Subramanian Swamy seeks action against Samajwadi Party leader for 'shocking' remark on Kulbhushan Jadhav

The senior BJP leader demanded that if the SP leader refused to issue an apology, then proceedings should be initiated to terminate his Rajya Sabha membership.

NEW DELHI: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday demanded parliamentary action against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Naresh Agarwal for making an objectionable statement about Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is facing a death sentence in Pakistan.

"Parliamentary Affairs Minister should introduce a resolution seeking Naresh Agrawal's apology to the house and deep regret," Swamy told ANI.

He demanded that if the SP leader refused to do so then proceedings should be initiated to terminate his Rajya Sabha membership.

"If he (Agarwal) refuses, we should move a motion to examine whether his conduct is befitting that of an MP and therefore his membership should be terminated," the BJP MP said.

Earlier in the day, Agarwal created a controversy by saying that if former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was a terrorist for Pakistan then he would be treated as a terrorist.

"If Pakistan has declared Kulbhushan Jadhav as a terrorist in their country, then they will treat him like one. In our country also, we should treat terrorists in a similar manner. Terrorists have to be dealt strictly," Agarwal told ANI.

When the issue snowballed, Agarwal said he did not mean what was being reported.

Meanwhile, there has been an outcry over the treatment meted out to Jadhav's mother and wife who reached Islamabad on Monday to meet Jadhav.

The wife and the mother of Jadhav were asked to remove mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire, citing it as a security measure.

After the meeting, Jadhav's mother and wife were also harassed in heavily guarded foreign ministry office by Pakistani journalists.

Jadhav is on a death row in Pakistan over charges of terrorism and spying for India's intelligence agency- Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

On May 18, 2017, the International Court of Justice stayed the hanging, after India approached it against the death sentence.