Hemant Karkare. More than two years since his death in the 26/11 terror attack, his name still brings to mind courage and sacrifice
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Hemant Karkare. More than two years since his death in the 26/11 terror attack, his name still brings to mind courage and sacrifice. Almost everyone I know agrees that he was one of a kind.
But as the chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squadu00a0perhaps meant a little more to me than he did to my friends or colleagues.
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A lot of uncomfortable questions and controversies are doing the rounds about who killed Karkare. I don't want to go anywhere near that topic or rake up any other controversy. My question is not who killed Karkare, it is more like, "When will there be another like Karkare?"
Why? Because Karkare was the kind of man that superheroes are made of. He represented what I admire in a police officer ufffd courage, intelligence and honesty.
Because even without articulating it to myself, I had begun to see Karkare as a secular officer who would safeguard rights of all those people who don't believe in terrorism, irrespective of their community, caste or creed.
Karkare was leading the anti-terrorist squad and believed that he had cracked the Malegaon bomb blast case. Irrespective of how this case would have turned out under Karkare, one thing was sure ufffd he was someone who believed that terrorism was not unique to a community, nor was non-violence.u00a0
I'm not a very philosophical or religious man and this probably sounds like a clich ufffd. Yet I want to say that terrorism and religion are not connected. If there is a link, it is that they are two ends of a spectrum ufffdreligion symbolises love, peace and the well-being of all, and terrorism symbolises hatred and destruction.
Karkare had begun to represent my hope of demonstrating this belief to the world. He had begun to represent my hope of safety for the innocent. He had begun to represent the hope of a secure and a better nation for my children to live in.
I'm sure that this is not something that I feel alone. There are thousands of Indians who feel the same about Karkare.
So, when he went down to those bullets fired by a terrorist, it was more than just Karkare being shot dead.
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