Policemen generally live very difficult lives. The harsh conditions in which they work are seldom understood and appreciated. They tend to receive a greater share of brickbats and the bouquets go to someone else.
When you insult a police officer's martyrdom, when his supreme sacrifice is trivialised, it is not only shocking but highly condemnable. It shows the immaturity of the person who has made such statements. Sadhvi Pragya has as per media reports said that she used her “powers to curse” Hemant Karkare to his death.
I don't know what she thinks of herself, but if she were capable of wielding such supernatural powers, why didn't she use it long ago to get herself out of her incarceration and whatever suffering she claims she went through. I'm also not sure if it is the case of power going to her head which allows her to think she can get away with anything she says.
26/11 was a traumatic experience for the entire country. When the attacks happened, everyone in Mumbai police department tried to rise up to the occasion and fight the terrorists. Three senior police officers laid down their lives fighting those terrorists. They died a heroic death. Every year we pay homage to them. We remember them with utmost respect and Karkare is one of them.
I never met Hemant Karkare but I know some respected police officers who hold him in high esteem. I completely trust the judgment of my good friend (former Mumbai police commissioner) Julio Ribeiro. And on more than one occasion, Ribeiro has showered praise on Karkare. In fact I have yet to come across a policeman from Maharashtra who has anything adverse to say about Karkare. The least that can be said about him from this is that he must be a policeman with extraordinary skill and integrity.
As I said, the sacrifices made by police officers often go unrewarded but this is rubbing salt into the wounds of those who remember the brave policemen who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. What Sadhvi Pragya said is deplorable. The only silver lining that I can see in this entire fiasco is that her party has distanced itself from her statements. But I think that her party should go further than this.
The party should discipline her and all its members who make such irresponsible statements. We must insist on some kind of discipline from their cadre. No sensible person is going to justify what she said. I hope she has the sense to apologise for what she has said. That's the bare minimum that she can do.
The author is a retired IPS officer and the former DGP of Uttar Pradesh.
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