Pakistan today released another video of Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav purportedly confessing that he was a commissioned officer of the Indian Navy and that the diplomat who was accompanying his family for the meeting yelled at his mother. He said that he was not been harmed in custody and also asked why India was “lying” saying he was not working for an intelligence agency. However, the veracity of the video which was released by the Pakistan Foreign Office could not be ascertained.
The video was released days after India had hit out at Pakistan for violating understandings for the Jadhav-family meet and raised questions about the 47 year-old Indian national’s well being. India had also asserted that Jadhav appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction on December 25 in the Pakistan Foreign Office.
During the meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through intercom and the entire
In the purported video, Jadhav asks, “I have to say one thing very important here, for the Indian public, Indian government and the Indian navy, that my commission is not gone. I am a commissioned officer in the Indian navy. Why are you lying about my working for an intelligence agency?”
Speaking about the meeting with his mother and wife, Jadhav said, “I saw fear in her (mother’s) eyes, the Indian diplomat was shouting at my mother 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 added, “I said don’t worry Mummy. They (Pakistan) are taking care of me, they have not touched me. She believed me once she saw me personally.” However, it was not clear how Jadhav saw the diplomat shouting at his mother once she stepped out. The diplomat accompanying Jadhav’s family was India’s Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad.
Pakistan on December 25 had also issued a video of Jadhav in which he was purportedly seen thanking the Pakistan government for arranging a meeting with his wife and mother.
Jadhav, who was captured in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May. Pakistan says he was a commander rank officer in the Indian Navy, but India says Jadhav was a former naval officer. New Delhi also says Jadhav was kidnapped in Iran where he had legitimate business interests, and brought to Pakistan.
A 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18 restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case. It is expected to hold another hearing in March or April.