The brainwave of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to refer to the International Court of Justice the illegal and unconscionable kidnapping from Iran and detention in a military prison in Pakistan of former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav prevented the summary execution of the unfortunate citizen of India. Jadhav’s activities in his business may not all have been fully compliant with law, nor would he be the only businessperson to adopt methods such as a doctored passport to assist in business. This assumes that the passport found on Mr Jadhav belonged to him and was not among the many items planted by the ISI in an effort to buttress its fake narrative that India’s and not GHQ Rawalpindi’s own mistakes led to the conflagration sweeping Balochistan. As several Baloch leaders have pointed out, India has done almost nothing to assist them in the cause of justice for the Baloch, although considerations of human rights demand much more vigorous action in this respect. The fact that officials in Delhi immediately identified Jadhav by his real name and underlined the harsh fact that an innocent citizen of the Republic of India had been kidnapped from Iran illegally and unjustly, gives the lie to the ISI propaganda that Jadhav was sent on a mission to Pakistan by agencies within Government of India. It is laughable that Pakistan is attributing its troubles in Pakistan to a solitary ex-naval officer, who anyway was residing in Iran. Because a military court was chosen to carry out the farcical trial of Kulbhushan Jadhav, there was no necessity for the Pakistan army to reveal the “proof” against Jadhav. Given the implicit condemnation of the unfairness of the mock trial of Jadhav, it may be difficult for Pakistan to keep secret details of the fake evidence that has been concocted by the ISI to justify its outrageous conduct. All such evidence should be brought before the public domain, so that the world may see the flimsy—indeed, imaginary—basis on which an innocent businessman is being sought to be executed. Given that even the US military allows captured personnel to make incorrect confessions in order to try and save their lives, “proof” such as the forced and fake confession of Kulbhushan Jadhav should be treated with the contempt it deserves. This is a man who is in danger of having his life cut short by a brutal military machine and can be excused for saying whatever it is that his captors want him to mouth.
The Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of External Affairs should be congratulated for the tireless manner in which both have acted to ensure that the life of this unfortunate former naval officer is not cut short. Every citizen of India is precious, and Prime Minister Modi has demonstrated this by the manner in which the entire machinery of government has been mobilised to protect the life of Kulbhushan Jadhav. It is an international disgrace that the mother and wife of the innocent captive were allowed to see him only once during his two-year ordeal and that too in conditions that make a mockery of any definition of human rights. The ICJ did well in gently pointing to the numerous ways in which the Rule of Law was flouted by the Pakistan establishment, including by denying consular access to the prisoner, and by refusing to allow him to meet his wife and mother except once in heartbreaking circumstances. The Government of India is certain to work tirelessly to ensure that basic human rights such as periodic family visits are not denied, and now that it will be difficult even for the ISI to completely disregard the views of the ICJ, hopefully Kulbhushan Jadhav will be treated less disgracefully than he has been. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has made it clear that the issue of the unlawful detention of Jadhav is at the top of his list of what needs to get done by the ministry with which he has been associated for most of his life, and with great distinction. The spotlight must remain on the captive, for the risk of summary action cannot be entirely discounted in the case of a state such as Pakistan, which has developed a cottage industry around terror and its instruments. It is of course unfortunate that the Financial Action Task Force has as yet not done the obvious and placed Pakistan on the Black List, despite the exhaustive evidence submitted by India of GHQ Rawalpindi’s complicity in terrorist activities. While Pakistan pampers genuine terrorists, it condemns innocent individuals to death purely to blacken the name of India. The ICJ victory is a big step, but not the final one. That will be the return in safety and vindication to India and to his wife and family of Kulbhushan Jadhav.