Not many days before he was felled by the terrorists’ bullets outside Mumbai’s Cama Hospital on the long night of November 26, Hemant Karkare was asked by a journalist about the perceived threat to his life after the Malegaon case. As chief of Mumbai’s Anti-Terrorist Squad he was leading an investigation into the involvement of a sadhvi and a lieutenant-colonel in the Indian army. Just the fact of the probe into the involvement of “Hindu” persons had made him the target of a virulent campaign by right-wing groups. But by the journalist’s account the question, sent as a text message by telephone, elicited an unfazed and crisp reply: a smiley. Karkare knew what he was up against in this politically-charged case; and the way he died, bravely leading his force against the attackers, showed his work ethic: to just get on with the task at hand.The case that drew Karkare into the spotlight in the days before his death and the incident that took his life brought out the best in him. But the two are separate. This is something Union Minorities Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay is loath to accept. His statements on Wednesday, in which he tried to draw a connection between the two and appeared to question the version that the 26/11 Mumbai attackers had killed him, were dangerous and damaging. Don’t forget, he said, “there are non-Muslims also” in cases being investigated by Karkare. And, ominously: “There is more than what meets the eye.” Amateurishly playing detective, he wondered, “This is beyond my comprehension why Karkare didn’t go to Taj, Oberoi, or Nariman House where the terrorists were holed up.”It is beside the point to place before the minister the facts of that night, when the attackers were on the move. It is instead to underline the possible consequences of Antulay’s words. One, he is communalising an issue, and possibly even dismantling the political consensus for civility that has prevailed in the aftermath of the Mumbai siege. Two, his words fly in the face of facts on the identity and antecedents of the Mumbai terrorists. The PM must step in to contain the damage.
