Antulay backed down on Tuesday, saying he was satisfied with the government’s probe that rejected the conspiracy theories about Karkare.
After embarrassing the Congress and the UPA government for almost a week, minority affairs minister Abdul Rehman Antulay backed down on Tuesday, saying he was satisfied with the government’s probe that rejected the conspiracy theories doing the rounds about the death of Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare.
Antulay’s change of heart came after prime minister Manmohan Singh had a quiet word with him on Monday night at a dinner hosted for UPA lawmakers at 7 Race Course Road.
The Congress core committee met after the dinner and drafted the statement that home minister P Chidambaram made in Parliament on Tuesday.
Chidambaram said: “There is no truth whatsoever in the suspicion that there was a conspiracy to eliminate Shri Karkare or the others.” In a clear rebuff to Antulay, Chidambaram regretted that questions were raised about the investigations Karkare was conducting into “a terrorist case” (Malegaon) as well as “the circumstances of his death”.
Antulay, who had said that Karkare was the victim of “terrorism plus something else”, endorsed the government’s view: “The home minister’s statement has clarified all doubts. All I had said was that the issue should be inquired [into]. The government has done that and come [out] with a statement which everybody must now accept. The issue is now settled.”
Antulay, however, had doubts about the text of the statement when it was discussed with him on Monday night. He initially objected to the use of “deeply regrettable” but eventually came around after it was pointed out to him that the statement was also critical of the allegations made by the BJP and other members of the Sangh Parivar about Karkare, who was investigating the September 29 Malegaon blast case.
After the home minister’s statement, Antulay said: “I never said he was not killed by Pakistani terrorists, every kid in this country knows that Karkare was killed by Pakistani terrorists.”
The minister also took umbrage at being labelled a Pakistan sympathiser by political opponents. “I am proud to be an Indian. Just look at my track record. If I am a Pakistan supporter, then every Indian is one. I am more Indian than those making these allegations,” he told reporters.
There was relief in the Congress over the home minister’s statement and Antulay’s retreat. The party’s political managers said the government had managed to limit the damage caused by Antulay’s remarks. “The issue is now settled,” a cabinet minister from the Congress said. “Actually we should have come out with the statement much earlier.”
But Antulay has found support within the UPA from Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan. “All he did was to raise certain questions,” said Lalu. “How can this be construed as an anti-national act?”
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