Verdict unites govt, Oppn Legal options do exist, but route is tough

POLITICIANS OF ALL HUES RAISE THEIR VOICE IN PARLIAMENT TO ENSURE JUSTICE FOR FORMER NAVY OFFICER IN PAK CUSTODY

The government and Opposition united on Tuesday to slam Pakistan for the death sentence handed out to former Indian navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, calling it an attempt to defame India and a tactic to deflect attention from Pakistansponsored terrorism.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj made a statement in both the Houses, asserting that India will go “out of its way” to ensure justice for Jadhav, who is an “innocent kidnapped Indian”.

In the Rajya Sabha, leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, while expressing outrage over the court’s verdict, said the Indian government should provide the best of lawyers to Jadhav.

Swaraj said the government will not only ensure that Jadhav gets the best of lawyers in Pakistan’s Supreme Court but will also take up his death sentence with the neighbouring country’s President.

Cutting across party lines, parliamentarians in the Lok Sabha also criticised the verdict. Union home minister Rajnath Singh said the government will do everything possible to make sure Jadhav gets justice. .

While leader of Opposition in the lower house, Mallikarjun Kharge, wondered why the government remained silent on the issue, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan intervened and said “there should be no spat on the issue. We all are equally concerned about the fate of Jadhav”.

Kharge said that while India granted Pakistani officials access to Pathankot airbase after the 2016 terror attack to gather evidence, Islamabad denied counsellor access to Jadhav.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that the death sentence by Pakistan military court was against international norms. He said while India has always preferred to not internationalise its relations with Pakistan, it is time New Delhi tells other countries that tomorrow one of their citizens can face a similar fate in Pakistan.

AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi Revolutionary Socialist Party’s (RPS) NK Premchandran Shiv Sena’s Vinayak Raut and Trinamool Congress’ Saugata Roy also condemned Jadhav’s death sentence.