Chronicle of a Death Foretold

India would have to strike a compromise with Pakistan for the release of former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.

- Namrata Biji Ahuja and Niranjan Takle

In his early 20s,when Kulbhushan Jadhav was com-missioned into the Indian Navy, one of the first to know about it was his best friend Tulsidas Pawar. They had recently gone on trips to Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan with their friends. Now, Jadhav was leaving and Pawar wanted to start his own business. Their days together had come to an end.

Some years later, when Jadhav went to Lower Parel in Mumbai to meet his old friends, he told Pawar about his own plans to start a business. After retiring from the Navy as commander in 2001, Jadhav apparently set up a cargo business in Iran’s port city of Chabahar.

About 15 years later, on March 3, 2016, Pakistan said it had detained Jadhav, 46, and that he was using his business as a cover for working as a spy for India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW). In the past 12 months,New Delhi submitted 13 note verbales to Islamabad seeking consular access, which would be the first step in establishing his identity and providing him legal aid. It was not granted.

On April 10 this year, Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said Jadhav had been given the death sentence in a secret trial for “espionage” and “sabotage” in Balochistan and Karachi. Pakistan also produced a passport of a Hussein Mubarak Patel, which Jadhav had allegedly obtained from Pune in 2003.

When the news broke, Pawar was heartbroken. He took to the streets, telling everyone that his friend was innocent. Soon, many voices across the country joined his. “Kulbhushan’s business plans were not sudden or new,” said Pawar. “He had discussed it with me and had even said that I could join him. Then, he went to sea and slowly we became engrossed in our lives. I run a footwear business today. Jadhav got married and, within a few years, they moved to Powai.”