“Akshardham at 24: When Bollywood turned a Terror Attack into a ‘Balanced’ Morality Play”, MyIndMakers, 24 Sep 2026.
“It was 4:45 p.m. on 24 September 2002.
A white car stopped near Gate 3 of Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar. Two-armed terrorists got out carrying automatic weapons and grenades. When security volunteers tried to stop them, they jumped the fence and began firing at visitors. Within minutes, they had moved towards the main monument, throwing grenades and shooting at pilgrims.
Temple volunteers immediately warned those inside. The doors of the main monument and exhibition halls were shut. The attackers missed entering the main monument by mere seconds. They then forced their way into Exhibition Hall 1 and opened fire on men, women and children. Volunteers, police and security personnel evacuated hundreds of devotees.
Later that night, the National Security Guard (NSG) was flown in from Delhi. The counter-terror operation, officially known as Operation Vajra Shakti, continued through the night. By the morning of 25 September, both terrorists had been killed.
Thirty Hindu devotees and three security personnel lost their lives. The dead included a Sadhu, temple volunteers, ordinary Hindu visitors, two three-year-old girls and a four-year-old boy. NSG commando Suresh Chand Yadav died after closing in on one of the terrorists and killing him at close range. He was later awarded the Ashoka Chakra posthumously……”
Read the full article at MyIndMakers.
