By TwoCircles.net news desk,
New Delhi: Former MP and diplomat Syed Shahabuddin has endorsed Minority Affairs Minister Abdur Rahman Antulay’s views about the mysterious killing of Maharashtra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare.
“What Shri Antulay has hinted at, and which I endorse, is that there might have been a parallel conspiracy to silence Karkare and an elimination squad may have been following him. When they got an opportunity in the noise and dust generated by the terrorist attack, they killed him,” said Shahabuddin.
Karkare and two of his close aides were killed on November 26 during the Mumbai terror attacks. Karkare’s Malegaon blast probe had stirred the nation when people came to know that some Hindutva terrorists are also active in the country and are behind some bombings in the country. For his exposure of Hindutva terrorism, he had received several death threats.
What Antulay said is being deliberately misinterpreted. He is being pilloried and pressured to resign. “He did not absolve Pakistan nor deny that the terrorists were of Pakistani origin and that the attack was organized in and launched from Pakistan” said Shahabuddin adding that what Antulay said does not in any way diminish India’s case on Pakistani responsibility for the terrorist attack.
No doubt Antulay has brought out the doubts in the public mind about the circumstances of the killing of Hemant Karkare and his colleagues, which have arisen because of inconsistencies in the official and media reports.
“Ever since Karkare had successfully unveiled the face of Hindutva Terrorism he was a target of abuse and vilification. Senior political leaders like Advani and Thakre had even called him a traitor. Obviously the Hindutva groups were rattled by the exposure. He was an obvious candidate for elimination,” Shahabuddin said.
“In any case the suspicious circumstances must be looked into by high level inquiry and they should not be simply swept under the carpet,” he added.