Baloch leaders condemn Pak for sentencing Kulbhushan Jadhav to death

Dubai/Frankfurt [UAE/Germany], Apr. 13 (ANI): Baloch leaders have condemned Pakistan for sentencing Indian citizen Kulbhushan Jadhav to death. Dubbing the death sentence given to Jadhav as 'inhuman and illegal', Baloch Republican Party (BRP) member Ashraf Sherjan said that Pakistan is committing a crime by giving a death sentence order to Jadhav. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do everything to save Jadhav's life. Sherjan said Pakistan is indulging in a fake propaganda by stating that Jadhav is connected to Balochistan. "No spies can take their national ID card and work as a spy with spy agencies but Pakistan is doing this to label Kulbushan Yadav involved in Balochistan activities Iis totally a fake propaganda," he said. Sherjan said Pakistan should bring Jadhav to the international court if he is guilty and connected to any terrorism activity in Balochistan. He added that Pakistan by itself does not have any right to give death sentences to an Indian citizen, or for that matter to any foreign citizen. "Just last month, Pakistan tried via Interpol Brahamdagh Khan Bugti which totally failed then later few weeks ago when Abdul Bugti was delivering his speech at UN, Pakistan and China both tried to stop him and over there also Pakistan failed," he said. "So, all Pakistan's attempts on Baloch leaders are failing now and they have now brought Kulbhushan Jadhav who is an innocent Indian citizen. So that's why I'm requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and rest of the Indian leaders to save the life of Kulbhushan Jadhav," he added. Meanwhile, representative of Balochistan at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Mehran Marri called the death sentence given to Jadhav as 'extra judicial killing' and a 'premeditated murder'. He said Pakistan has been carrying out pre-meditative murder and extra judicial killing in Balochistan for 70 years with full impunity. "Pakistan is forgetting that Jadhav is not a Baloch, he is from India, he has is got a backing of a very strong country and India will give befitting reply to Pakistan," he said. Marri appreciated the comment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy, who had said if Pakistan takes such measures then India should recognise Balochistan as an independent sovereign country. "We thank him for that comment and hope he follows through what he has said," he added. Jadhav was arrested in March last year, "for his involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan," according to a statement released by the Pakistan armed forces. The statement said Jadhav confessed that he was tasked by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to "plan, coordinate and organize espionage/sabotage activities aiming to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan." A military court in Pakistan earlier this week found Jadhav guilty on two counts of espionage and sentenced him to death. India has strongly objected to the sentencing, saying consular officials were denied access to Jadhav during his trial. External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj had on Tuesday issued a stern warning to Pakistan, saying that Islamabad should be wary of taking such an extreme step as it could result in damaging the bilateral relations between the already hostile neighbors and vowed to go "out of the way" to save Jadhav amid an outrage in this country.(ANI)