Centre makes no attempt to take Muslim intelligentsia into confidence
By Andalib Akhter, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Even as Union Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay is receiving flak from BJP and alike for demanding an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the killing of Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare and some of his colleagues, those who support Antulay’s view also questioning the timing of his remarks.
But according to sources Antulay was compelled to choose this “wrong timing” for his demand as it was not met at right time. If sources close to the minister are to be believed, before going public, Antulay had made the same demand to top state government leaders privately. When they refused to do the investigation, he decided to go public with his demand and timed it with the introduction of the new Bills that gives more teeth to the anti-terror law and set up the National Investigative Agency.
Confusion over the identity of the terrorists was created by a local media claiming that those who attacked Karkare’s team were speaking Marathi. Just 2-3 days after the Mumbai attack some vernacular media also raised the question as who sent Karkare to Cama hospital. But no response comes from any quarters.
According to Maharashtra Times, a Marathi daily, the terrorist entered the Cama hospital and gunned down two ward boys who were dressed in the hospital uniform. One of the terrorist pointed an AK-47 rifle towards the third ward boy and asked him in fluent Marathi whether he is an employee in the hospital.
The employee informed his higher ups about this incident who were left astounded. When this episode was brought to the notice of the police, they were also dumbstruck about the terrorist’s speaking Marathi fluently.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, some Urdu newspapers saw it as a conspiracy to divert attention from ‘saffron terror’ as the police officer leading the investigations into Malegaon blast was among the victims. Some of them still see it as a larger international conspiracy to shield the culprits of the Malegaon blasts and defame Muslims. Yet neither Maharashtra government nor centre made any attempt to take Muslim intelligentsia or Muslim media into confidence.