Nothing humane about Jadhav's meeting with family: Sushma
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said the meeting between alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav and his mother and wife lacked "humanity" and "goodwill" accusing Pakistan of conducting it as a "propaganda exercise" and "an opportunity to exploit the situation".
Sushma Swaraj was making a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the December 25 meeting between death row inmate Jadhav and his wife Chetankul and mother Avanti.
The Minister met Jadhav's wife and mother after they returned from Pakistan and spoke to Avanti again on Thursday morning.
Sushma Swaraj condemned the way the Pakistani authorities allowed the meeting at the Foreign Office in Islamabad and asked them to change their clothes and shoes, and remove bangles and even their "mangalsutras".
"The first thing that Kulbhushan asked his mother was 'what happened to father' after he saw no mangalsutra on his mother.
"The manner in which the meeting was organised was appalling. Their clothes, shoes, bangles and even their mangalsutras were taken away. Their human rights were violated again and again, and an environment of fear was created for them," Sushma Swaraj said, a day after Opposition members expressed outrage over the treatment meted out to Jadhav's family.
The Minister said the meeting between a mother and her son, a wife and her husband "after going through so much was turned into an exercise of propaganda and an opportunity to exploit the situation.
"The family wished to meet Jadhav and we arranged for it. Even Pakistan agreed for it this month (December). This could have been a step forward for both countries, but this wasn't to be."
She said it was absurd on behalf of Pakistan to suggest there was a mystery chip or camera or recording device planted inside Kulbhushan's wife's shoes. "It is an absurdity beyond measure."
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RJD surprise element in J’khand polls, party candidates leading in 5 of 6 assembly seats
Ranchi(PTI): The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has emerged as a surprise element in the Jharkhand assembly elections with its candidates leading in five of the six seats where the party is contesting, according to trends available on the Election Commission's website on Saturday.
RJD candidates in five assembly seats were leading over sitting BJP legislators.
In 2019, RJD had secured only the Chatra seat where its nominee Satyanand Bhokta won.
In Deoghar, RJD’s Suresh Paswan was leading by 19,581 votes over his nearest rival and BJP's sitting MLA Narayan Das after the third round of counting.
RJD’s Sanjay Prasad Yadav was ahead by 19,867 votes in Godda over BJP MLA Amit Kumar Mandal after the sixth round of counting.
In Koderma, RJD nominee Subhash Prasad Yadav, who was out on bail, was leading by a margin of 3,471 votes over BJP’s sitting legislator Neera Yadav.
Subhas Prasad Yadav, considered to be one of the close aides of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case.
Party’s Naresh Prasad Singh was leading by 5,159 votes after the fourth round of counting over BJP’s Bishrampur MLA Ramchandra Chandravanshi.
RJD's Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav was also leading from Hussainabad by 8,213 votes after the fourth round of counting over BJP MLA Kamlesh Kumar Singh.
Party’s candidate Rashmi Prakash, however, was trailing from Chatra by 3,776 votes.
Bhokta did not contest the elections this time, and his daughter-in-law Prakash was given a ticket.
