New Delhi: Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay just won’t plug it. He has refused to apologise or explain his controversial statements on the death of Maharashtra police officer Hemant Karkare.
"I owe explanation to none. I have not said anything which has embarrassed the Government and the Congress party. In fact, I have helped the government," he said.
"If I come to know I have embarrassed the government, then you know my nature is not to stick to positions. I don't think I have embarrassed the Government."
Antulay, on Wednesday, created a storm in Parliament with his statement in which he doubted whether terrorists had killed Karkare. The police officer was chief of Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad and was shot dead during the terrorist attack on Mumbai on November 26.
When the BJP and Shiv Sena slammed Antulay for "irresponsible statement", he told Parliament he had not talked about who killed Karkare and two other police officers but about who "sent them in the wrong direction".
Antulay on Thursday reportedly wrote a letter to the Prime Minister in which he clarified that he had not questioned the “martyrdom of Karkare” or doubted that terrorists killed him.
But he had not finished yet and hours later said he didn’t owe anyone explanations and hadn’t met the Congress President or the Prime Minister to explain his statements.
As Opposition members demanded that the Government sack him for his "irresponsible statements", Antulay sat unfazed in the Lok Sabha and did not react.
It was left to External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee to say that the Government would " respond may be tomorrow (Friday)—before the House adjourns next week we will respond."
Opposition MPs cried "shame, shame" and BJP member Santosh Kumar Gangwar said Antulay’s “irresponsible statements” had created a problem for the country.
BJP MP Yogi Adityanath’s statement on Antulay was expunged from the records on the Speaker’s order.
In the Rajya Sabha, the BJP, JD(U) and AIADMK members called for Antulay’s sacking.
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