India on Tuesday asserted it will go out of the way to secure the release of former Indian Navy official Kulbhushan Jhadav from Pakistan’s custody even as both Houses of Parliament condemned Islamabad for awarding death sentence to Jadhav in a “farcical’ trial. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj cautioned Pakistan of “consequences” on bilateral relations if it proceeded on the matter.
In her statement in both the Houses, Sushma assured members that the Government will not only ensure top class legal aid to Jadhav but will also take up the issue with President of Pakistan if needed. “Whatever is necessary, we will do. We will go out of the way,” said the Minister, adding that Jadhav is now “not only the son of his parents, but is the son of India.”
She asserted that the charges against Jadhav, who was doing business in Iran and was kidnapped and taken to Pakistan, are “concocted” and the trial against him was “farcical”, leading to an “indefensible verdict”.
Members in both the Houses condemned the trial and sentencing, expressed solidarity with Jadhav, and asked the Government to take all possible steps to seek his release from Pakistan. The Government as well as the Opposition saw the sentence as an attempt to defame India and to deflect the attention of the international community from Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
In the Rajya Sabha, leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the issue was not of the Government and the Opposition but pertained to India and charged Pakistan for “trapping” Jadhav to tarnish India’s image. He urged the Government to provide best of lawyers to defend Jadhav in Pakistan Supreme Court. Azad also said Pakistan was responsible for wrong deeds in India and was instead accusing India of the same thing.
“Our position on this matter is clear. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Jadhav. If anything, he is the victim of a plan that seeks to cast aspersions on India to deflect international attention from Pakistan’s well-known record of sponsoring and supporting terrorism. Under these circumstances, we have no choice but to regard the sentence, if carried out, as an act of pre-meditated murder,” Sushma said.
Questioning the trial, she said Pakistan had sought India’s assistance to obtain evidence for its investigation and levelled ridiculous charges against senior Indian officials who had no connection to this issue.
“We pointed out that consular access to Shri Jadhav would be an essential pre-requisite in order to verify the facts and understand the circumstances of his presence in Pakistan. Given this exchange, it is extraordinary that on Monday, a decision is suddenly announced awarding a death sentence in this case when previous exchanges with India itself underline the insufficiency of evidence,” she said.
To make matters even more absurd, three hours after the death sentence was announced, the Indian High Commission received an official communication from the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan, reiterating the Pakistani proposal for conditional consular access. “That tells us a lot about the farcical nature of the alleged proceedings which have led to an indefensible verdict against an innocent kidnapped Indian,” she asserted.
Sushma also informed the House that she was in regular touch with Jadhav’s family and had talked to them on the phone besides meeting the relatives personally including recent meeting last week.
Before Sushma made a statement in the lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh responded to “akrosh” (anguish) of members in the House, saying Jadhav was kidnapped by Pakistan and presented as Indian spy. Singh wondered how the ex-official can be a spy when he was holding an Indian Passport. He condemned Pakistan for awarding punishment without giving consular access to him.
As soon as the lok Sabha met for the day, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the Government for allegedly remaining silent on the issue. “Without an invitation, you can attend a marriage, but you cannot meet him or talk to him on the issue,” Kharge said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Pakistan to attend the marriage of Nawaz Sharif’s daughter in lahore.
BJP’s member Anurag Thakur said this was not the first time that Pakistan was awarding capital punishment to an Indian and cited the case of Sarabjeet Singh who was killed in Pakistani jail.
Congress member Shashi Tharoor asserted that the sentence was against the international norms and wanted the Government to create an international public opinion against the Pakistani move. He added that while India has always preferred not to internationalise its relations with Pakistan, it is time New Delhi tells the world.
Sushma was later seen interacting with Tharoor in the House triggering speculation that the latter will help the Narendra Modi Government in drafting a statement on Jadhav to be read out in Parliament.
late in the evening Sushma rubbished the reports and tweeted, “There is no dearth of talent in my Ministry. I have the assistance of very able secretaries.”
She also posted the news report to which she was reacting. According to the news report, Tharoor, also former Minister of State for foreign affairs, will help the Government draft the ‘Statement of Solidarity’ on the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav. This statement will be adopted by both Houses of Parliament.