New Delhi, Dec 28: Avanti Jadhav, Kulbhushan Jadhav‘s 70-year-old mother, interrupted her son when he greeted his mother and wife Chetna by parroting the script handed over to him by his captors. “But why are you saying all this? You were doing business in Iran from where you were abducted. You must tell the truth,” she told his son when he greeted them while acknowledging that he is indeed an Indian spy. Kulbhushan Jadhav being an Indian spy has been alleged by Pakistan and contested by India.
The bizarre greetings by Jadhav, absolutely opposite of the reactions that were expected of him on meeting his wife and mother after a period of 22 months, left Avanti Jadhav stunned. Despite a Pakistani officer keeping a watch on the meeting of the family, the 70-year-old gathered the courage and told him not to repeat the script given to him by Islamabad but tell the truth. Avanti not just managed to retain her calm but also foiled Pakistan’s plan to use Kulbhushan Jadhav‘s confession of being an Indian spy. (Also Read: Pak Considers Kulbhushan Jadhav ‘Terrorist’, Treating Him Accordingly, SP Leader Naresh Agrawal Stokes Row)
Pakistan had initially given visa to only Chetna but gave it to Avanti only after India insisted. It, however, refused a visa to the diplomat who was to accompany Avanti and Chetna. Pakistan’s notorious plan was exposed when a bunch of Pakistani journalists gathered at a distance but kept shouting and bullying the two women. (Also Read: Pakistani Journalists Heckle And Harass Kulbhushan Jadhav’s Mother and Wife After Their Meeting Ends)
“Aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi? (Your husband has killed thousands of innocent Pakistani nations, what would you say on this?)” and “Aapke kya jazbaat hain apne kaatil bete se milne ke baad? (How do you feel after meeting your killer son?)” The two were asked such bullying questions by the Pakistani media.
Before the meeting, the Pakistani officials made the two women change their entire attire including shoes and remove their bindi, bangles and mangalsutra. The pair of shoes, Kulbhushan Jadhav’s wife was wearing, were taken away and not returned to her after the meeting. Later, Pakistan claimed presence of a suspicious object in her shoes. (Also Read: Pakistan Claims Suspicious Object Found in Shoes of Kulbhushan Jadhav’s Wife)
In fact, India’s deputy high commissioner JP Singh was seen reacting after a vehicle, which was to take them, took long enough to reach them. India suspects that it could be one of Pakistan’s plans to make the two women and JP Singh walk to the vehicle so that they can be bullied more by the media.
Speaking on the ill-treatment of Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mother and wife in Pakistan, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in the Lok Sabha condemned the way it was all handled by the country and said, “Kulbhushan Jadhav should be brought back to the country.” Congress leader Veerappa Moily termed it as “a diplomatic failure on the part of our MEA and the country”. The government will today make a statement on the treatment meted out to Kulbhushan Jadhav’s family members said Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.