Pragya SIngh, Sadhvi's curse-what is it?

Curse! “Maine kaha tera (Mumbai ATS chief
late Hemant Karkare) sarvanash hoga.”

“In
Hinduism, conscience, reason and independent thinking have no scope for
development…. If Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will, no doubt be the
greatest calamity for this country. No matter what the Hindus say, Hinduism is
a menace to liberty, equality and fraternity. It is incompatible with
democracy. Hindu raj must be prevented at any cost.”

Dr B R Ambedkar

Pragya Singh Thakur claimed at Bhopal, April 19, 2019 that “Hemant Karkare died because of my curse.” In her own words, the policeman had treated her “very badly” while she was in custody in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Elaborating the point, she said, “Hemant Karkare falsely implicated me. He died of his karma. I told him he will be destroyed. I told him his entire dynasty will be erased. Maine kaha tera [Karkare] sarvanash hoga.” [1] Entire dynasty of the IPS officer came under curse of a political fortune seeker while doing his duty with highest standard of efficiency, probity and competence. The IPS officer was known impeccable integrity and indomitable courage, Hemant Karkare was cursed by an accused. This reminds me a Bengali proverb, “Death does not befall a cow in consequence of curse of a vulture, does it?” Almost all Indian languages, I am sure, must boast of a proverb as this or similar to it.

Hemant along with his colleagues chased the Pakistani terrorists, who, on November 26, 2008, waged a war against India and invaded Mumbai. The Mumbai police fought valiantly and Hemant Karkare and some of his colleagues on mission finally laid down their lives. The nation is proud of those martyrs. About eleven years later, we hear that the IPS officer died of curse of a political power-seeker, contesting 2019 elections from Bhopal Parliamentary constituency, Madhya Pradesh. This nonsense or rubbish has widely been reported, commented upon and/or condemned by Indian media, columnists and opinion-makers.

The nation
conferred on slain Hemant Karkare posthumously the Ashoka Chakra for his
exemplary sacrifice. This is India’s highest peacetime military decoration
conferred for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the
battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, and is
awarded for the “most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent
valour or self-sacrifice” other than in the face of the enemy.

According to
a British Broadcasting Corporation bulletin, the Mumbai terror attacks
of 26/11 of 2008 left 166 people
dead and soured ties between India and Pakistan. During the 60-hour siege, the gunmen also ambushed a group of
policemen, including three of the city’s top officers travelling in a vehicle
and killed six of them. The only policeman, Arun Jadhav, with grievous
injuries, survived the unprovoked brutalities launched on India to tell the
world “the grisly story of his escape.” [2]

Besides,
Hemant. Sadhvi Pragya’s curse, if anyone takes her at all seriously, drew
curtains on lives of valiant Indian Army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbai’s
Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte and Senior Police Inspector Vijay
Salaskar who, in no way, were involved in the alleged torture of Pragya Thakur
during investigations of Malegaon blasts cases. A television channel reported
that India had asked Pakistan to hand over Mumbai underworld Don Dawood
Ibrahim, Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed leader
Maulana Masood Azhar for their suspected involvement in the Mumbai terror
attacks. [3]

Any person
with an iota of intelligence would be appalled at the direct linkage the curse
straightway established between the merchants of deaths and manufacturers of
terror aforementioned operating from Pakistani soil and the Hindu Sadhvi Pragya
Singh Thakur, who enjoys the umbrella held by the Hindu nationalist ruling
Party over her head to contest parliamentary elections 2019. The implication of the Sadhvi’s claim underlines that
Pakistani terror outfits patronized by Dawood Ibrahim, Lashkar-e-Toiba chief
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Maulana Masood Azhar took immediate and absorbing interest in
translating her curse into action with bloody and devastating consequences. A
deadly gang of terrorists, including Ajmal Kasab, descended on Mumbai within
‘theek sava mahine’ or 37-38 days, to achieve the objectives and
purposes of sadhvi Pragya’s curse, i. e., Hemant Karkare’s sarvanash. It is of
immense national importance to decode the secrets along with the mystery
enveloping the entire issue. However, no Indian worth his salt would pocket an
insult as this for his motherland. This is a crying need to investigate the
probably link between the two ends—a Sadhvi of India and terror outfits in Pakistan.

Part-II

Puri
Jagannath & His Temple

Surrendered to East India Company in 1803

In a 14-day campaign, the East India Company captured Orissa
unopposed and brought an end of oppressive Peshwa rule in 1803. The army simply marched up to Pipli within firing distance of
Puri temple town. A delegation of the temple priests and pandas welcomed the
victorious commanding officer of the British Army. They surrendered the
control, management and maintenance of Bhagwan Jagannath, and his temple in
obedience to an ‘oracle.’ [4] According
to Swami Dharma Theertha (pre-ascetic Parameswara Menon, B. A., LLB) “the
oracle of the Puri Jagannath proclaimed that it was the desire of the deity
that the temple too be controlled by the Company.” [5] What an enigmatic desire of the Lord of the Universe!

Lo and
behold the fate of bold and abiding promises Lord Krishna made in the Holy
Geeta to his followers:

Yada yada hi
dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata

Abhythanamadharmasya
tadatmanam srijamyaham

Paritranaya
sadhunang vinashay cha dushkritam

Dharmasangsthapanarthay sambhabami yuge” [6]

Was it any better than hogwash or a pre-election promise
dishonoured and neglected in compliance? Though Lord Krishna was fervently
expected to destroy the invading British along with the temple priests and
pandas whose mischief out of petty self-interests threw Him, his brother and
sister under the feet of the British overlords.

From 1803 to 1841, the British Trading Company controlled, managed and maintained the Jagannath Temple which was the home of Lord Krishna, his elder brother Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra. Regulations were passed in 1806 and taxes collected from the pilgrims in tens of thousands resorting to Puri from all over India. They paid taxes in lakhs of rupees. The Company spent, by and large, half of the income on the temple management, rituals, maintenance and establishment and the balance half was credited to Company Exchequer, as solid profits. The priests of the Jagannath temple did not suffer any qualms of conscience for this sorry state of affairs.

The question
really to ask is: Are the slokas of the Bhagawad Geeta afore-quoted
anything but work of fiction? Interestingly, the Englishmen, at home and
abroad, condemned the their own most famous Trading Company for subscribing to
idolatry. No Indians ever appear to have voiced any grievance against British
occupation and control of Jagannath Temple for about four decades when they
minted tons of money. They also taxed pilgrims
at Gaya, Tirupati, Prayag, etc. with enormous benefit. The British shared
income from taxes with priests in these centres and so they were kept in good
humour.

The BJP Sankalpa Patra Lok Sabha 2019 on national security enunciated
‘Zero tolerance’ approach to terrorism as follows:

“Our security doctrine will be guided by our national security
interest only…. We will firmly continue our policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’ against
terrorism and extremism and will continue our policy of giving free hand to our
forces in combating terrorism.” [01]

Lord of the
Universe, Jagannath was desirous of enjoying the superior control, management
and maintenance of the foreign rulers! No countrymen seemed to have ever
questioned Jagannath’s attachment for British rulers! Pragya Thakur’s curse
invited Pakistani terrorists right in Mumbai with terrible consequences. Should
she not at least be asked to enlighten the countrymen how did a gang of
dreadful Pakistani terrorists become so handy in materializing her curse,
waging a war against their sovereign neighbour? Does the blueprint of national
security of BJP in their Sankalp for Lok Sabha 2019 presented before the country stand to be compromised by
someone like of the Sadhvi?

Dr A K Biswas. The writer, a retired IAS officer and former Vice-Chancellor, Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Muzaffarpur, Bihar.