Sushma Swaraj to speak on Pakistan's ill-treatment to Kulbhushan Jadhav's kin, Opposition backs Centre

EAM Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Lok Sabha on Thursday, clarifying the NDA govt's stand on the alleged ill-treatment to Kulbhushan Jadhav's kin in Pakistan.

New Delhi: Amid outrage and widespread condemnation of Pakistan's alleged ill-treatment to the wife and mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Indian Navy official who has been given a death sentence by a military court there, the Narendra Modi government will now make a statement in Parliament on the issue on Thursday.

According to reports, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Lok Sabha, clarifying the NDA government's stand on the issue tomorrow.

During the Zero Hour today, members of various political parties, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress and AIADMK, strongly protested the way Jadhav's family members were treated by Pakistan authorities when they had gone there to meet Jadhav.

Allaying their concerns, Swaraj, who was present in the House, said a statement on the issue would be made tomorrow.

While strongly criticising the happenings, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Jadhav should be immediately brought back.

"We condemn the way Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife were treated in Pakistan. Kulbhushan Jadhav should be brought back to the country," Kharge said in the Lok Sabha.

Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant also raised the issue and said, ''India should not keep silent on the matter.''

Describing Pakistan as "hypocritical", Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the incident should be criticised and demanded that Swaraj should speak on the issue.

Condemning the incident, AIADMK M Thambidurai said asking a woman to remove her 'mangal sutra' is an insult to the country.

The meeting between Jadhav, his mother and wife took place on Monday (December 25) at the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry in Islamabad after repeated requests by India for family access.

The meeting came nearly eight months after Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying. Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani jail, met his family for the first time across a glass screen, through an intercom. 

The 40-minute interaction was recorded and tweeted by Pakistan. 

The alleged ill-treatment to Jadhav's kin evoked a sharp response from the Indian government, which alleged that both women were forced to change their clothes and asked to remove their bangles, 'bindi' and 'mangalsutra'.

Jadhav's wife Chetankul was forced to remove her shoes, which were not returned at all. Pakistan claims the shoes had "something metallic in them".

The government accused Pakistan of violating mutual understanding on Jadhav's meeting with his family and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

The Government of India had earlier rejected Pakistan's charge that Jadhav was its spy as ''concocted'''and ''baseless.''

(With Agency inputs)