Jui Karkare Navare - Hemant Karkare: A Daughters Memoir

This book is dedicated to all braveheart police and defence personnel who have lost their lives to terrorism across the world and to their families who courageously cope with the loss of loved ones and face the challenges of life.

The little girl looked at me with curious eyes as I tried to strike a conversation with her, asking her name. I even hinted to her that she had earlier visited our house in Nagpur with her parents. She was just under two years of age, her curly hair kept together by a set of hairpins; she was wearing a pale blue frock and now her eyes brimmed with confidence as she replied with gusto: Jui Hemant Karkare. Then she added with the same enthusiasm - "Maz Papa - Police!

Hemant and Kavita and my wife and I laughed out at the additional information provided by Jui but it was her confidence which left a lasting impression on me. This interaction took place in the National Police Academy, Hyderabad in October 1983. Hemant and I were undergoing our basic training in the Academy and the authorities permitted visits of families of married probationers during the last phase of training. The week that I saw Jui, I noticed that it was always a look of admiration that she had for Hemant. On the other hand, Hemant resonated the same sentiments for her and would explain minute details patiently to Jui's questions as we went on evening walks in the Academy campus. And Jui was curious about everything! Those walks (Jui holding Hemant's hand, toddling around...) and conversations are still vivid in my mind.

After we joined Maharashtra, our batch - five of us - came to Mumbai for the last leg of the training in May/June 1984. During lunch break on the final day of the training session, Hemant mentioned to me, You are coming with me for shopping in the evening. Have to buy something for Jui. He had spent some time enquiring about the nearby shops for dresses for children. Later, we landed up in the shop and he asked me to choose a chaniya-choli (skirt and blouse) for Jui. After going through several pairs, ascertaining the size etc., I selected one set. Hemant gave a critical look of appreciation and picked it up. He clutched the parcel close to him and said, Jui will be delighted! The look in Hemant's eyes reflected his intense adoration for Jui.

While Hemant and I maintained our special bond of friendship and the same goes for my wife's association with Kavita, we occasionally saw Jui and her siblings during their formative years. Time progressed quickly as Jui completed her professional studies and later we were there for her marriage with Devdatta.

What follows in the ensuing pages is a heart rendering homage to a father by an affectionate daughter. A father who displayed exceptional bravery and laid down his life in combatting terrorists who threatened Mumbai on 26/11/2008. Jui, who has had a traumatic emotional experience, maintains her sangfroid and portrays Hemant Karkare as a loving father who instilled ethical values among his children through an ethos of simplicity and learning. The book gives an insight of Hemant as a methodical person with his to-do lists; his introspective nature is revealed through the diaries maintained by him; his love for books in the reading habit inculcated in his children and, notably Hemant, the artist who blew magic

into pieces of driftwood. Instances of Hemant's professional achievements have been narrated by those who closely worked with him; his juniors, colleagues and his seniors. All are in praise for him. His juniors called him a dynamic leader, for his colleagues he was a beloved friend and his seniors respected him for being an upright and a thinking police officer. Hemant's friends have also showered praises on him in their narratives.

The passing away of Hemant has left an emptiness that can't be filled easily. The subsequent untimely demise of Kavita has deeply affected Jui and her siblings. It is in these circumstances that Jui has penned a memorable tribute to her father and brought out his complete personality, many facets of which were not even known to his close friends. The valour displayed by Hemant and his fellow officers and men during the Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11/2008 will be remembered for ever. Hemant Karkare has left behind a legacy that will be an enduring one.

Datta Padsalgikar, IPS (Retd.)

Former Director-General of Police, Maharashtra

Mumbai is truly the city of dreams. Thousands flock to this metropolis to carve out their destinies. I daresay, it is the most cosmopolitan city in the whole world. Suketu Mehta's coinage of Mumbai as 'Maximum City' is apt. The financial capital of India, it is the throbbing pulse of the country. It is a magical place of contradictions where the sinfully rich, living in palatial homes, have slum dwellers as immediate neighbours. The remarkable thing about this city is its indefatigable spirit. Nothing, and no one, can ever destroy that.

After the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Mumbai bounced back to normalcy. Leopold Cafe re-opened; four days after the attack. The bullet marks still dot the walls; nothing else has changed. Taj is admirably refurbished; the rush in Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) of the Indian Railways is the same as ever; Oberoi Towers is back to business in full swing; Chabad House is reconstructed. Although we have been resilient and bounced back, we cannot be lackadaisical in our attitude. A sense of concern overcomes me when I see that families of victims of 26/11 - at least those within the security forces whom I have spoken to - have accepted their fate with resignation. This attitude has to change. It is not the way to go. We have to stop wearing blinkers. We must sit up and take notice. We all deserve

justice. I am proud of my parents - my father for daring to take on the challenge of the terrorists, and my mother, for seeking justice. Now as their eldest child, I consider it my responsibility to take their legacy forward.

I am happy that the government recognised Papa's bravery. The Ashoka Chakra is the Government of India's highest peacetime award for gallantry awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra (given to Armed Forces personnel). Papa was killed in action along with Ashok Kamte, Additional Commissioner of Police, Eastern Region, Mumbai and Vijay Salaskar, Police Inspector and encounter specialist, in the same Cama Hospital incident of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. The bravehearts killed in action (in various pockets of Mumbai where terrorists had created mayhem) were Tukaram Ombale, Assistant Sub- Inspector of Mumbai Police - who finally nabbed the Lashkar terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, alive; Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who served in the Special Action Group of the National Security Guard (NSG); and Gajendra Singh Bisht, Havildar (sergeant) and commando with the NSG. All of them were awarded the Ashoka Chakra.

My mother and younger brother went to Delhi to receive the award, handed over by Pratibha Patil, the then President of India. It was a matter of great pride for our family that Papa's gallantry had been recognised.

However, questions still plagued our family, especially my mother, about the questionable quality of the bulletproof jacket that Papa wore on 26/11. She filed a Right To Information application for details on its quality and in reply she was told that the jacket had gone missing!