‘Death cannot sway me’: Jadhav told pleading mother

• Metallic object in the shoe of Jadhav’s wife is under examination 

ISLAMABAD: It was an emotional-laden atmosphere when the mother and son saw each other after a lapse of over a year. But the occasion was a sombre one, as a mother had come a long way to see her son on death row, with a little hope for survival.

It was a meeting between Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and his mother Avanti Jadhav in a makeshift container at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Islamabad. Chetankul Jadhav, the ill-fated wife, was also present among others, while Fareeha Bugti, an officer of the MoFA, was also present at some distance.

An anonymous source privy to the minutes of the meeting told Pakistan Today, the emotional mother in the last hope urged her son Jadhav to retract his confessional statement and plead ‘not guilty’ to the authorities. “Rest, the Indian government will manage and it will win the case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as well,” murmured ageing Avanti.

Jadhav nodded in disapproval, saying, “No, mother, I am an officer of the Indian navy. I am not trained to tell lies in order to save my skin. I am trained to speak the truth whether I am hanged.”

He went on to tell his mother that he had done whatever he had been tasked by his superiors.

“I have done this for my country. I can take lives and can even sacrifice my own life for the cause of the country. But I won’t tell lies just to save my life,” said Jadhav, which left her mother broke into sobs, so did Chetankul.

WIFE’S SHOE UNDER SCRUTINY:

Asked to comment why the shoes and other ornaments of the women were removed, the official said it was a standard operating procedure (SoP) for high-value targets.

“During the scanning, the machine beeped which cautioned the staff and after a thorough search, the scanner reflected a metallic object in the shoes of the lady [Jadhav’s wife]. Upon which, the officials scanned the shoes thrice and found out that the metallic object was placed inside one of the shoes.

The metallic object is under examination and an official statement will be made once the final report is produced, the source added.

Moreover, the official disclosed that the officials had decided to call off the meeting suspecting security breach, but then they decided to go with the decision and allowed the meeting as a goodwill gesture.

“If the protocol was followed, this meeting should have been cancelled there and then. But not only the meeting went ahead, it was also extended for fifteen minutes at the request of the mother of Jadhav,” the official said.

Asked to comment on the allegations of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs about the mistreatment of the spy’s family, the official termed it “a ploy to fool the domestic audience of India”.

“If there was any mistreatment, why the women expressed gratitude to Pakistani officials at least on three occasions for arranging the meeting? Why Indian allegations surfaced after a lapse of 24 hours. It is perhaps an afterthought aimed at taking away credit from Pakistan,” the source speculated.