Treatment given to Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan is justified: SP leader Naresh Agarwal

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal has sparked a row with his statement on former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan. The Rajya Sabha member has justified the treatment meted out to Jadhav and his family members, who recently went to Pakistan to meet the jailed Indian.

Justifying Pakistan’s stand on Jadhav, Agarwal said that since the neighbouring country considers the former Naval officer a terrorist, it is bound to treat him like one.

Firing another salvo, the Uttar Pradesh leader suggested that India must also treat terrorists in similar manner.

“If they have considered Kulbhushan Jadhav as a terrorist in their country, then they will behave in that manner itself. Even we should treat terrorists in similar manner, in a stern manner,” said Agarwal.

#WATCH: "Agar unhone (Pakistan) #KulbhushanJadhav ko aatankwadi apne desh mein mana hai, to wo uss hisaab se vyavhaar karenge; humare desh mein bhi aatankwadiyon ke saath aisa hi vyavhaar karna chahiye, kada vyavhar karna chahiye" says Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal pic.twitter.com/owm0DJ8xGd

— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

He also targeted the media over raking up the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying, “I don’t understand why the media is talking only about Kulbhushan Jadhav. There are hundreds of Indians languishing in jails in Pakistan. It is beyond my understanding why we don’t talk about all of them.”

He added, “Any country is free follow its own policy with regard to treatment of terrorists.”

The statement by the Samajwadi Party leader comes amid the ongoing tussle between India and Pakistan over the visit of Jadhav’s mother and wife to the neighbouring country to meet him.

India has reacted angrily over the issue, accusing Pakistan of violating all understandings between the two countries over the meeting between Jadhav and his family.

The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement on Tuesday saying, “Pakistani side conducted the meeting in a manner which violated the letter and spirit of our understandings.”

The Indian government raised its objection on Jadhav’s mother not being allowed to speak in her mother tongue, adding that “cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded”.

“For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Shri Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard,” the MEA statement added.

Reacting to the statement, Pakistan gave a bizarre explanation saying there was “something in the shoe”. Dawn News quoted Pakistan officials as saying that the shoes were confiscated on security grounds of containing something ‘metallic’ and were being examined.

Meanwhile, the issue also rocked Parliament on Wednesday with the opposition demanding that the government should make efforts to bring Jadhav back. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in Lok Sabha that she would make a statement on the issue on Thursday.