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HomeOpinionSometimes, it’s late to reach for the gun. Doesn’t mean Karkare wasn’t...

Sometimes, it’s late to reach for the gun. Doesn’t mean Karkare wasn’t gallant: IPS officer

Officer responds to ThePrint article on India's gallantry awards system to say 'those killed in 26/11, Parliament attacks were heroes'.

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I would, in the normal course of things, agree that the author of the article on ThePrint ‘Ashok Chakra to Hemant Karkare shows why India must overhaul its gallantry award system’ has made a proposal that seems to be well meaning with a view to maintaining the highest standards in the award of gallantry decorations. Lt. Gen. H. S. Panag is one of the best among the retired defence service officers who currently write on strategic issues.

As Lt. Gen. Panag points out, the system now in vogue for giving gallantry awards seems foolproof, but perhaps in some cases undeserving candidates manage to get awards. I myself am perturbed by reports (which I cannot vouch for) that police officers carrying out fake encounters have been awarded gallantry medals. I also agree with the General that giving such awards to undeserving candidates and/or declining awards to those who deserve them, can cause loss of morale. Many, many years ago, I felt disgusted when a young sub-inspector who suffered grievous injuries while trying to save my life and was recommended for a gallantry medal by me, was instead sanctioned Rs 100 as a reward!

However, I do not understand why the article has invoked the case of the award of Ashok Chakras and Kirti Chakras to those who gave their lives in the 2001 Parliament and the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, while raising disturbing questions about India’s gallantry award system. Most of the reasons that the article has advanced in support of a review of the current system of choosing gallantry awardees may be valid in the case of operations by defence services, but certainly not in the case of those who took part in the operations in Parliament precincts in 2001 and in Mumbai on 26 November 2008.


Also read: Ashok Chakra to Hemant Karkare shows why India must overhaul its gallantry award system


For instance, the article says,

“In a regimented system like ours, the units try to get maximum awards. This leads to exaggeration and false claims.”

“Units and formations compete with each other in writing highly exaggerated and imaginary citations of the act of gallantry.”

“Since personnel also benefit professionally and monetarily, there is an individual tendency to tweak the system and make trumped up claims.”

Are these allegations, in any way, valid in the case of the heroes of Parliament and Mumbai attacks, where the entire action took place in the glare of TV cameras?

There may be merit in the article’s argument that “an emotional nation confuses loss of life in battle with gallantry” and that “(a)t times, the armed forces and the government succumb to the temptation of using gallantry awards for psychological warfare”. However, I hope the insinuation is not that Hemant Karkare and his colleagues were merely the beneficiaries of an emotional outburst by the nation. At the very least, being killed in action does not rule one out from being considered for a gallantry award. In fact the British military in the 19th century had initially decreed that the Victoria Cross would not be awarded posthumously. They realised the folly of these rules and changed them by 1907.


Also read: GD Bakshi a war hero or not? What Vistara & others need to know of Indian military awards


This brings us to the question of whether Hemant Karkare was in fact “gallant”.

It has been pointed out by some (not Lt. Gen. Panag), that Hemant Karkare did not fire a single shot and, therefore, was not entitled to a gallantry award. We in the police do not usually carry guns and reach for one only when the need arises. Sometimes, it is too late as it was in the case of Hemant Karkare. Does it mean that he was not gallant? Others have been asking what Hemant Karkare did that evening to fight terrorists. I do not know whether any official account exists. Doubters would do well to read a well-researched book, “The Siege”, by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, which describes in some detail the movements and actions of Hemant Karkare in the two hours between the launch of the attack on Mumbai and his own tragic end. Obviously, that version is not based on self-promotion by Karkare.

In this connection, it would be interesting to look at the case of Yonatan Netanyahu, the Israeli defence forces officer who led the rescue operation in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976, but was killed. The story of his death and who killed him remain contentious. However, a grateful nation has not allowed his reputation to be sullied.

Nations, they say, are known by how they honour their heroes.

The author is a former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing. Views are personal.

This article has been updated to reflect changes.

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