The videos of Kulbhushan Jadhav’s family being harangued by the Pakistani news media were cringe worthy. This is the kind of stuff in bad shows, when you you want to show the media in bad light. Where paparazzi and TV journalists, shed all modicum of human decency, to turn into those who provide salacious gossip and innuendo to their audiences waiting to lap it up.
And, the stories that emerged from the meeting, a visibly battered Kulbhushan Jadhav, his wife, and mother; the glass wall that separated them; the hostility of the local media; the crowing of the Pakistani foreign office that they had performed a humanitarian act, in letting Jadhav’s family meet him on Jinnah’s birthday; and the Indian External Affairs Ministry’s terse statement; one couldn’t help but think of similar staged meetings in the erstwhile Soviet Union, or even modern China. The photo opportunity that simultaneously conveys magnanimity and strength to a domestic audience.
That Pakistan is going through turmoil is not in question.
Yet another manufactured crisis in Pakistan with a hard-line religious group at its core; the country’s political capital, Islamabad, cut off for over a fortnight from its twin military capital, Rawalpindi. The people laying siege are not too far from military GHQ. A whiff of grapeshot and they would have dispersed like rabbits. But the demonstrators were confident. The leaders were actually hoping for a few martyrs. The government did not oblige. Yesterday it capitulated in toto to the demands of the TLY, the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (Movement to Obey the Prophet), a group set up two years ago in Karachi.
It is the nth churn, since the state was born. Various strongmen are trying their best to stake claim to controlling the country. And, each of them pulling all stops to try and The Indian Government has blundered into this. Never known for subtlety, and terrible at understanding duplicity, the Indian Government has time and again blundered into losing the perception battle with Pakistan. This entire Khulbhushand Jadhav episode was no exception.
Under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded. This included removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security. (ministry of external affairs statement)
Accompanied by the the Deputy High Commissioner, and other diplomats, the two ladies were literally pawns in the great game. The Indian side outplayed at every stage:
Deputy High Commissioner was initially separated from family members who were taken to the meeting without informing him. The meeting was started without his presence and he could join only after pressing the matter with concerned officials. Even then, he was kept behind an additional partition that did not allow him access to the meeting as agreed. (ministry of external affairs statement)
Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy Officer, was kidnapped from Iran, where he was working near the Chabahar Port. Pakistan claims he is a spy causing trouble in Baluchistan. India denies the claims. Pakistan tried him for espionage, and sentenced him to death. India is appealing this decision in the International courts.
Knowing the way the Pakistani ecosystem works, the Indian Government should have known better than to exposed family members of Jadhav to danger. Also, from Pakistan’s point of view they have got what they wanted. A ‘humanitarian’ gesture – they can crow about internationally. A show of power, that they can display, internally – humiliating Indian citizens in such a context, is humiliating India.
“The Indian baseless allegations and twists, that come 24 hours later, about the visit of the wife and mother of Commander Jadhav, a convicted terrorist and spy, who has confessed to his crimes, are categorically rejected,” Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a statement issued here.
“We do not wish to indulge in a meaningless battle of words. Our openness and transparency belies these allegations,” the statement added.
The Spokesperson said if Indian concerns were serious, the guests or the Indian DHC should have raised them during the visit, with the media, which was readily available, but at a safe distance, as requested by India.
“The fact is that Cdr. Jadhav’s mother publicly thanked Pakistan for the humanitarian gesture. This was recorded by the media. Nothing more needs to be said,” the statement concluded
The question is what did India get? How did India benefit? or even how did Kulbhushan Jadhav benefit. If his death sentence is commuted, or he is released, one can look at this episode and maybe say – it was worth it. But, i am not sure that will happen. We have been played once more, by a Pakistani ecosystem that does not want peace. Because peace would mean that they have to sort out their feudal internal issues. A state of hostility benefits the Pakistani power centres, because it helps them to divert the attention of a population from their own messed up economy, society, and crumbling state; and divert the attention to the enemy outside.
This Government of India, for all it’s claims of following Indian traditions, has failed to understand the most basic of all ancient texts on the art of politics – the arthashastra. One may suggest that they read it, not as words on paper, but a philosophy that is to be practised.
