Last salute to mighty hearts

Biswajit Jha & Bhavna Khullar

To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there`s the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause—there`s the respect The biggest terror attack on India needed some brave hearts to fight it. When Indian history will be written post Nov 26, Hemant Karkare, Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar’s name would definitely require a golden stylus. Valour and heroics of these men have ensured that when India’s generation next looks back, they won’t have any shortages of inspirations. Hemant Karkare No one is indispensable, but some rare people come quite close to it. Hemant Karkare, the chief of Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), who laid down his life fighting one of the worst terror attacks on the Indian soil, definitely falls in that category. Born in Nagpur, Karkare studied mechanical engineering in Nagpur and worked at the National Productivity Council and Hindustan Lever before making it to the prestigious IPS in 1982. While posted in Nagpur he fought the Naxalite forces and earned a reputation of being an officer who is courageous as well as having a sound head on his shoulder. In several missions undertook by him, he used not only his brawn, but his superlative brain to achieve success. Even when fighting the Naxalites in Chandrapur forests near Nagpur, he took an interest in driftwood, discovered artistic shapes in them and converted them into wooden sculptures. The last time the people of the country saw him was while working with his men near the VT Station, the target of one of the attacks. He was shown wearing a shoddy helmet. A little later, a policeman lowers a flimsy bulletproof vest over his shoulders, one that was obviously of little protection when those fatal shots were fired at him. The previous evening, TV channels had “breaking news” that he had received a fresh death threat from some unidentified caller, apparently in connection with the Malegaon probe. But he took it very lightly. But the real question is how long will we afford to lose the precious lives of these talented cops like Hemant Karkare,Vijay Salaskar or MC Sharma who lost his life fighting terror in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar couple of months back? Sandeep Unnikrishnan Sandeep Unnikrishnan, a 31-year-old National Security Guard (NSG) commando, laid down his life fighting the terrorists in Mumbai on Friday. His uncle’s home at Beypore in Kozhikode district was in a sombre mood as the news of his demise hit them. Sandeep, who used to go to school and junior college with a perfect Army crew cut, didn’t surprise anyone when he was selected to join the NDA. Everyone knew that he had it in him. His teachers used to describe him as an ‘extraordinary child’, who had always dreamt of joining the Army right from standard three. Considering Sandeep`s years of schooling at Frank Anthony Public School, and his interests and passions, it can be said that he was an ‘all-rounder’, who excelled academically and also in sports. "He was an incredible sportsman. He held various records in sports," said his school principal going down the memory lane. Major Unnikrishnan was on deputation to the NSG for the past 18 months. He was with the Black Cat commando force for the last 2 years. An officer of the Bihar Regiment, he was commissioned into the Indian Army in June 1999. He had joined the NSG on deputation in January 2007, after having served two tenures with his battalion in counter insurgency and counter terrorism roles. The braveheart hailed from Bangalore where his father works for the Indian Space Research Organisation. Unni had always been a big foodie. He loved non-vegetarian food and made sure that he gets his meat twice a day. Sandeep, who had also been a big movie buff, used to call himself a total movie maniac. Remembered for being high on principles, he was strictly averse to hypocrisy, sycophancy, apathy and lack of compassion. In spite of being such an asset to the national security, the modest Unni always felt that his job was a regular one. But what he didn’t know was the fact that this so called ‘regular’ job will end up making him a national hero. `I will handle them,` Unnikrishnan`s last words to commandos "Do not come up, I will handle them", these were probably the last words which Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan told his men as he was hit by bullets while engaging terrorists inside the Taj. "Major Unnikrishnan was rescuing an injured commando when he was hit," Director-General of NSG J K Dutt said after he announced mission accomplished at the Taj and quoted the slain major as telling his crack team, "Do not come up, I will handle them". "During the operation, when an commando got injured Unnikrishnan arranged for his evacuation and started chasing the terrorists himself," a senior National Security Guards (NSG) official said here. The terrorists escaped to another floor of the hotel and during the chase Unnikrishnan was seriously injured and succumbed to his injuries, the official said. The other braveheart, Havildar Gajender Singh, was a specialist in heli-borne operations. "Gajender Singh was chosen for the Nariman House operation as he qualified for the job extremely well. He was leading the slithering act and its follow up action," the NSG official said while paying homage to the slain commandos at the NSG headquarters in the national capital. Other martyrs Two Indian Police Service (IPS) officers - additional police commissioners Ashok Kamte and Sadanand Date - were killed in separate gun battles with terrorists following a series of attacks in India `s financial capital, the officials said. Mumbai Police `encounter specialist` Vijay Salaskar were also shot dead in another gun battle. In all 14 police personnel were gunned down. These are indispensable losses as one can’t replace them overnight or muster the art of fighting modern day terror in one day. Why there is lackadaisical attitude on the part of the whole political class who seem not to take any lesson from the losses of such cops or loss of countless civilians. Unless the government comes up with any strong counter measure to tackle terrorism by keeping themselves above the vote-bank and appeasement politics, the sacrifices of Karakare, Salaskar or MC Sharma and countless brave souls would surely go in vain.