Amid the uproar surrounding Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar’s remarks concerning the demise of former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare during the 26/11 assault, political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla called upon all opposition parties within the INDIA bloc to exert pressure on Wadettiwar to retract his statement. Poonawalla emphasized that the parties within the INDIA bloc should ensure that Pakistan does not derive any advantage from Wadettiwar’s statement.
Poonawalla remarked, “The comments attributed to the senior leader and Maharashtra LoP Vijay Wadettiwar are unbecoming of someone in his position and warrant condemnation. I urge all opposition parties to pressure him to withdraw that statement. It’s unacceptable to absolve Pakistan of responsibility for the loss of Hemant Karkare. The 26/11 attack was an act of terrorism orchestrated by Pakistan, and it’s crucial for all opposition parties in the INDI alliance not only to strongly oppose the LoP’s statement but also to prevent Pakistan from benefitting from such assertions.”
However, in his clarification, Vijay Wadettiwar contended that those words were not his own, but rather, he simply reiterated what was written in the book by SM Mushrif, a former Inspector General of Police in Maharashtra and the brother of NCP party leader Hasan Mushrif. “I didn’t originate those statements; I merely echoed what was written in SM Mushrif’s book. Every detail about the bullet that struck Hemant Karkare was mentioned; it wasn’t from the terrorists’ bullets,” he asserted.
Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving member among the 10 Pakistani terrorists, was captured alive. He spent nearly four years in a Mumbai jail before being executed in Pune in 2012. Wadettiwar allegedly labeled BJP candidate Ujjwal Nijam as “anti-national” and accused him of concealing the information that Hemant Karkare was not killed by Ajmal Kasab’s bullet but succumbed to a bullet fired by policemen associated with RSS.
The Congress was in power in Maharashtra and at the Center during the 26/11 attacks, and Wadettiwar’s controversial statement has placed the Congress in an awkward position. Earlier, Shiv Sena leader Milind Deora denounced such remarks made by the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly as shameful, accusing the opposition party of absolving Pakistan of guilt.
“It’s a deeply disgraceful statement. During the 26/11 attack, I witnessed the agony, trauma, and terror experienced by the people of South Mumbai, Maharashtra, and India. Why are they attempting to appease Pakistan and scapegoat one community? It’s disheartening to see a responsible leader from an opposition party making such a statement for the second time and absolving Pakistan of blame,” said Milind Deora.
Hemant Karkare, the chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad, was killed in action during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. In 2009, he was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra.