News Analysis |
Abdul Qadeer Baloch, a Baloch human rights activist, yesterday, on an Indian News channel, CNN-News 18, claimed that Jadhav was a businessman, and was kidnapped in Iran and has been convicted by Pakistan without any solid evidence. The activist also offered his support and said he would be willing to provide witnesses to this effect for Jadhav in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He claimed that an Iranian cleric, Mullah Omer Balochi Irani had kidnapped Jadhav from Iran and sold him for 40-50 million rupees to the ISI.
read more: Kulbhashan Jadhav had also planned attack on Pakistani Consulate in Zahedan
CNN-News18 Exclusive | Mullah Umar was paid 4-5 crore for kidnapping Jadhav. We’ve heard about it. From Iran he was brought to Mashkel, then he was taken to Quetta, from Quetta, he was taken to Islamabad: Mama Qadeer | @manojkumargupta @zakka_jacob #FaceoffAt9 |#JadhavKidnapTruth pic.twitter.com/UsdeKDNNJI
— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 18, 2018
Baloch told the CNN-18 Anchor, that ‘Jadhav was abducted from Chabahar by Mullah Omer, later moved to Mashkel, Iran, where he was handed over the border to the ISI authorities for Rs4-5 crores. Jadhav was moved to Quetta and from there to Islamabad, according to Baloch. He testified to Jadhav’s innocence and said that he was not captured when in Balochistan.
Baloch claimed that the source of his information is the organization ‘Voice for Missing Balochs’ — of which he is the Vice President — who he claimed witnessed the kidnapping.
“When he (Jadhav) was brought to Balochistan, the news spread about his kidnapping. When our coordinators tried to investigate, no one had any information about his alleged work in Balochistan. Whenever there is any kidnapping or murder, our coordinators inform us and we update our list. So, when our coordinators investigated, we got to know that he had never been to Balochistan. We have one coordinator in 28 districts with Baloch presence. No coordinator, no Balochi has ever seen him in Balochistan,”
However, despite one statement saying that ‘his coordinators had no clue about he whereabouts and his doings’ he went on to say that “A double door car was hired and Kulbhushan Jadhav was blindfolded, his hands were tied and he was kidnapped from Chabahar in Iran.”
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Abdul Qadeer Baloch, also known as Mama Qadeer, is a Baloch rights activist. He rose to prominence in 2013, when he traveled 2000kms on foot from Quetta to Islamabad, along with a number of other Baloch men and women to protest against Baloch missing persons. At the time he blamed the armed forces for the abduction of Baloch missing persons. On the missing persons issue: the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances head Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal stated in October 2017, that Mama Qadeer and his organization could not provide any evidence to back their claims of missing persons. In fact, he claimed the 25,000 figure bandied around by Mama Qadeer was ‘highly exaggerated’.
Abdul Qadeer Baloch has assured the Indian channel, that he’ll testify in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), he didn’t present any evidence to back any of his claims.
The apparent purpose of calling Baloch on Indian television appears to be the appeasement of Indian Public and to get channel ratings. It is unlikely that it will make any difference to the Jadhav case in the international court.
Kulbushan Jadhav is an Indian spy, was captured March 2016 in Balochistan. He has confessed to being a RAW spy and working on projects to disrupt peace in Balochistan and Karachi. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a military court on 10th April 2017, but India approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and his execution was stayed.
Jadhav was allowed to meet his family on Christmas Eve, as a humanitarian gesture by Pakistan, but it sparked even further hostility between the two nations because Indian government accused Pakistan of mistreating his family, after they were asked to change their clothes and shoes, which is standard procedure to ensure no untoward material is being carried. During investigation Jadhav revealed that he provided financial and logistic support to Baloch separatists and the ISIS network in Karachi.
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He also established a network of operatives, provided funds, and smuggled people inside Pakistan for the purpose of terrorism. The then DG ISPR Asim Bajwa confirmed that Jadhav’s goal was to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through propaganda and also to create disharmony among the Baloch nationalist political parties. Jadhav also purchased multiple boats in Chabahar, Iran to target ports in Karachi and Gwadar.
There was a huge outrage in India as a result of The Quint’s article.
The testimony of Abdul Qadeer Baloch on the news channel has little weight apart from ratings value for Indian channels. His allegations lacked any coherence and evidence.
Jadhav has confessed to his crimes on multiple occasions, in his last video message, he even showed frustration at the Indian authorities for not owning him as their own. Indian online news website, The Quint, published an article on 5th January 2018 in which two ex-RAW officers confessed that Jadhav was actually an Indian spy and lamented hiring an incompetent person like him for espionage.
The article was taken down by website within minutes of posting it, the editor, Chandan Nandy, who wrote the article, has been missing ever since. The Indian constitution protects the freedom of speech and freedom of press of every individual, however under the right wing Modi government; numerous journalists have been targeted for their ‘anti’ nationalist views.
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The Indian media, authorities and public were not pleased with the article on ‘The Quint’. It was observed by the immediate retraction of the article from The Quint’s website. Media outlets in India attacked The Quint for being unpatriotic and siding with the enemy. There was huge outrage in India as a result of The Quint’s article.
The testimony of Abdul Qadeer Baloch on the news channel has little weight apart from ratings value for Indian channels. His allegations lacked any coherence and evidence. The apparent purpose of calling Baloch on Indian television appears to be the appeasement of the Indian Public and to get channel ratings. It is unlikely that it will make any difference to the Jadhav case in the international court. However, channel CNN-18 has said that India’s External Affair Ministry has sought the transcript of Qadeer Baloch’s interview.