NEW DELHI: India is debating the real intent behind Pakistan allowing Kulbhushan Jadhav, a convicted Indian spy facing the death sentence in a Pakistani jail, to meet his mother and wife.
Jadhav’s mother Avanti Jadhav and wife Chetankul Jadhav, accompanied by the Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh, met the former Indian navy officer in Islamabad on Monday afternoon.
“It has happened due to international pressure,” said Suman Sharma, a New Delhi-based foreign affairs expert.
“It is a tactical gesture by the Pakistan government before the next hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is hearing the case. Islamabad can argue in the ICJ that they are treating the case from the humanitarian points of view,” Sharma told Arab News.
Dr. Zakir Husain of the Indian Council of World Affairs, a New Delhi based think-tank, said: “The larger point of this meeting is more than humanitarian. Pakistan is sending a signal that it is willing to break the ice with India and hold talks with its eastern neighbor.”
Talking to Arab News, Husain underlined that “it’s now up to India how it responds to the Pakistani overtures. This comes just days after the Pakistani army chief’s announcement of his willingness to talk with India.”
However, there was a lot of curiosity in Mumbai, the city where Jadhav’s family lives.
“We are really excited about the meeting taking place in Islamabad,” said Subrato Mukherjee, an old friend of Jadhav in Mumbai.
Talking to Arab News, Mukherjee said that “last week a bike rally and human chain were organized in the city to extend support to Jadhav’s family and express our solidarity with the family.”
India does not accept the Pakistani version of the story that Jadav was arrested in Baluchistan province of Pakistan on March 3, 2016, and was acting as a spy to create disturbances in its territory.
New Delhi, however, claims that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran, where he went to do some business after his retirement from the Indian Navy.
Jadhav’s case has created a frenzy in the Indian media with the majority calling Pakistan’s move “an optical illusion and choreographed exercise.”
“On the question of Pakistan, Indian media loses its balance. We lose objectivity and sense of proportion,” said Sharma.
“I feel the Jadhav case is a wonderful opportunity for both India and Pakistan to engage each other in dialogue. Had there been a regular mechanism of engagement between the two nations, we would not have had this kind of polarized debate and tension.”
Jadhav’s case is an opportunity for two countries to talk, say Indian experts
Jadhav’s case is an opportunity for two countries to talk, say Indian experts
Palestine Action hunger strikers launch legal action against UK govt
- They accuse authorities of abandoning prison safety policies
- Several of the imprisoned activists have been hospitalized
LONDON: Hunger strikers from Palestine Action in the UK have launched legal action against the government, accusing it of abandoning the policy framework for prison safety, The Independent reported.
A pre-action letter was sent to Justice Secretary David Lammy by a legal firm representing the activists.
It came as several imprisoned members of the banned organization — including one who has refused food for 51 days — were hospitalized due to their deteriorating health while on hunger strike.
They say they have sent several letters to Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, but have received no response.
He was urged in the latest letter to respond within 24 hours as the issue is a “matter of urgency.”
The letter added: “Our clients’ health continues to deteriorate, such that the risk of their dying increases every day.”
An “urgent meeting” is needed “with the proposed defendant to discuss the deterioration of our clients’ health and to discuss attempts to resolve the situation,” it said.
Seven of the Palestine Action prisoners have been admitted to hospital since the hunger strike was launched on Nov. 2, including 30-year-old Amu Gib and Kamran Ahmed, 28.
They are being held in prisons across the country. Two members of the group have been forced to end their hunger strike due to health conditions: Jon Cink, 25, ended on day 41, while 22-year-old Umer Khalid finished on day 13.
Gib, now on day 51, was hospitalized last week and reportedly needs a wheelchair due to health concerns.
Dr. James Smith, an emergency physician, warned journalists last Thursday that some of the imprisoned activists “are dying” and need specialized medical care.
In a letter signed by more than 800 doctors, Smith said the hunger strikers were at “very high risk of serious complications, including organ failure, irreversible neurological damage, cardiac arrhythmias and death.”
The strikers are demanding that Palestine Action, which is classified as a terrorist organization, be de-proscribed.
They are also urging the government to shut down defense companies with ties to Israel, among other demands.
In response to the latest letter, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We strongly refute these claims. We want these prisoners to accept support and get better, and we will not create perverse incentives that would encourage more people to put themselves at risk through hunger strikes.”
