India says Jadhav coerced' to peddle Pak line in fresh video

New Delhi/Islamabad: In another propaganda effort, Pakistan on Thursday released a fresh video of imprisoned former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav in which the retired officer — obviously speaking under coercion — alleged that deputy high commissioner J.P. Singh had shouted at his mother after the meeting between Jadhav and his family members on December 25, saying he had seen fear in the eyes of his mother and wife. While also claiming that the Pakistani authorities had not harmed him in any way, Jadhav toed the Pakistani line that he was still a serving Indian naval officer. India blasted the video, saying that “Pakistan is simply continuing its practice of putting out coerced statements on video” and that “it’s time for them to realise such propagandistic exercises simply carry no credibility”.

New Delhi added: “The absurdity of a captive under duress certifying his own welfare while mouthing allegations of his captors clearly merits no comment”, and said “Pakistan is best advised to fulfil its international obligations, whether it pertains to consular relations or UNSC Resoluti-ons 1267 and 1373 on terrorism, and to desist from continuing violations of human rights of an Indian national.” Jadhav had last year been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and sabotage, allegations that India had dismissed as false.

But what gave the game away was Jadhav’s comment that he heard the “Indian diplomat” shouting at his mother when the fact was that Jadhav himself was speaking to his mother and wife from behind a glass screen while India’s deputy high commissioner J.P. Singh was further separated from Jadhav’s family as he was “kept behind an additional partition that did not allow him access to the meeting as agreed”. Observers believe the Pakistani Army and its ISI spy agency are orchestrating this propaganda to bolster Pakistan’s arguments before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Jadhav case. Jadhav met his wife and mother in Islamabad on Christmas Day, after which India had lambasted Pakistan for “conducting the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings”.

In the purported video released on Thursday, Jadhav said: “I saw fear in her (his mother’s) eyes, the Indian diplomat was shouting at my mother the moment she stepped out. I saw him shouting, yelling at her... During the meeting, it looked like my mother had been beaten and brought here on a plane.” He further said: “This [meeting] was a positive gesture, so that she [my mother] could be happy and I could be happy. I said don’t worry Mummy. They (Pakistan) are taking care of me, they have not touched me. She believed me once she saw me personally.”

“I have to say one thing very important here, for the Indian public, Indian government and the Indian Navy, that my commission is not gone. I am a commissioned officer in the Indian Navy. Why are you lying about my working for an intelligence agency?” he was quoted as saying in PTI reports from Islamabad.

India’s response predictably was swift and sharp. The external affairs ministry said: “This does not come as a surprise. Pakistan is simply continuing its practice of putting out coerced statements on video. It is time for them to realise that such propagandistic exercises simply carry no credibility. The absurdity of a captive under duress certifying his own welfare while mouthing allegations of his captors clearly merits no comment. Pakistan is best advised to fulfil its international obligations, whether it pertains to consular relations or UNSC Resolutions 1267 and 1373 on terrorism, and to desist from continuing violations of human rights of an Indian national.”

The MEA had on December 26 said: “The deputy high commissioner was initially separated from family members who were taken to the meeting without informing him. The meeting was started without his presence and he could join only after pressing the matter with concerned officials.  Even then, he was kept behind an additional partition that did not allow him access to the meeting as agreed.”

It had further said then: “From the feedback we have received of the meeting, it appears Mr Jadhav was under considerable stress and speaking in an atmosphere of coercion. Most of his remarks were clearly tutored and designed to perpetuate the false narrative of his alleged activities in Pakistan.  His appearance also raises questions of his health and well-being.”