All India Radio airs 'save Kulbhushan Jadhav' pitch to Pakistan audience
NEW DELHI: Killing a traveler is a sin in Islam, a traveler has Allah's sympathy - that's the pitch on Kulbushan Jhadav in All India Radio's special services aimed at audiences in Pakistan.
Jhadav, an Indian citizen, has been sentenced to death by a secret military court in Pakistan. India has strongly protested the decision and warned Pakistan that carrying out the death sentence will be "pre-mediated murder".
New Delhi has also said contrary to Islamabad's claims about his espionage activities, Jhadav was a traveler doing business in Iran and his presence in Pakistan hasn't been explained "adequately" by authorities there.
AIR's External Services Division runs seven broadcasts everyday targeted at listeners in Pakistan and Afghanistan. These broadcasts are in six languages, Pashtun, Baluchi, Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi and Saraiki. AIR officials said Sindh, Punjab and Baluch areas of Pakistan had "significantly high number of listeners".
AIR bulletins on Jhadav is part of India's diplomatic offensive. Jhadav-related content started from Monday. The argument in these bulletins is made sharply and forcefully.
"A musafir (traveler) is one who has Allah's sympathy, and Allah's power guides him throughout his journeys. Killing a musafir or even thinking of harming him is a sin in Islam," says one of the bulletins that was broadcast on Tuesday.
"We have been trying to emphasise in our bulletins that the sentence defies all tenets of Islam," AIR's Director General Fayyaz Sheheryar told ET. These bulletins have also urged the people of Pakistan to speak up against this "anti- Islamic" act of their state.
"We have received hundreds of messages from the Baloch region which are completely dismissive of the allegation that Kulbushan was involved in any sort of anti-Pakistan activities,"Sheheryar added.
The basic pitch in AIR messages is that carrying out the death sentence is "mindless" and "anti-Islamic". Bulletins also say that the silence of the civilian government in Pakistan on the Jhadav issue means that Indo-Pak relations will further worsen.
An official in AIR, who spoke off record, told ET the public broadcaster's special bulletins are describing Pakistan as a state "that doesn't care about Islam or its tenets, and that its behavior, especially its tacit support on awarding Jadhav the death sentence, had angered people not just in India but also moderate opinion in Pakistan".
"We have received hundreds of messages from the Baloch region which are completely dismissive of the allegation that Jadhav was involved in any sort of anti-Pakistan activities," AIR's Sheheryar added.
The basic pitch in AIR messages is that carrying out the death sentence is "mindless" and "anti-Islamic". Bulletins also say the silence of the civilian government in Pakistan on the Jadhav issue means that Indo-Pak relations will worsen further.
An official in AIR, who spoke off record, told ET the public broadcaster's special bulletins are describing Pakistan as a state "that doesn't care about Islam or its tenets, and that its behaviour, especially its tacit support on awarding Jadhav the death sentence, had angered people not just in India but also moderate opinion in Pakistan".
Jhadav, an Indian citizen, has been sentenced to death by a secret military court in Pakistan. India has strongly protested the decision and warned Pakistan that carrying out the death sentence will be "pre-mediated murder".
New Delhi has also said contrary to Islamabad's claims about his espionage activities, Jhadav was a traveler doing business in Iran and his presence in Pakistan hasn't been explained "adequately" by authorities there.
AIR's External Services Division runs seven broadcasts everyday targeted at listeners in Pakistan and Afghanistan. These broadcasts are in six languages, Pashtun, Baluchi, Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi and Saraiki. AIR officials said Sindh, Punjab and Baluch areas of Pakistan had "significantly high number of listeners".
AIR bulletins on Jhadav is part of India's diplomatic offensive. Jhadav-related content started from Monday. The argument in these bulletins is made sharply and forcefully.
"A musafir (traveler) is one who has Allah's sympathy, and Allah's power guides him throughout his journeys. Killing a musafir or even thinking of harming him is a sin in Islam," says one of the bulletins that was broadcast on Tuesday.
"We have been trying to emphasise in our bulletins that the sentence defies all tenets of Islam," AIR's Director General Fayyaz Sheheryar told ET. These bulletins have also urged the people of Pakistan to speak up against this "anti- Islamic" act of their state.
"We have received hundreds of messages from the Baloch region which are completely dismissive of the allegation that Kulbushan was involved in any sort of anti-Pakistan activities,"Sheheryar added.
The basic pitch in AIR messages is that carrying out the death sentence is "mindless" and "anti-Islamic". Bulletins also say that the silence of the civilian government in Pakistan on the Jhadav issue means that Indo-Pak relations will further worsen.
An official in AIR, who spoke off record, told ET the public broadcaster's special bulletins are describing Pakistan as a state "that doesn't care about Islam or its tenets, and that its behavior, especially its tacit support on awarding Jadhav the death sentence, had angered people not just in India but also moderate opinion in Pakistan".
"We have received hundreds of messages from the Baloch region which are completely dismissive of the allegation that Jadhav was involved in any sort of anti-Pakistan activities," AIR's Sheheryar added.
The basic pitch in AIR messages is that carrying out the death sentence is "mindless" and "anti-Islamic". Bulletins also say the silence of the civilian government in Pakistan on the Jadhav issue means that Indo-Pak relations will worsen further.
An official in AIR, who spoke off record, told ET the public broadcaster's special bulletins are describing Pakistan as a state "that doesn't care about Islam or its tenets, and that its behaviour, especially its tacit support on awarding Jadhav the death sentence, had angered people not just in India but also moderate opinion in Pakistan".
