NEW DELHI: “Pakistan made Kulbhushan Jadhav’s Wife and mother appear as widows to him, by forcing them to take off their mangalsutra, bindi and bangles,” said Union minister Sushma Swaraj today in her report to the Rajya Sabha about the hostile and humiliating meeting on Christmas day.
This was done deliberately, said Swaraj, and was part of the condemnable intimidation by Pakistan of Jadhav’s wife and mother. The external affairs minister also called “an absurdity beyond measure”, Pakistan’s allegation that there was a chip or a camera in Jadhav’s wife Chetankul’s shoes.
On Monday, the ministry of external affairs external affairs minister revealed details of the Christmas day meeting of Jadhav – who’s on death row in Pakistan for alleged espionage – with his wife and his mother. The ministry detailed the hours of humiliation faced by Avanti Jadhav and Chetankul Jadhav, the mother and wife, respectively, of Jadhav.
Swaraj also told the Rajya Sabha today that she spoke with Jadhav’s mother Avanti this morning and she explained, her voice choking with tears, how they made her remove her “suhaag ki nishani”, or “symbols of marriage”.
“I begged them saying I’ve never taken off mangalsutra ever, but they said I have to,” said Jadhav’s mother to Swaraj, the minister recounted.
“The first thing Kulbhushan said to me, when I went in to meet him is ‘How is baba’, becase he though something had happened when he saw me without mangalsutra, bindi and bangles,” Avanti explained to Swaraj.
“A meeting of a mother with her son and a wife with her husband was turned into a propaganda tool by Pakistan,” said Swaraj as she mentioned the further humiliation of Avanti by Pakistani officials.
“She (Avanti) wears only saree and she was forced to wear salwar kurta, this was insulting,” explained Swaraj to the House, as it erupted with cries of “shame, shame”.
As for Pakistan confiscating the footwear of Jadhav’s wife Chetankul, because “there was something in it”, Swaraj ridiculed it as an “absurd” allegation.
“She went on two international flights wearing that footwear, none of them found a recorder or a camera like Pakistan is alleging at different times. How is it possible that airlines’ extensive safety checks didn’t find these things?” asked Swaraj.
“Now they’re spreading such lies, like we knew they would, like we suspected they would when they confiscated the shoes. This is an absurdity beyond measure,” said Swaraj.
The minister reiterated what an MEA spokesman revealed on Monday, about Pakistan breaking an agreement with India to shield the Jadhav family members from the media.
“We had an agreement that media can’t approach Jadhav family, but they were insulted, accuse and shouted at by media there,” said Swaraj.
Source : timesofindia
