‘Take back my statement, apologise’: Sadhvi Pragya on Hemant Karkare remark
New Delhi, Apr 19: The remarks of BJP's Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on IPS officer Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, raised a political storm Friday with opposition parties attacking the saffron party and the Congress demanding an apology from PM Narendra Modi.
In a statement, she said, “I felt that the enemies of the country were being benefited from it, therefore I take back my statement and apologize for it, it was my personal pain.”
Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts and the BJP's candidate from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, Thursday had claimed that Karkare died during the attacks as she "cursed" him for torturing her.
According to an aide of hers, she Friday apologised for her remarks, but the BJP distanced itself from the comments against Karkare, describing them as "personal".
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal termed her remarks as "disgraceful", while PDP's Mehbooba Mufti said these are the "worst days" for the country as such candidates are in the fray.
Kejriwal alleged that this (Thakur's remarks) showed the "BJP's true colours".
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Karkare gave his life protecting the country and must be treated with respect.
Thakur, while addressing BJP workers at a rally in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, had said Karkare had inflicted the worst kind of abuses and torture on her during custody in connection with the Malegaon blasts.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Prime Minister Modi should apologise for Thakur's remarks and take action against her for terming Karkare an "anti-national" and alleging that the officer had tortured her.
"The anti-national face of the BJP now stands exposed before the people of India.They have crossed all limits by showing their disrespect towards martyrs. The prime minister should take strict action against Pragya Thakur for her remarks against Hemant Karkare," he said at a press conference here.
The PM should be asked if describing Karkare as a 'desh drohi' and using unpardonable words against him like "rakshas" (monster) and "raavan" is respecting the memory of a "martyr", Surjewala said.
"The BJP has committed an unforgivable sin of calling 26/11 martyr anti-national and using terms like monster against him. It is proved that BJP is the friend of terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was hanged under the Congress rule," he said.
In a tweet later, Gandhi said, "Hemant Karkare gave his life protecting India. He must be treated with respect."
Condemning Thakur's remarks, Kejriwal, too, tweeted, "Disgraceful comments by BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Thakur on 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare ji need to be condemned in strongest terms."
"BJP is showing its true colours and it must be shown it's place now," he tweeted.
Reacting sharply on Thakur's remarks, former J-K Chief Minister Mehbooba said these are the worst days for the country.
"I think these are the worst days for our country that you are giving such a choice of candidates to the people who use such language against a martyr like Hemant Karkare," Mehbooba told reporters in Srinagar.
However, the BJP in a statement said it believes that Karkare died while bravely fighting terrorists and it has always considered him a martyr.
The party, claimed that Thakur had suffered "physical and mental torture" for years in police custody that might have caused her to make such a statement.The comment is her "personal view", the BJP said.
Thakur tendered her apology for her "emotionally-charged" remarks, at a public meeting in Madhya Pradesh's Berasia area," her aide Upma Singh said."Pragya ji said if her remarks have hurt someone, she was sorry for it," he told PTI.
"I felt that the enemies of the country were being benefited from it (my remarks), so I take back my statement and apologise for it. It was my personal pain," an aide quoted Thakur as saying.
Thakur had said in the Bhopal rally on Thursday that Karkare committed an anti-national act by falsely implicating her in the Malegaon blast case and keeping her behind bars without evidence."It was treason. It was against religion," she said.
Thakur alleged that she was tortured during her detention and she had cursed him.
"He tortured me and subjected me to harsh abuse which was unbearable. I told him he will be destroyed. A little over a month later 'sutak' (ritual observed after death of a family member) was going to start...just over a month later, he was shot dead by terrorists and the inauspicious period ended," she said.
Thakur is an accused in the Malegaon terror blast case and Karkare, the then Mumbai anti-terrorism squad chief, was leading the probe into case.
Out on bail, Thakur has been discharged by a court on charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the 2008 case, but is still facing trial under other criminal provisions, including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
She is pitted against Congress heavyweight and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
