A silent warrior, she took on govt over promises
Kavita, a lecturer with Nagrik Shikshan Sanstha, passed away on Monday at P D Hinduja Hospital .
For Kavita Karkare, dignity always came first. Early this year, six years after her husband ATS chief Hemant Karkare was killed during the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, she returned the “family” pension to the government with a terse response.
A scarred state government in 2008 had issued a Government Resolution, promising martyr’s pension for the families of all the police personnel who lost their lives in the terror attack. Unlike a regular ‘family’ pension, a martyr’s pension, recognising the officer’s sacrifice, holds a promise by the government to take responsibility of the family. With the state government still keeping her dues pending and continuing to send her the regular family pension, Kavita, according to her friends, finally asked the officials to divert the pension to the police welfare fund, stating she would take only what is entitled to her or nothing at all.
Kavita, a lecturer with Nagrik Shikshan Sanstha, passed away on Monday at P D Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre in Mahim after suffering brain haemorrhage at her Dadar residence on Saturday. She was 57. A statement from the hospital in the morning declared her “brain dead”.
The hospital also said that her family members — two daughters and a son — have expressed their wish to donate her organs. By evening, Karkare’s liver, kidneys, and corneas were retrieved for transplant.
Dr P P Ashok, neurologist at the hospital, said, “She was brought to me in a totally vegetative state. She had collapsed by the time they (family members) made it to the hospital”. The doctor, however, noted that such a condition is not triggered by depression or stress.
In the last few years after the 26/11 attacks, Kavita had gained prominent public space as she fought for the compensatory rights to the families of constabulary and ranks. Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed when terrorists opened fire on them behind Cama Hospital on the fateful night.
“Grief united us. She would call and check on me every day, and she did this with most others. Even when she travelled outside the country, I could expect a call from her,” said Smita Salaskar, wife of Vijay Salaskar, adding, “There were days when she would just call to say that she is depressed and wanted to speak. Our grief in a way gave us a personal space.”
Kavita’s friends said for the past few years she divided her time between college lectures, family and a long paper trail to fight for compensation and pension rights to constables. She transformed into a “silent warrior” fighting a paper war with the government on pending promises. “She was down to earth and went out of her way to hear the woes of constables and junior officer’s families,” recalls Smita, who met her first when they had to collect posthumous Ashoka Chakra medals for their husbands.
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