Digvijay Singh, General Secretary of Congress, exploded a bombshell when he publicly declared, in the launching ceremony of Aziz Burney’s voluminous book RSS ki Sawzish 26/11, that just two hours before 26/11 Mumbai attack, then Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare had rung him on his mobile and said that his life was blighted by constant threats from right wing extremists who did not like his investigations in and inconvenient revelations about Malegaon blasts. Digvijay further said that he was shocked and demoralised on being told of Karkare’s death, allegedly in the hands of terrorists. His initial reaction was ‘O God they (those opposed to investigations) have killed him.’
R.S.S, BJP, Shiv Sena and their ilk are highly disturbed on this statement and Congress, fearing loss of some Hindu votes, is trying to distance itself from the statement. The then Minister of Minorities Affairs, A.R. Antulay had stirred a controversy when he stated that Karkare could have been a victim of “terrorism or terrorism plus something”. This unpalatable remark had disturbed the Indian extremists beyond imagination and they had raised a storm in Parliament and outside. P. Chidambaram had to placate them by issuing a statement that Karkare was actually killed by Pakistani terrorists. It was what he learnt from the police and intelligence sources. Evidently it is beyond the capacity of a minister, however powerful, to make independent enquiry as he has to depend on the eyes and ears provided by his department. Still grave doubts exist about the entire episode and nobody knows for sure who were the real conspirators behind them.
Digvijay also pointed out that L.K. Advani had planted many RSS men and sympathisers in media when he was Minister of Information in Janta Party Government.
Before this, S.M. Mushrif’s book Who Killed Karkare? had revealed hidden facts about the working of IB, its domination by Brahminists and their manipulations. Acting on PILs, a division bench of Mumbai High Court has asked the Government to submit its reaction to the theory that Karkare’s death was orchestrated by IB personnel and members of extremist right wing outfit Abhinav Bharat. The court is of the view that the theory of deep-rooted conspiracy should be investigated. The court was intrigued why the call records of 23 sim-cards procured through false identities were not probed and why the information provided by IB was not taken seriously by Mumbai police. The bench also wanted to know how an alleged killer of Karkare was speaking Marathi and why 16 CCTVs at CST station were out of order when the Pakistani terrorists were killing innocent persons like flies.
The credibility of Government, Police and Intelligence agencies is at stake. If we do not succeed in restoring this, the country would be the greatest loser. Let the Government act and not allow the bewildered common Indian to die in frustration. There is need to thoroughly investigate all bomb blasts and terror attacks, and expose and punish the real perpetrators.