Hemant Karkare has gone from being a hero to villain to martyr to a football that parties are kicking around for their own narrow purposes. When he was chasing terrorists who were suspected to be Muslim, he was praised to the skies by many parties. The same politicians went after him when it turned out that some terror suspects were Hindus. At that time, the BJP and the Shiv Sena bayed for his blood. When he was tragically killed, he was hailed as a martyr; Congressman A R Antulay however had other ideas and began raising loud questions about the circumstances in which Karkare was shot. It was a cynical move from an outdated politician and he enjoyed his 5 seconds of media glory.

Now, the Sena has targetted Karkare's widow. They do not like her professed sympathy for Ajmal Kasab the lone terrorist in police custody. Karkare's wife has apparently expressed the opinion that Ajmal should be given another chance to live to see the gravity of his crimes. Assuming she has said exactly that, it can at worst be described as a simplistic and idealistic worldview, though it also shows her humanity.

But, the real target is not Karkare's wife; it is Karkare himself whose unrelenting professionalism got a lot of people worked up; these were the people who thought that the policeman was "on their side" when he went after Muslims accused of terrorism but couldn't digest that he could also pick up Hindu suspects.

With elections due in the next few months, the games have begun and if, to get some electoral support, one has to take pot shots at a brave officer, so be it. Whether the electorate gets taken in by all these gimmicks remains to be seen.