Kulbhushan Jadhav has been accused of espionage by Pakistan and has been sentenced to death.
Highlights
- Kulbhushan Jadhav purportedly says Indian diplomat yelled at his mother
- "Propagandistic exercises simply carry no credibility," says India
- Sources said video indicated Pakistan was under pressure
The Indian government has said it is not surprised by Pakistan's release of another propaganda video of
Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on allegations of being a spy, calling it a "coerced statement."
"This does not come as a surprise. Pakistan is simply continuing its practice of putting out coerced statements on video. It is time for them to realise that such propagandistic exercises simply carry no credibility," the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement, adding, "The absurdity of a captive under duress certifying his own welfare while mouthing allegations of his captors clearly merits no comment. Pakistan is best advised to fulfil its international obligations, whether it pertains to consular relations or UNSC resolutions 1267 and 1373 on terrorism and to desist from continuing violations of human rights of an Indian national."
In the new video, played out by Pakistan's foreign office at a press briefing on Wednesday, Mr Jadhav purportedly says that an Indian diplomat yelled at his mother when she and his wife
visited the foreign office in Islamabad to meet him last week: "I saw fear in the eyes of my mother and wife. Why should there be fear? Whatever has happened has happened. They felt threatened. The Indian diplomat who had come along with my mother was shouting the moment she stepped out. I saw him shouting, yelling at her. This [meeting] was a positive gesture, so that she (my mother) could be happy and I could be happy."
He also "thanks" Pakistani officials for arranging the meeting and says that he is being treated well in captivity, adding, "...don't worry mummy. They (Pakistan) are taking care of me, they have not touched me. She believed me once she saw me personally."
Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife were made to change their clothes before meeting him
This is the fourth such video that Pakistan has released, each time rejected by India, which has censured Pakistan for the "lack of transparency and farcical nature of proceedings against Mr Jadhav on concocted charges."
On December 25, Pakistan had allowed Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife to meet him and tweeted photos of the 45-minute meeting as part of fresh propaganda ahead of a hearing of India's appeal against Mr Jadhav's death sentence at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
In those photos, he is seen communicating with his mother and wife from behind a glass pane and through intercom. India's Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad, JP Singh, was present during the meeting.
Kulbhushan Jadhav's had met with his mother and wife across a glass screen and through intercom, tightly controlled by Pakistani officials
Government sources said the video indicated that
Pakistan was under pressure. "Since they could not answer our objections after the meeting between Jadhav and his family, they want to change the narrative," an official said. The other idea, he said, could be to shift focus from the US pressure and the domestic chaos.
India had slammed Pakistan following the tightly-controlled meeting, accusing Islamabad of harassing Mr Jadhav's mother and wife. They were forced to change their clothes and were not allowed to speak to Mr Jadhav in their mother tongue. The shoes of Mr Jadhav's wife Chetankul, were not returned. Mr Jadhav appeared under considerable stress during the meeting, India has noted.
In a lacerating statement, Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj told parliament that Mr Jadhav was forced to see his mother and wife in the form of "widows" as their
mangalsutra, bindi and bangles -- symbols of marriage -- were taken away in the name of security.