Thread by @SaketGokhale

When the BJP-RSS used my slain officer uncle's death for their politics (and tried to kill innocents):

The warm welcome accorded by the BJP today to slain Bulandshahr Inspector Subodh Kumar's killers triggered me to tell this personal memory/story.

Thread 👇

My uncle (dad's older brother) Sub-Inspector Nandkumar Gokhale was the 1st officer to be killed in the line of duty in Mumbai.

He was brutally killed in Nagpada in May 1984 by (allegedly) members of the Pathan gang as the city lay under curfew after the Bhiwandi riots. (1/22)

The murderers never faced justice so it's still unclear as to who did it.

He was accosted & beaten up by an armed group of people & then taken to the rooftop of a building where his body was slashed into pieces.

His service weapon was with another officer who ran away. (2/22)

After killing him, they threw his completely mutilated body off the rooftop on to the ground.

The officer who ran away told this to the control room & a massive manhunt was launched. All units in the region along with the CRPF were deputed for the search operation. (3/22)

His mutilated body (with 32 knife & dagger wounds) laid on the ground all night until a CRPF jawan found it in the early hours of dawn.

His body was unrecognizable & the jawan saw khaki shoes jutting out of a drain which alerted him. (4/22)

His death sent shockwaves through the entire force. He was the 1st officer to be killed in action in Mumbai.

The then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi visited the spot along with then Mumbai Police Commissioner Julio Ribeiro (who had been brought to Mumbai from Punjab). (5/22)

Our family was given the option of conducting his state funeral with full honors in Mumbai (where he worked & was killed) or Nashik (where my grandparents lived).

As Mumbai was the city he gave his life for (and the city he loved), the state funeral was held in Mumbai.(6/22)

He was accorded a 21-gun salute & was decorated with the President's Police Medal for Gallantry posthumously.

The junction near the spot where he was killed in Nagpada was renamed in his honor (7/22)

After the funeral, a condolence meet was organized in Nashik at the family home where a senior pracharak of the RSS (who was with the then-newly-formed BJP) showed up.

He was very "influential" in the BJP/RSS & it's best I leave him unnamed. (8/22)

At the condolence meet,the RSS pracharak came to my dad & said "Why did you dispose off the body in Mumbai? You should have brought it to Nashik."

(he literally used the term "disposed off").

My dad was flabbergasted with the question & asked him why did it matter. (9/22)

The pracharak said, "We were planning to conduct a procession of the body through the city after which we would've burnt down Muslim houses at Dwarka Chowk." (Dwarka Chowk is a predominantly Muslim area in Nashik).

For a moment, dad was unable to control his anger. (10/22)

Dad then asked him, "Why would you burn the Muslim houses at Dwarka Chowk"?

The RSS pracharak replied "Because it's Muslims who killed him. Once our cadres see a blood-soaked body in uniform, their blood will boil and they'll teach these people a lesson."

(11/22)

Unable to control his rage, my father said "My brother was killed because he wore the uniform & the ones who killed him were criminals. Religion has NOTHING to do with it. If u cowards have any guts, then go find the actual murderers instead of killing innocents."

(12/22)

Dad then said he should leave immediately or else he'd be physically thrown out.

The insult was too much to bear for the RSS pracharak. Shamed out of his wits, he left immediately & quietly while seething with anger.

(13/22)

That same year, dad wrote the Civil Service exam, joined the police force, & marched in uniform with the sword of honor on my uncle's first death anniversary.

He served the country for 30 years until he was framed by the BJP govt. on the day of his retirement in 2015. (14/22)

Last month, dad was declared innocent after a torture of 4 years by the BJP govt.. But that's another story.

Dad says that the bigoted pracharak rose through the ranks in the BJP but never managed to see my dad in the eye whenever their paths crossed.

(15/22)

Why am I writing this? I'm writing this to expose the hypocrisy of the BJP/RSS who shamelessly use the deaths of soldiers & cops for their own hate politics.

Yet, these same people also celebrate the killers of the Bulandshahr Inspector & malign Hemant Karkare. (16/22)

When Pulwama happened, the BJP/RSS/VHP held a "Jammu bandh" where they rioted against the police & tried to attack Muslim civilians.

They did exactly what they wanted to do with my uncle's death - to use it for spreading their agenda of hatred which keeps them in power. (17/22)

PM Modi himself canvassed for votes in the names of the Pulwama jawans.

I want to ask him - can he even name 3 jawans who died in Pulwama without looking at a piece of paper? That's the least he can do after shamelessly asking for votes in their name. (18/22)

I am writing this so that you know how hate-filled their hearts are.

I am writing this so that you understand that these self-proclaimed "nationalists" see the death of a slain officer or soldier as merely an enabler for their politics of hate. (19/22)

The BJP/RSS are nothing but utter cowards who never participated in the Independence movement, who never served for the country, & who don't believe in our Constitution.

Today, they CELEBRATED the killers of an Inspector in Bulandsharh only because they were gaurakshaks. (20/22)

In my family, I've seen 2 officers who the BJP tried to use for the politics of hate.

Can you imagine what Inspector Subodh Kumar's family must be feeling today after seeing visuals of his killers being honored by the BJP in Bulandshahr?

It's a matter of SHAME. (21/22)

If you care about those who serve our country in uniform, please say a word & condemn the warm welcome/honor accorded to the killers of the Bulandshahr cop today.

Please speak up for the officer & defend his honor against these shameless hateful sanghi bigots.

(22/22)