BJP on the defensive as Mumbaikars march for Hemant Karkare

MUMBAI: With less than a week to go for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections when polling will be held in Mumbai, the BJP has been put on the defensive by comments against slain cop Hemant Karkare by one of the main accused in the Malegaon blasts case Pragya Thakur.

BJP candidate for Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, during an election campaign, in Bhopal, Wednesday, on April 24, 2019. PTI photo

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, April 24

With less than a week to go for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections when polling will be held in Mumbai, the BJP has been put on the defensive by comments against slain cop Hemant Karkare by one of the main accused in the Malegaon blasts case Pragya Thakur.

Thakur, who has been fielded by the BJP from Bhopal, accused Karkare, who then headed the Anti-Terror Squad of the Mumbai Police, of torturing her in custody following her arrest in connection with the Malegaon blasts. Thakur, who calls herself a Sadhvi, went on to say that Karkare was killed in the terrorist attack in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, after she cursed him for the custodial assault.

Comments by Thakur and certain Hindu right-wing leaders who called Karkare an "anti-national" police official sparked off protests in Mumbai.

Earlier this week scores of citizens gathered outside the Police Gymkhana at Mumbai's Marine Drive and lit candles in honour of Karkare and other police officials who were killed in the terror attack. Holding placards with messages like "Lest we forget" and pictures of Karkare and the other slain police officials, the people called them national heroes. Some of the placards in Marathi said "Karkare sir, the whole of Mumbai stands by you".

Pragya Thakur's comments have provided adequate fodder for the Congress-NCP combine ahead of polling in the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai. The party is questioning the patriotism of the BJP in fielding her from Bhopal.

Even the Shiv Sena has joined the Congress and the NCP in condemning Pragya's comments on Karkare.

"Calling a man like Hemant Karkare, who laid down his life for the country and was later awarded the Ashok Chakra, an anti-national was an insult to the martyrs of the nation," its mouthpiece Saamna said.

With the issue threatening to snowball in Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stepped in and condemned Pragya's remarks. “She shouldn’t have made such remarks. Hemant Karkare was an honest officer who laid down his life for the country. She should not have said such things. I would advise her to exercise restraint while speaking," Fadnavis told reporters.