Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Pak dares to sentence an Indian to death' that was published in Newsband

Pak dares to sentence an Indian to death
A Pakistani military court sentenced to death the former Indian Navy official, Kulbhushan Jadhav, accusing him of espionage and working for the India’s external intelligence agency, R&AW. The sentencing of Mr. Jadhav (46), was confirmed by army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa after the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) found him guilty of “all the charges”. Indian embassy officials have been repeatedly refused access to Mr. Jadhav throughout the trial process.
Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan on March 3 last year, with Pakistani authorities alleging that he was involved in subversive activities in the province. The accused was provided with defending officer as per legal process. However, the specific charges were never made public. Lawyers familiar with the Army Act trials said there is very limited right of appeal available to the accused.
Pakistan military claimed Jadhav had confessed before a magistrate that he was tasked by RAW to plan, coordinate and and organise espionage/sabotage activities. The arrest of Jadhav was followed by intense diplomatic activity by Pakistan in terms of preparing dossiers for the United Nations alleging that India was trying to fuel insurgency in Baluchistan province. Former Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif also met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed concern that RAW was using the soil of Iran to create unrest in Baluchistan and urged the Iranian President to ask India to stop such activities. Tehran agreed to allay Pakistan's concern.
After such a sham of a trial held in secrecy, India must plan to hit Pak with some aggressive actions on the Indus waters among other things. If Pakistan really stands by justice then let them award death sentence also to those Pakistanis arrested along with this Indian. Pakistan does not seems to have learnt any lessons from past three lost wars. Each time Indo-Pak interactions starts, they come to a standstill whenever issue of Kashmir appears. What Pakistanis fail to understand is, if they desist from supporting cross border terrorism against us and join us Pakistan's poverty will reduce, employment / economy will boost. Harbouring enmity against India just because it’s a "Hindu" country would only harm Pakistan more as has happened since independence. Still they can mend their attitudes.
Pakistan has behaved irresponsibly always. Sentencing of an Indian by them is not something new. If Kulbhushan is, let's say, being framed for sabotage and has actually not been involved in that activity, it would be a big defeat for the safety of Indian origin people outside the country. Our Foreign Ministry should take accurate steps in this matter. There is a possibility that K Jadhav will be in jail for years to come for Paks to be able to use him as a bargaining chip for any future deals. Anyway, it is sad.
India should hold talks about this at the highest level. Remember how the Italian government defended their two marines? Prime Minister Narendra Modi should talk to Pakistan counter parts and make them rescind the death sentence. If required, our government should approach International Court of Justice.
Lastly, let Pakistan make the evidence against Jadhav public. Any person in captivity will confess and if that is used for conviction then anyone can be convicted. Pakistan is asking proof after proof for terror attack on Mumbai and now without any proof just on confession under coercion awarding death sentence is barbaric.
Will the PM stand up to Pakistan at least now? Despite all his posturing while Manmohan Singh was in power, Modi is doing the same thing as his predecessor - keeping mum. Whatever it is, Jadhav is an Indian and not a terrorist. Indian government should fight for his release. And Indian people should go on the street and protest and show full support to release him. If this vile sentence is carried out then India should break all Diplomatic relations with Pakistan. India needs to take this case to the ICC and the UN.


Why aren't we able to prove similar crimes committed by the separatist leaders? We give them all facilities and pamper them.

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