Ajay Banerjee & Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 11
The India-Pakistan relationship today took a rather tense turn as New Delhi “cautioned” Islamabad about the “consequences” on the bilateral relationship if it carried out the death sentence to retired Indian Navy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been convicted by a Pakistani army court.
Edit: Jadhav’s death sentence
Speaking separately in both Houses of Parliament, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said: “The government and people of India would view the death sentence very seriously. I would caution the Pakistan Government to consider the consequences for our bilateral relationship if they proceed on this matter.”
(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
Amid applause from MPs cutting across party lines, Swaraj said: “We have no choice but to regard the sentence, if carried out, as an act of pre-meditated murder. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Jadhav. 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.”
Swaraj termed the court martial proceedings as “farcical” and said consular access to Jadhav had been denied. She said the Pakistan Government had sought assistance to obtain evidence and other materials for the investigation process. “In doing so, they levelled ridiculous charges against senior Indian officials who had no connection to this issue. Thereafter, they linked providing consular access to our acceptance of their position.”
The Indian stand was consular access was a prerequisite for verifying the facts and understanding the circumstances of Jadhav’s presence in Pakistan.
“To make matters absurd, three hours after the death sentence was announced, the Indian High Commission received a communication from the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan reiterating the Pakistani proposal for conditional consular access,” Swaraj said.
The Inter-Services Public Relations of Pakistan had announced the death sentence through a press release from Rawalpindi on Monday.
Angry MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha demanded immediate action. In the Lok Sabha, Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge asked the government not to be silent on the matter. He questioned why the PM could not speak directly to his Pakistani counterpart on Jadhav even though he had attended the wedding of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad suggested the government should appoint a competent lawyer to fight Jadhav’s case in Pakistan’s Supreme Court.
BJP’s Anurag Thakur said: “A message should go out loud and clear that Pakistan is a terror state. Earlier also, innocents like Sarabjit Singh and Chamel Singh were accused of being spies and sentenced to death.”
Earlier, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured the Lok Sabha that the government would make all efforts to ensure justice for Jadhav. Congress’ Shashi Tharoor said the issue should be taken to the global forum and to countries that supplied weapons to Pakistan.
MPs from the Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Biju Janata Dal, AIADMK, Shiv Sena and the Asaduddin Owasi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen joined in to express a collective anguish of the House.
Quotes
Pak must consider
Govt and people of India would view the death sentence very seriously. I would caution Pakistan to consider the consequences for our bilateral relationship — Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister
We are peace-loving
Pakistan is a peace-loving country... We cannot remain oblivious to defending our sovereignty, protecting independence. The nation has full trust in the country’s armed forces — Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan PM
Should meet his fate
It’s a fact that India carries out terror activities in Pakistan. And when a terrorist himself has accepted he was a spy, India is having issues. He should meet his fate — Abdul Basit, Pakistan High Commissioner
Need to cooperate
Even Pakistanis are being tried by military courts... India and Pak need to cooperate so in the rivalry between the US and Russia, we don’t end up being losers — Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, former Pakistan Foreign Minister