Jadhav’s family harassed: India 

Jadhav’s family harassed: India 

Context

A day after the meeting of former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav with his mother and wife in Islamabad, India sharply criticised Pakistan for stage-managing what it called an exercise that “lacked credibility” and held in an “atmosphere of coercion.”

How Jadhav’s family was harassed?

• The women were intimidated, separated from Indian officials, harassed by the Pakistani media and even made to change attire, remove their necklace (mangal sutra), bangles and shoes “under the guise of security precautions.”
• Mr. Jadhav’s mother was also “prevented” from speaking in her mother tongue, Marathi, with her son and interrupted repeatedly, while they were separated by a glass partition throughout the meeting. The government also said it was worried about Mr. Jadhav’s medical condition

Pakistan’s reaction

If Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian Deputy High Commissioner should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India

Backdrop

• On Monday, the Pakistan government facilitated the meeting between Mr. Jadhav and his mother Avantika and wife Chetana at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, the first such meeting since the announcement of Mr. Jadhav’s arrest in March 2016 over alleged charges of terrorism
• Since then, he has been convicted in a military court and sentenced to death, and his appeal for clemency is now under process
• India has officially requested the family meeting several times. Although the Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh was present for the interaction at the MFA, both Pakistan and India made it clear this did not constitute “consular access” for which a case is being fought at the International Court of Justice at The Hague