The opposition parties have been accusing the government of 'secretly' facilitating Indian spy agency RAW operative Kulbhushan Jadhav, handed death penalty by a military court martial for fomenting sabotage and terrorism in Balochistan and Karachi. They were at it again on Wednesday when the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Law and Justice discussed a government bill seeking review of Jadhav's conviction. It was approved by a majority vote but not before the committee members representing the PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F offered it stiff resistance.
Raising a collective objection PPP's Syed Naveed Qamar said that through this legislation the government was trying to give Jadhav relief of appeal against the sentence of a military court, which is not available even to Pakistani citizens, adding "this is tantamount to giving an NRO [compromise deal] to an Indian spy, and we oppose this bill."
The opposition leaders surely know better than that. Civilians (militants) convicted by military courts have had, and actually used, the right to go into appeal before civilian courts. More to the point, the purpose of the proposed legislation is to fulfill Pakistan's obligations towards the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It may be recalled that soon after Jadhav was tried and sentenced to death under the Pakistan Army Act - along a similar practice in his country - India went to the ICJ with the request that it annul the military court's verdict. That specific request was not entertained, but Pakistan was asked to provide, by means of its own choosing, "effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence." There is no such pathway for foreigners in the existing laws. Hence to comply with the ICJ verdict, the government first promulgated the "ICJ Review and Reconsideration Ordinance, 2020" that allowed foreigners, their authorized representatives, or consular officers of the mission of their country to seek a review by a high court, of conviction and sentence awarded by military courts in instances in which the ICJ has ruled about their rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963. Now, the new bill covers the same issue.
The "review and reconsideration" case at present before the Islamabad High Court provides a rare opportunity to Pakistan to expose India as a sponsor of terrorism. As per his confessional statement, Jadhav was sent to Pakistan "to hold meetings with Baloch insurgents and carry out activities with their collaboration. These activities have been of a criminal nature, leading to killing or maiming of Pakistan citizens." No wonder, he has refused to file a review petition against his conviction and sentence deciding instead to pursue a pending mercy petition. By the same token, India has been using lame excuses not to defend its man in open proceedings in a civilian court for all, including international observers, to see and form an impartial opinion. Good sense suggests the opposition leaders support the government move to unmask India's nefarious activities in this country, and stop misleading public opinion at least on an issue that concerns the security and stability of this country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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