When the Indian media and parliament were belittling Pakistan over Jadhav’s meeting with his mother and wife, they should have also taken stock as to how India treats its own prisoners. Indian MPs need to go through the memoirs of journalist Iftikhar Gilani who was arrested for several months on false charges of spying. Gilani narrated in his book “My Days in Prison” about the way his meeting took place with his wife: “I saw Aanisa. She was looking tired and pale. It was extremely frustrating not to be able to talk to her without the barriers. It was very difficult to see her under the watchful eyes of my tormentors. I could see Aanisa was also under great anxiety Just getting to jail was difficult, and added to that was the incontestable humiliation at the hands of the jail staff she had to contend with.” Afzal Guru and Maqbool Butt are other examples of the way India illtreats its own prisoners. Let Jadhav be the judge as to which of the two countries treat their prisoners more humanely.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office released a video of Jadhav on January 04 in which he gave an account of his meeting with his mother and wife. The video shows Jadhav as saying that he saw fear in the eyes of his family members when they met him, adding that an Indian diplomat accompanying them was yelling at them; excerpts:
“The Indian person or diplomat accompanying my mother and wife started yelling at them as soon as they stepped out of the meeting,” said Jadhav. “I have something very important to say here to the Indian people, the government and the Indian navy: I am a commissioned officer in the Indian Navy my commission is not over,” adding that his family “was threatened”. “I saw fear in the eyes of my mother and wife why should there be fear? What all has happened has happened.” “This gesture (on the part of Pakistan) was a positive one so that she feels happy, I feel happy and then there’s this person standing outside and yelling at her?” Jadhav said he had not been subjected to any sort of torture in Pakistan. In the video, Jadhav said that his mother was “very happy” to see him “in a good state”. “She said, ‘I’m feeling very relaxed after seeing you’.” Admitting that he had been working for Indian spy agency RAW, Jadhav said that his mother and wife had been really battered, troubled and brought to the meeting. “I thought they have been beaten all along in the plane.”
While Indian Foreign Minister Shushma Swaraj is known for playing dirty on grant of visa to Pakistani nationals even for pilgrimage and medical treatment, Indian Navy Commander Jadhav’s mother publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture. In a video message, Jadhav also thanked Pakistan’s government for setting up the meeting. “Thankful to the government of Pakistan for this kindness.” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister aptly put it: “We have allowed access to Jadhav’s family purely on a humanitarian basis. However, if we were in the same place, India wouldn’t have been so kind to us.” It is deplorable that as Pakistan was arranging a meeting of terrorist-spy Jadhav with his family members, Indian troops engaged in unprovoked firing on the Line of Control killing three Pakistani soldiers and injuring another on Rakhchikri sector.
Shushma could not digest the goodwill earned by Pakistan so she decided to erode it by co-opting Indian media operatives, her loyalists since her minister of information days; earlier this brigade had ganged up to sabotage the Agra summit in 2001. That missed opportunity of instituting lasting peace between Pakistan and India has ever since been slipping farther and farther away. The Agra summit was a historic two-day summit between India and Pakistan organized with the aim of resolving long-standing issues between them. During that meeting, a proposal was made to drastically reduce nuclear arsenal, other issues were also discussed involving the Kashmir dispute and cross-border terrorism. However, the negotiations broke down under pressure from a frenzied Indian media, and the process collapsed, so the “Agra Treaty” was never signed.
The meeting of Commander Jadhav with his mother and wife was permitted on humanitarian grounds, in line with Islamic teachings and traditions of compassion and grace. The meeting was initially scheduled for 30 minutes but was extended to 40 minutes on their request. The success of the meeting was evident by the fact that the mother thanked Pakistan after the visit.
The visitors were treated with respect and dignity. The change of clothes and removal of ornaments, etc. was purely for security reasons. The visitors changed into their own clothes after the meeting and all their belongings were returned before they left. The wife’s shoes were retained as they did not clear the security check, a metal chip was found in one of the shoes, which is being analysed. Many routine airport security checks for ordinary people entail removal of Christian crosses and Muslim veils.
The meeting was not allowed to be conducted in Marathi due to security reasons, there is nothing sinister in that. All three spoke comfortably in English for about 40 minutes which has been duly recorded, India was given advance information that the conversation would be recorded.
Pakistan formally proposed a detailed media interaction of the visitors, including with Indian media to be held in the Foreign Office. This was even shared with the Pakistani media well beforehand. However, this proposal was turned down by India in writing. This was respected and the Indian request was accepted. However, the media has every right to ask questions from a safe distance in line with international norms. The situation on ground in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was shown to the officers of the Indian High Commission on the evening of 24 December and they consented to it.
Times of India quoted Indian External Affairs minister as reporting to the two houses on Indian parliament: “Pakistan made Kulbhushan Jadhav’s wife and mother appear as widows to him, by forcing them to take off their mangalsutra, bindi and bangles. “She also called “an absurdity beyond measure” Pakistan’s allegation that there was a chip or a camera in Jadhav’s wife Chetankul’s shoes. “Thank God they didn’t say that there was a bomb in her shoes,” exclaimed the minister.
In a display of absurd emotionalism Swaraj also told the Rajya Sabha that she spoke with Jadhav’s mother Avanti and that she explained, her voice choking with tears, how they made her remove her “suhaag ki nishani”, or “symbols of marriage”.” I begged them, saying I’ve never taken off the mangalsutra ever, but they said I have to,” Swaraj recounted. “The first thing Kulbhushan said to me when I went in to meet him is ‘How is baba’, because he thought something had happened when he saw me without mangalsutra, bindi and bangles,” Avanti explained to Swaraj. “A meeting of a mother with her son and a wife with her husband was turned into a propaganda tool by Pakistan,” said Swaraj as she mentioned the further humiliation of Avanti by Pakistani officials. “She (Avanti) wears only saree but was forced to wear salwar kurta, this was insulting,” explained Swaraj to the House, as it erupted with cries of “shame, shame”. The minister reiterated about Pakistan breaking an agreement with India to shield the Jadhav family members from the media. “It was specifically agreed upon by both sides that the media will not be allowed to come close to the family but Pakistani press not only came close to them but also harassed them and hurled taunts at them,” said Swaraj.
Addressing a news conference after the meeting with his family members, Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson said it was not the Indian spy’s last meeting. “This meeting has nothing to do with the case pending before the International Court of Justice or with politics,” he added. Jadhav’s wife and mother were both our guests, he said, adding: “They came and left in an honourable fashion.”
Jadhav is the Indian spy as “the face of Indian terrorism in Pakistan” and detailed his confessions before the press. Jadhav confessed that he worked for Indian intelligence agency RAW, adding that he entered Pakistan through Iran. He shared that he was arrested by Pakistan’s security agencies from Balochistan. Jadhav was operating from within and outside Pakistan and he caused the deaths of many Pakistanis and more deaths were also possible. He has admitted to involvement in the assassination of senior superintendent of police, targeting of Frontier Works Organization and improvised explosive device attacks in Quetta, Turbat and other cities in Balochistan. The spy also confessed to supporting the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other groups, especially in the attack on the Mehran Naval Base, various radar installations and the Sui gas pipeline attack.
Jadhav is an icon of India’s crude involvement in terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistan. Still Pakistan showed magnanimity in arranging a meeting with his family members. Pakistan does not wish to indulge in fallacious accusations and blame game. India should focus on the bigger positive outcome that the meeting happened.
