The shadow of the horrific suicide attack in Pulwama will loom large as the Indian delegation file in to take their seats in the Great Hall of Justice in the Peace Palace in The Hague on Monday morning. And the next four days will see a war of words between India and Pakistan over the trial of Kulbhushan Jadhav on the floor of the International Court of Justice.
This is the first time that the two countries will be literally eyeball to eyeball after the Pulwama attack. With India upping its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, it is very likely that when India’s agent, Deepak Mittal—who had last time “snubbed’’ the handshake of Pakistani agent Dr. Muhammad Faisal—addresses the court, he will use this international stage to come out strongly against Pakistan. Mittal is a joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs.
India knocked on the doors of the ICJ in May 2017, looking for justice over the trial of Jadhav in Pakistan. This was the second time that India had chosen to seek the intervention of the ICJ. The last time was in 1971. The ICJ had stayed Jadhav’s execution and admitted the case, a shot in the arm for India.
While the ICJ will not be deliberating whether Jadhav is a spy or not, India aims to demonstrate to the court that Pakistan’s refusal to grant Jadhav consular access prevented him from adequately defending himself. India has argued that the trial of Jadhav was “farcical’’ and “unjust’’ and “in egregious violation of the rights of consular access under the Vienna Convention,’’ which has led to serious miscarriage of justice.
India seeks an annulment of the Pakistani military court’s order on Jadhav and will hope that the ICJ will rule that the trial was “illegal’’. Harish Salve, the lead Indian counsel, will use his three hours of time before the 16 judges on Monday to build this case brick by brick. Pakistan now has to prove to the ICJ that Jadhav was given a fair hearing. The Pakistani counsel, Kharwar Qureshi, will have his task cut out as he counters Salve's arguments on Tuesday.
Jadhav's case, which is an emotive issue in India, has now become a rallying point for the Indian community in the Netherlands. The reverberations of the Pulwama suicide bombing have spread far and wide. The Overseas Friends of the BJP held a prayer meeting for the jawans killed in a Shiv Mandir in Amsterdam.
On Thursday, the last day of the Jadhav hearing, OFBJP have planned to gather at the Peace Palace to show solidarity. “We want to show our support because we believe Jadhav is innocent,’’ said Pratima Singh, convenor of OFBJP for the Netherlands. “We also want to raise the issue of terrorism, which we feel is a global problem,’’ Singh added.
