The Hindu : Front Page : “You can’t just wipe out his name”

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“You can’t just wipe out his name”

Rahi Gaikwad

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

Sharda, wife of Balasaheb Bhosale

Mumbai: This Republic Day Sharda’s grief doubled. For, her slain husband, Balasaheb Bhosale (55), assistant police sub-inspector, who was in the same vehicle as were the Ashok Chakra awardees during the terror strike here, received no mention whatsoever.

“Can the government tell us how my husband’s action fell short on gallantry? What are the parameters for deciding the awards? My husband died in the same vehicle as were the other officers. They all have been rewarded for bravery. The other officers had been summoned; they left from their homes or police stations and had time to equip themselves. But my husband was already on 24-hour duty. We feel cheated. You cannot disregard his sacrifice. We are not asking for the Ashok Chakra. We only want the recognition due to him. You cannot just wipe out his name.”

A distraught Sharda can hardly contain her despair.

On November 26 last, Bhosale’s work began at 7 a.m. When firing started at Cama hospital, the ASI, who had already completed around 15 hours of duty, drove a police Qualis there with his superior.

At Cama, his senior got off. Bhosale rang up his son Deepak to inform him of the firing. Mr. Deepak, a police officer himself, was on his way for bandobust duty. “I was on my way to the Taj hotel, when father called up and said heavy firing was on. He told me to call back on reaching the spot.” Bhosale cut short the call as Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and other officers had got into the Qualis to intercept the terrorist duo, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman and Mohammad Ismail.

Now encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar drove the Qualis and Bhosale sat in the backseat. All officers, except Arun Jadhav, lost their lives in the firing that followed. Bhosale was shot four times — in the neck, chest, belt and neck.

Minutes later, a police operator broke the news of Bhosale’s death to Mr. Deepak, who then headed for home. He went to the hospital to receive his father’s body. He did not say anything to his mother.

However, his disturbed action said it all. Sharda, who was following the news on television, recounts: “He came home and just downed a whole bottle of water. I asked him why he had gulped so much water, but he did not reply. Then he changed, took my younger son along with him and left.”

She put two and two together. “Something came over me at that moment. A sudden fear gripped me. The TV was flashing news that one Nanasaheb Bhosale had died, but the vehicle resembled my husband’s. I do not remember what happened after that, who told me about my husband’s death or who came to see me or who said what. I was in a state of shock for a week,” she says.

Mr. Deepak said his mother suffered continual attacks of fits. “She just could not accept the tragedy.”

Waiting still

After more than two months, Sharda is yet to come to terms with the loss. “I still keep waiting for him to return from his duty. He reached the end of his career. A peaceful life, with children and grandchildren was in store for him. This is completely unimaginable.”

A gutsy man

Sharda says her husband was a gutsy man dedicated to his work. Despite objections from his family, he joined the police force in 1971.

In his long service, he suffered many an injury — including 18 stitches on a thigh during his days in the bomb disposal squad; a hand injury, while nabbing a culprit, for which he had to be operated on; and a nose injury at a boxing match.

He earned the appreciation of a former Police Commissioner for his work.

“I would say to him, ‘you have had so many injuries, why don’t you take it easy.’ He would say, ‘What is the point of being in the police service if I am going to get scared?’ ” recalls Sharda.

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