, five heavily-armed gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened indiscriminate fire, killing nine persons.