PM Modi must intervene to ensure Kulbhushan Jadhav's release: Mayawati

Expressing concern over the death sentence given to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by the military court in Pakistan, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on 11 April  urged the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene into the matter and ensure his release.

"It is very serious issue that Pakistan has given death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav. The Government of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene and save him," Mayawati told the media here.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that the Centre must not take this issue lightly.

"The Central Government and the Prime Minister must take this matter very seriously and make all efforts to save Jadhav," she added.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that the Indian High Commission in Islamabad was not even informed about Jadhav's trial in the court.

The MEA added that the subsequent presence of Jadhav, who was kidnapped last year from Iran, has never been explained credibly by the Pakistani authorities.

"The proceedings that have led to the sentence against Jadhav are farcical in the absence of any credible evidence against him. Senior Pakistani figures have themselves cast doubt about the adequacy of the evidence," an official release stated.

"The claim in the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) release that Jadhav was provided with a defending officer during the so-called trial is clearly absurd in the circumstances," it added.

The MEA said the Indian Government, through its High Commission in Islamabad, repeatedly sought consular access to Jadhav, as provided for by the international law.

"Requests to that effect were formally made 13 times between March 25, 2016 and March 31, 2017. This was not permitted by the Pakistani authorities," the statement said.

"If this sentence against an Indian citizen, awarded without observing basic norms of law and justice, is carried out, the Government and people of India will regard it as a case of premeditated murder," the statement added.

India yesterday summoned Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit and issued a demarche against Pakistani military court for awarding death sentence to Jadhav.

-ANI