The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that Pakistan should stop violating the human rights of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is in prison in Islamabad, ANI reported. India’s statement was in response to Pakistan’s new video of Jadhav thanking the country’s officials for “treating him well” and arranging his meeting with his wife and mother.
“This does not come as a surprise,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said about the video. “Pakistan is simply continuing its practice of putting out coerced statements on video. It is time for them to realise that such propaganda exercises simply carry no credibility.”
In the clip, Jadhav thanked Islamabad for “treating him well”. He, however, said that he had a message for the Indian public and officials. “I saw fear in my mother’s eyes. Why should they be scared?” he asked.
“The Indian diplomat or person who accompanied my mother was yelling at her as soon as she stepped out,” Jadhav said. “Was she brought under threat here to meet me?” This was supposed to be a positive gesture, he said.
In response, Kumar said India wished to make “no comment” about the “absurdity of a captive under duress certifying his own welfare while mouthing the allegations of his captors.”
Kumar asked Pakistan to fulfill its international obligations by granting India consular access to Jadhav. The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson added that Islamabad should adhere to the United Nations’ resolutions on terrorism and “desist from continuing violations of human rights of an Indian national.”
After Jadhav met with his wife and mother in Islamabad on December 25, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that the naval officer, who faces death penalty in Pakistan for espionage and terrorism, was “under considerable stress” and “speaking in an atmosphere of coercion”. However, Pakistan denied it on December 29, and said the meeting was conducted in an “open and transparent” manner.
Pakistani officials had confiscated the mangalsutra, bangles and bindis belonging to Jadhav’s wife and mother, and had also asked his wife Avanti Jadhav to remove her shoes, the External Affairs Ministry had said on Tuesday.
In response, Pakistan claimed that there was “something” in her shoes. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had called Pakistan’s claims “absurd”.
In March 2016, a military court in Pakistan sentenced Jadhav to death on charges of espionage and terrorism. India had moved the International Court of Justice against the verdict in May, after which the court stayed his execution. A final verdict in the case is pending.
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