26/11: Govt had vetoed valour award to 3 cops
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MUMBAI: More than a year after the 26/11 attack in the city, it has come to light that the ministry of defence had objected to awarding the Ashok
Chakra, the nation�s highest gallantry award, to three police officers�Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte and inspector Vijay Salaskar�who were killed in an ambush in a lane near Cama Hospital.
Officials said the defence ministry was, instead, in favour of conferring the Ashok Chakra on assistant inspector Tukaram Ombale, who took terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Mohammad Ismail head-on and managed to catch the former alive. The Ashok Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield.
A senior government official told TOI, �It is true that the defence ministry was not enthusiastic about conferring Ashok Chakra to these three officers. We forwarded the names under various categories to the ministry of home affairs (MHA). We were involved only till that stage.��
Another official explained that the objection had more to do with a �technicality�� rather than the merit of what the officers had done. �The objection was pertaining to the Ashoka Chakra being an award for the armed forces and there being similar awards for the state police and paramilitary forces. The demand was that they should be conferred the awards constituted for the respective force,�� he added. But political intervention from the highest level ensured that these officers were awarded Ashok Chakra.
South Mumbai Congress MP and then member of the parliamentary committee on defence Milind Deora said representations were received by him and several other MPs from various people objecting to the conferring of a central award on state police officers.
Former Army chief V P Mallik, too, had reacted, saying the government was diluting the award by giving it to police officers. The defence ministry, officials said, raised some questions on the series of events that culminated in the killing of the three officers while they were travelling in a police vehicle from the rear end of Cama Hospital to Mahapalika Marg. The terrorists fired at the team killing five policemen and injuring one.
After the objections, one of the suggestions that cropped up was to award them the President�s Police Medal for Gallantry (the highest bravery award given to policemen). This award was awarded to 12 police personnel, including additional commissioner Sadanand Date and assistant inspectors Bhaskar Kadam and Sanjay Govilkar. Date held up the terrorists at the hospital for over 40 minutes and the two were part of the team that captured Kasab alive at Chowpatty along with Ombale.
The President�s Police Medal for Gallantry is the most coveted award that an officer can eye in terms of exemplary courage and valour that he has shown while discharging his duties in public interest.
Officials said the defence ministry was, instead, in favour of conferring the Ashok Chakra on assistant inspector Tukaram Ombale, who took terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Mohammad Ismail head-on and managed to catch the former alive. The Ashok Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield.
A senior government official told TOI, �It is true that the defence ministry was not enthusiastic about conferring Ashok Chakra to these three officers. We forwarded the names under various categories to the ministry of home affairs (MHA). We were involved only till that stage.��
Another official explained that the objection had more to do with a �technicality�� rather than the merit of what the officers had done. �The objection was pertaining to the Ashoka Chakra being an award for the armed forces and there being similar awards for the state police and paramilitary forces. The demand was that they should be conferred the awards constituted for the respective force,�� he added. But political intervention from the highest level ensured that these officers were awarded Ashok Chakra.
South Mumbai Congress MP and then member of the parliamentary committee on defence Milind Deora said representations were received by him and several other MPs from various people objecting to the conferring of a central award on state police officers.
Former Army chief V P Mallik, too, had reacted, saying the government was diluting the award by giving it to police officers. The defence ministry, officials said, raised some questions on the series of events that culminated in the killing of the three officers while they were travelling in a police vehicle from the rear end of Cama Hospital to Mahapalika Marg. The terrorists fired at the team killing five policemen and injuring one.
After the objections, one of the suggestions that cropped up was to award them the President�s Police Medal for Gallantry (the highest bravery award given to policemen). This award was awarded to 12 police personnel, including additional commissioner Sadanand Date and assistant inspectors Bhaskar Kadam and Sanjay Govilkar. Date held up the terrorists at the hospital for over 40 minutes and the two were part of the team that captured Kasab alive at Chowpatty along with Ombale.
The President�s Police Medal for Gallantry is the most coveted award that an officer can eye in terms of exemplary courage and valour that he has shown while discharging his duties in public interest.
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