New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Monday changed its stance over the issue of Indian Army Captain Saurabh Kalia, who was tortured by the Pakistan Army in 1999 during the Kargil conflict, and said it would pursue the case if the Supreme Court permitted it to do so.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that the Modi government was willing to pursue the case against Pakistan in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) if the Supreme Court permitted. She said, "Saurabh Kalia's case is an exceptional circumstance, that is why SC will be approached."
She informed, "There's a provision in International Court of Justice where India-Pak can go there against each other regarding any war related matter."
"All governments until now said that Pak-India will not go to International Court of Justice because we both are Commonwealth nations," she said, and added, "We will ask SC if India can go to the International Court of Justice when such a provision is in place."
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It had earlier been reported that the government had refused to move the ICJ against Pakistan.
Towing the United Progressive Alliance's line, the NDA government had told Parliament that it had no plans to pursue the matter in the international court of law.
The government had said that moving the ICJ against Pakistan, as demanded by Kalia’s family, was not feasible.
Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party, while in Opposition, had lashed out at the United Progressive Alliance government for not acting against Pakistan.
The UPA government had in 2013 told the Supreme Court that it is bound by Simla Agreement of 1972, so it can't treat Saurabh Kalia's case as a war crime.
Reacting to the news, NK Kalia, the father of Saurabh Kalia, said he was not very happy with politicians' approach.
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“I had expected the BJP government to be more patriotic. Sadly, the new government’s stand remains the same despite change of power at the Centre. This is amply clear from Minister of State for Foreign Affairs VK Singh’s reply to MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar’s question in Parliament,” a daily quoted NK Kalia as saying.
Responding to Chandrashekhar’s query that whether the government proposed to move the ICJ with regards to the killing of Saurabh Kalia and five other soldiers by the Pakistan Army, Singh had replied: “The attention of the international community has already been drawn to these heinous and barbaric acts of the Pakistani Army, including through a statement to the UN General Assembly in New York on September 22, 1999, and to the Commission of Human Rights in April 2000. The possibility of seeking legal remedies through the international courts was also thoroughly examined, but not found feasible.”
Captain Saurabh, of the 4 Jat Regiment, was the first Army officer to report the incursion by the Pakistani Army on the Indian soil in Kargil region.
He and five soldiers - Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh - were on patrol of the Bajrang Post in the Kaksar sector of Jammu and Kashmir when they were taken captive by the Pakistani Army troops on May 15, 1999.
They were tortured for weeks before being killed. Their mutilated bodies were handed over to the Indian authorities on June 9.
