ESPIONAGE CASE

Kulbhushan's family depressed after what happened in Pak: Kin

Pakistan Indian Spy Jadhav's mother Avanti [left] and wife Chetna | File

'Treatment received by Kulbhushan's mother and wife was not at all good'

Angered by the treatment meted out to Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife in Pakistan, a relative of the former Indian Navy officer said the family was "even more depressed" than it had been before the visit.

"We are very disappointed and not in a mood to speak on the family's Pakistan visit," said the relative.

"I can't talk more as this is an international issue and being handled by the Indian government. If we speak something about it, that may hamper the process," he said.

Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetna were in Pakistan on Tuesday to meet him, but the meeting took place with them being separated by a glass screen.

The treatment received by Kulbhushan's mother and wife from Pakistan was not good at all, the relative said. "We are even more depressed now than we were before the visit," he added.

The relative said he was "horrified" on learning that Pakistani officials had removed 'mangal sutra' and bangles of Jadhav's kin before allowing them to meet him.

"Even the 'bindi' on the forehead of Kulbhushan's wife was not seen while they were meeting him," he said.

A childhood friend of Kulbhushan Jadhav has said the treatment meted out to the former Indian Naval officer's mother and wife by Pakistani authorities was humiliating, and sought a "befitting reply" from India.

"How can Pakistani authorities take away 'mangalsutra' and bangles of Kulbhushan's kin before allowing them to meet him, that too across a glass partition," Tulshidas Pawar said.

Demanding a "befitting reply" from India for humiliating the Jadhav family, Pawar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should show aggression in dealing with Pakistan.

"While watching TV yesterday, I recalled the days when we lived in adjacent buildings in Mumbai. The Kulbhushan I knew was totally different from the one I saw on TV yesterday," he said.

"The person meeting his mother and wife across the glass partition looked as if he was 15 years older than his real age," Pawar said.

India should not stop at accusing Pakistan of disregarding cultural and religious sensibilities of the family members on the pretext of security, but teach Pakistan a lesson, he said.

Pakistan's claim to have detected a "metallic substance" in the shoes worn by Jadhav's wife when she went to meet him at the Foreign Office in Islamabad is ridiculous, Pawar said.

Jadhav, who was captured in March last year, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation India has dismissed as concocted.

India maintains Jadhav was abducted from Iran, where he had business interests, and taken to Pakistan.

To save Jadhav, India moved the International Court of Justice, which ordered Pakistan in May this year to stay his execution. 

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