'My torture,' 'my curse', 'Hemant Karkare's karma': Is Pragya Thakur accusing a hero of the country to rile up emotions in this polarised poll?
Thousands joined the funeral procession of Hemant Karkare in Mumbai as the congregation went past their localities, to pay homage to a police officer who was killed during the 26/11 Mumbai attack.
Among the chants of “Hemant Karkare amar rahen” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai," there were Muslims too — who travelled from Malegaon — to be part of the last rites of a man whom they respected.
To some, he was perhaps even a messiah.
None in the crowd that gathered at the cremation ground near Shivaji Park in Mumbai looked at men wearing skull caps with any suspicion. And yes, some of them were also part of the chanting of "Bharat Mata ki Jai", willingly.
After all, the country was sending off one of its brave sons who died to bullets fired by Pakistani terrorists in one of the worst attacks on the country — the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike.
In that hour of grief, when the nation was mourning the deaths of hundreds of innocent people, the conspiracies around 'Hindu terror' — Karkare and the Malegaon blasts — didn’t strike anyone.
This is a vivid picture of the scene I have witnessed as a reporter who was covering developments related to the 26/11 attack.
Karkare and his team of the Maharashtra Anti Terror Squad (ATS) were unravelling a terror conspiracy after blasts took place in Malegaon, Maharashtra, earlier in 2008. It was rare that Muslims were being seen as victims, not suspects in a terror case.
Pragya Singh Thakur was one of the suspects who was taken into custody. And now, more than a decade after his death, Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast conspiracy, has triggered off a controversy.
As BJP candidate from Bhopal, while she continues to be an accused in the case as the court has not discharged her, Thakur has alleged she was 'tortured' by Karkare — and it was her 'curse' and his 'karma' that led to his killing.
Giving colour to terror
It’s probably true that if allegations of torture were made by a woman not donning saffron clothes, the rage could be different.
While her claims should not be brushed aside, and just like similar charges by other suspected criminals are viewed seriously, this too should be a matter of concern. But what cannot be ignored is that this comes from a political leader contesting elections — in a highly polarised environment.
If she is serious about the charges, she should name the officials who are alive. Accusing a dead man doesn’t serve any good legally and only has the potential to rile up emotions.
Her comments should also be a lesson for those who take everything said by an accused or the police at face value, depending on what side of the political spectrum they are on.
Conspiracy theories on 26/11 are a joke
It is a matter of record now that Hemant Karkare and his colleagues, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, were killed by Pakistani terrorists — there is no dispute about who these Pakistani terrorists were who went on a killing spree in Mumbai that late evening.
This is something that even Pakistan has accepted and carried out an investigation — even though it turned out to be a sham one on the conspiracy hatched by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
I never knew Karkare personally, but as a reporter tracking terror investigations, I followed his work closely. One thing that struck me was how some of his fellow anti-terror sleuths in other parts of the country always had conspiracy theories about him. This was especially true when he was at the helm of affairs of the plot involving Hindu radicals. And I find it quite ridiculous now that some of them known to have 'fixed' people in terror cases were the ones who floated these theories more than a decade ago, that keep coming back to haunt and embarrass the country with respect to 26/11.
Then there are those, including some police officers, who keep questioning what Karkare was doing, accompanied by only two officers when Mumbai was attacked.
Well, there is no answer for a question like this, but one can say he was at least out on the streets trying to figure out what the madness was all about — and not sitting in his air-conditioned room.
Maybe he was trying to lead by example. In an unprecedented terror attack like 26/11, he, along with his two juniors, were taken by surprise and ambushed. This happens in combat situations — there needn’t be a conspiracy theory over this.
By the same logic, whenever there is a casualty in an encounter with terrorists, say, in Kashmir, should there be a conspiracy theory, hinting towards some sort of sabotage?
Of course the lapses should be part of internal assessments to ensure mistakes are not repeated. And if there is any complexity found, heads must roll.