CITY | Monday, November 23, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Mourning Mumbai
Sidharth Mishra
Non-deserving given awards?
As the nation gets ready to commemorate the first anniversary of 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, I seek to once again strike a bitter note on our reaction to the whole incident. In the past one year two ladies — widows of high-profile police officers Hemant Karkare and Ashok Kamte — have been able to catch media attention on several occasions. Initially they had protested against the move to not give their late husbands awards of valour equivalent to the one proposed for the National Security Guards commandoes, who died in action. Karkare was the head of anti-terror squad of the Mumbai Police at the time of his death and Ashok Kamte, Additional Commissioner of Police.
This week television screens had Kavita Karkare once again accusing the Congress-led DF Government of having failed in rushing reinforcements to help her husband and two other senior police officers in fighting the Pakistani terrorists on the night of November 26, 2008. Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar were gunned down by Pakistani terrorists near Cama Hospital in Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in south Mumbai on the night of November 26.
Kavita Karkare has put the Ashok Chavan administration in the dock, by claiming that she did not get answer as to how her husband died, even nearly one year after he succumbed to the Pakistani terrorists’ bullets. She has made an issue of the disappearance of the bullet-proof jacket which Hemant Karkare was wearing at the time of his death.
Kavita Karkare’s outburst has come in the light of the criticism of the way the three late Mumbai Police officials reacted to the terror attack on the night of November 26, 2008. Among other things, Kavita has said that for the initial six-months her source of the details of the incident were media reports. She started to gather information about the incident on her own initiative, by her own admission, only after questions were raised saying that Karkare acted in very hasty manner and went for the operation blindly. Kavita Karkare now claims that Kamte, Karkare, Salaskar were planning strategy in Cama Hospital for 40 minutes. They had asked for help, but they couldn’t get help in those 40 minutes.
Now this raises the question why highest gallantry awards were recommended for Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar when there was no clarity about their role in the whole operation. Soon after the attack, our reporter had discussed the issue with one of the commando who was involved in the liberation of the Taj and the Trident hotels.
The commando had lucidly summarised the heroism of Mumbai cops quoting celebrated World War II American commander General George S Patton Junior, “No b*****d ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb b*****d die for his country.” In 1944, Patton was given command of the Third Army in France. His troops dashed across Europe after the battle of Normandy. By the time World War II was over, the Third Army had liberated or conquered 81,522 square miles of territory.
“Mr Karkare has been rewarded for his heroism. God bless his soul but I think for a senior officer to be running around inappropriately equipped and protected may well be excessive zeal and not really supreme bravery. I sincerely hope our Government would actually equip our Police and Army better. Not a single Australian soldier/policeman has been killed wearing Hellweg body armour. Aramid helmets replaced steel ones ten years ago. So an emerging super power, equipped worse than the worst. Mr Karkare died simply because he was not wearing an appropriate bullet proof vest. Very sad indeed!” the commando had explained in a matter of fact way.
“Mr Karkare went to the hospital on an impulse not knowing any thing of the threat. He did not fire a single shot and he and his colleagues were absolutely vulnerable targets for the terrorists. No doubt, a very honest and efficient officer he became an easy prey. Unfortunately his vehicle was then used by the terrorists for further mayhem. He would have been of immense value sitting in the control room and directing the operation with his wide knowledge and experience. India needed him and all others who died in that ordeal, to live,” the commando had added.
The Government while choosing the gallantry award winners failed to draw a line and recognise the difference between raw courage beyond the call of duty in the face of the enemy and death on duty. It is on this account that the real valour and grit of NSG commandoes like Major Unnikrishnan and Havildar Rajbir, who actually gave their lives in the face of active fire and a visible enemy, got eclipsed by death of Karkare and his colleagues.
Innocent people sitting in trains also die when there is a bomb blast. Hundreds died inside the Taj and Trident Hotels. They did not get gallantry awards. The staff at the Taj and Trident-Oberoi hotels did an exemplary job, protecting and guiding their guests and many even laid down their lives. Their sagas of courage remain largely unsung. While it’s true that Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar made the supreme sacrifice on duty but it was not raw gallantry but yes, they died in harness.
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