Karkare never used Hindu terror phrase: Fadnavis
May 07, 2019 00:17
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
on Monday said his state's former ATS chief Hemant Karkare had never used
the term 'Hindu terror' and disapproved of the offensive remark made by
the BJP's Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur against the
martyred police officer.
Karkare, as chief of the Anti-Terrorism
Squad (ATS), had led the investigation into the 2008 Malegaon bomb
blast case, in which Thakur is an accused.
Thakur is the BJP's Lok
Sabha candidate from Bhopal, where she is pitted against Congress leader
Digvijaya Singh.
"Karkare had never ever used the `Hindu terror'
word. This word had been used by three persons Congress leader Digvijaya
Singh, the then Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party chief
Sharad Pawar," he told reporters in Indore while replying to a query.
Singh, a former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, has in the past denied
coining the phrase 'Hindu terror'.
Fadnavis was on a visit to
Indore, which is home to around 3 lakh Marathi voters. Indore is among
the eight Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh that will vote on May 19 in
the last phase of elections.
The Maharashtra CM claimed the
previous Congress governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra had coined
the phrase 'Hindu terror' as part of their vote-bank politics.
At
that time, many young people were rounded up as part of anti-terror
operations. This had caused resentment among a minority community as the
Congress government had failed to justify these arrests, Fadnavis
said.
Asked about Thakur's statement that her 'curse'
killed Karkare, who died while fighting terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai
attacks, he said she has apologised for her remark.
The BJP chief minister said Karkare is a hero not only for Maharashtra, but the
entire country.
"The BJP considers Karkare a martyr not only
of Maharashtra, but the entire country because he laid down his life for
motherlands security," he said.
"The BJP has already stated that
it does not agree with Pragya's controversial remark against Karkare," he
said, adding she has apologised for her remark.
"I have already
said that Pragya should not have given such a controversial statement,"
the Maharashtra CM said.
Asked about local resident Dilip
Patidar, a witness in the Malegaon blast case who is missing since
November 2008, he said, "The NIA is looking into the matter." -- PTI