India must teach Pakistan a harsh lesson for harassing Kulbhushan Jadhav's family
Pakistan has displayed its worst conduct and most deplorable side by insulting the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is currently facing death row in Pakistan on charges of alleged spying.
On an auspicious day like Christmas, Pakistani authorities not only strip-searched Jadhav's wife and mother and made the wife remove her mangalsutra and hairpins, but also didn't allow the mother to speak to her son in their mother tongue, Marathi. Such scant respect for an elderly woman speaks volumes about the decaying Pakistani society that seems to be bereft of all humanitarian norms and elementary ethics.
This apart, the media and general public were also spurred by the authorities at the entrance of the prison to boo the aged woman and her daughter-in-law, using the most unpleasant words to hurt the feelings of the family members who are already under enormous trauma.
Such condemnable acts demonstrate blatant violation of basic human rights by each segment of a perverse state like Pakistan, be it the military, the media, the general public, civil administration or the political leadership. It's yet to be seen if any social activist or human rights' champion in the neighbouring country come forward and castigate the Pakistani authorities for such an inhuman act.
Pakistan mustn't forget that in the wake of 1971 war with India - leading to its dismemberment and creation of Bangladesh - 93,000 Pakistani troops meekly surrendered before India, and India ensured that all prisoners of war (POWs) were treated in accordance with humanitarian norms. They all returned unharmed, unscathed and intact. Notwithstanding the Geneva Conventions, the Indian society, political leadership and everyone else rose above parochial thoughts and treated the POWs with respect. Their crimes against humanity in Bangladesh, perpetrated in terms of genocide, mass rapes and multiple heinous acts went condoned. That's the strength of Indian culture and ethos.
Pakistan, On the other hand, reeling under compulsory amnesia, has always acted in the most-abusive manner. Indian soldiers caught alive after the Kargil war were tortured in the most-cruel form. What's more, even dead bodies were not spared the grotesque physical abuse by the Pakistani military. Imagine merely 28 years after their decisive defeat, they could still resort to such inhuman acts.
Both the military and the society in Pakistan seem to have forgotten about ethics and code of conduct. No wonder, it's being labelled as a rogue state and a country awaiting slow and steady process of disintegration. All arguments, elucidated above, are reinforced with the latest incident. Jadhav's mother and wife were subjected to undesirable and avoidable acts.
In hindsight, we now feel that Pakistani-bashers in India were, and are, possibly justified when they say Pakistan deserves a quid pro quo treatment howsoever harsh it may seem.
"An eye for an eye" or "a tooth for a tooth" retaliatory measure is perhaps the prevailing sentiment among the majority of Indians. If the Indian military or the government will go for it in cases involving a Pakistani on charges of espionage or act of terror, has to be watched closely.
Conversely, it's hard to believe that until 1947, it was part of India. Same people and largely the same culture, but what led this part of fragmented India to become so different? And different in a negative sense. Defeat of Pakistan in the hands of India in the successive wars - Kashmir in 1947-48, 1965 and 1971 and misadventure in Kargil has not taught Pakistan any lesson.
Time has now come to burst it's balloon of incorrigibility. Back-channel talks or track two diplomacy does not seem to be working. Is a military option viable? Or a covert operation? Let's leave it to our military hawks and thinkers. But there has to be a visible action against Pakistan.
I have attended multiple international meets as a security hand where Pakistani representatives were also present. I have never seen a harmonious Pakistan team either by appearance, or by actions or gestures. Their attitude has always been acrimonious and hostile even on routine professional interactions. The mindset has always been negative and offensive, also undiplomatic.
To share an anecdote, in 1988 during a SAARC summit in Pakistan, we were allotted a car and an old driver, Iqbal. He was warm and friendly, and we too warmed up to him. While driving us through Islamabad, he generally enquired about his childhood friend whom he lost after Partition and if we could find out about him. The infamous ISI who was shadowing us, grew suspicious and, the next day, Iqbal was removed from the roster and admonished for "cosying up to" the visiting Indians. Some of his fellow drivers confided that Iqbal was subjected to sustained interrogation. We were disheartened and requested the Pakistani foreign ministry officials to re-detail Iqbal with us. The officials of the foreign ministry, supposedly diplomats, used the most undiplomatic and unparliamentary language while dismissing our request.
The same mindset exists even today vis-a-vis Indians, as was visible in the case of Jadhav's mother and wife.
Another incident in the same year during a separate visit to Pakistan is worth recalling. A special protection group ( SPG) team was flown in an IAF plane, Gajraj (IL-76), commandeered by legendary pilot, then a group captain, Anand Bewoor. Pakistan had, by then, not seen an IL-76 aircraft landing on its soil. I could see the line-up by a number of Islamabad airport officials to have a view of the mighty Gajaraj.
A week later, after the SAARC summit was over, Bewoor came back to pick up the SPG team. The Pakistani civil aviation authorities requested me to tell the pilot (Bewoor) to taxi the plane on tarmac up to a considerable distance and then take-off. Their plea was based on the fact that last time when the plane took-off, it had impacted the Pakistani Fokker F-27 friendship aircrafts parked in and out of the hangars that went topsy-turvy. I told Bewoor, but he didn't yield to the requests and when Gajraj took-off with a deafening noise, I could see those planes unsettling with profound impact of the Indian IL-76, almost flinging in the air. I and my colleagues derived immense pleasure in watching such a pleasant sight. Perhaps an average Indian wants to experience that kind of delight after the unfortunate handling of Kulbhushan Jhadav's mother and wife.
We have, in India, dedicated military leaders and very committed armed forces. With Indians now seething with anger over the Jhadav family episode, the sentiments deserve to be respected with a display of our military might. Time is most opportune now, like it were on multiple occasions in the past including the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001.
Our policy-makers know better in their own wisdom and judgement yet ordinary Indians are deeply hurt by the latest incident. It's hoped we resort to some effective measure to salvage our prestige. The era of pacifists seems to have passed their prime. It's action and only action that appears to be the solution.