The human bait in pakistan

The human bait in pakistan

The fate of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the death row prisoner in Islamabad, has become the subject of a fierce contest between India and Pakistan. Pakistan’s Deep State has hit back after suffering a reverse: the International Court of Justice directed Pakistan not to carry out the death penalty till India’s appeal was disposed of. It has used Jadhav as bait to stir passions in India, and has nearly succeeded. It arm-twisted a disinclined India — which suspected precisely such a trap — to permit Jadhav’s wife and mother to travel to Islamabad. Once there, Pakistan’s officials were demonstratively brusque and discourteous to the two ladies. The message to street-corner rabble-rousers in India has gone home.

The Jadhav case is cause célèbre in India now. Pakistan’s security establishment has been tormented and has longed to even the score ever since South Block, including PM Modi from the Red Fort, publicly introduced Balochistan into the palette of Indo-Pak contestations. The government’s incessant talking up of the surgical strikes and the competition over Afghanistan, coupled with its grievances over the Uri and Pathankot strikes, have led to a diplomatic cul de sac. Rawalpindi can now be depended upon to constantly bring into play the Jadhav case to counter Indian pressure to address the “safe havens” issue as well as ensure continuing hostility.

Though South Block has contrived to write off other choices of resolving the Jadhav case by insisting on dialogue only on its terms — its Ambassador was reduced to the ranks of spectators when the mulakat took place. Yet, India cannot allow the destiny of its citizen to be held hostage to cat-and-mouse inter-state rivalry. The Modi government holds a contrastive notion of civil society and has consciously shrunk its space. In the absence of alternative tools at its disposal, New Delhi needs to explore the alternative of mediation by civil social institutions. Sarabjit was let off the death row because of the exertions of an Aziz Burney-led civil society and the much-belaboured human rights wallahs in Pakistan. This option need not be considered an incongruity but an independent supplement of the state’s efforts to rescue Jadhav.

Courtesy : The Tribune Editorial