Pakistan Army kept Kulbhushan Jadhav trial secret

New Delhi: The trust deficit between Pakistan’s security establishment, primarily the Army as well as the ISI, and the country’s political leadership can be gauged from the fact that the former kept the process of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav’s trial completely secret and flagged it to the government only once the process was nearing completion. A Pakistani military court had recently sentenced Mr Jadhav to death, claiming that he was a spy for India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and had carried out subversive activities in Karachi and Baluchistan.

This aspect has been highlighted in a recent report prepared by R&AW on the Jadhav episode and forwarded to some key security agencies. According to the report, details of which have been accessed by this newspaper, “The Pakistani security establishment was apprehensive that information on Jadhav’s trial could get leaked from some political functionaries in the government. So, they maintained complete secrecy on the trial and informed the government only once the process was in the final stages.”

Pakistan has consistently denied India consular access to Mr Jadhav and has not provided any information about his whereabouts or his health condition. The report has also raised “serious doubts” on whether Mr Jadhav was provided a lawyer or a chance to defend himself. Incidentally, the death sentence was confirmed by Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa after the court found Mr Jadhav guilty.

India has already lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over the manner in which Mr Jadhav’s trial was conducted. The government has reiterated its commitment of doing everything possible to help Mr Jadhav, but its efforts are being strongly resisted by Pakistan’s security establishment.

The R&AW report also says that Mr Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran by some “subversive outfits being backed by Pak ISI”. Union home minister Rajnath Singh had already informed the Parliament during the recently-concluded session that Mr Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran. While punching loopholes in Pakistan theory, the home minister had told Parliament, “Pakistan had informed the media that Jadhav was caught with a valid Indian passport. I wonder which spy travels carrying a genuine passport with him.”

Meanwhile, intelligence agencies are trying to ascertain the location where Mr Jadhav is being confined by the Pakistani security establishment, as well as his health condition. “The manner in which the Pakistan Army and the ISI handled the Jadhav issue shows that they don’t trust their own government or leadership. They maintained complete secrecy over his trial and are doing the same even now by keeping his exact location under wraps,” a senior intelligence official said.