'What happened to baba' — Jadhav asked mother, seeing no mangalsutra, bindi

Jadhav's mother and wife were in Pakistan recently to meet him where they were asked by Pakistani authorities to remove their bangles, 'bindi' and 'mangalsutra' before meeting him.

PTI photo

NEW DELHI: Disturbing details have emerged after alleged Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav, who has been lodged in a Pakistan jail, met his mother and wife in a 40-minute meeting recently. 

As he met his family for the first since his arrest, the first thing Jadhav asked his mother, "What has happened to father" after he saw no 'mangalsutra' and 'bindi' on her.

Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetna were in Pakistan on Monday to meet him. The meeting took place between them being separated by a glass screen.

As per reports, the Pakistani authorities forced Jadhav's mother as well as his wife to remove 'mangalsutra' and 'bindi' and take off bangles they were wearing before allowing them to meet him. The women were also forced to change their attire. 

After the meeting, the women were harassed in heavily guarded foreign ministry office by Pakistani journalists who hurled insensitive questions on them. 

"Your husband killed thousands of innocent Pakistanis, what do you have to say about that?" and "How do you feel after meeting your killer son?" were some of the questioned raised to the women.

Meanwhile, Jadhav's relatives have claimed that they were horrified and depressed after the meeting, that was strictly controlled by Pakistani authorities. "The treatment given from Pakistan was not good at all," they said. 

In fact, one of the relatives told reporters that the family was 'even more depressed' than it had been before the visit.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj while making a statement on Kulbhushan Jadhav in Rajya Sabha earlier today, said, Pakistan used emotional meeting between Jadhav, his mother and wife after 22 months as propaganda.

As per Swaraj, Jadhav was appalled on seeing his mother without her 'mangalsutra' and vermillion, so much so that it compelled him to think of the unfortunate with regards to his father.

"Not just his wife, but the bindi and mangalsutra of his mother were also removed. When I spoke to her, she told me that as soon as she reached, Kulbhushan asked her 'Baba kaise hain?' (How is father?), because he thought a mishap had taken place when he wasn`t around," Sushma said.

The union minister while speaking in the House today said that a fear of environment was created for Jadhav's kin, who were both "made to look like widows."

"Jadhav's mother, who only wears a saree, was forced to wear salwar-kurta. Bindi, bangles and mangalsutras of both women were removed. Both the married women were made to like widows," she said.

The environment, Sushma stated, was curated in such a way that Jadhav was not even permitted to communicate in his mother tongue (Marathi), as the officials constantly interrupted his mother when she did so.

Two Pakistani officials present in the meeting kept stopping her repeatedly, and when she continued, the intercom was switched off," said an emotionally-charged Sushma.

Jadhav, 47, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation India has dismissed as concocted.

India says Jadhav was abducted in Iran where he had legitimate business interests and taken to Pakistan. To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May to stay his execution.