VP Naidu calls out Pak over 'inhuman' behaviour towards Jadhav's kin

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday described the Pakistani authorities' behaviour towards former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife as "inhuman" and said that the act has hurt the sentiments of the Indians.

The Vice President made this remark while interacting with 17-member faculty and students from Harvard, Stanford and MIT of the USA.

"The way they (Pakistan) handled Jadhav family was inhuman. They did not allow his mother to speak in Marathi. They asked his wife to remove her bindi, bangles and asked to change their clothes, which is very pious as per Indian culture. So Indian's are very hurt," he said.

During the 40 minute interaction, Vice President Naidu elaborated and responded to queries on India's strengths, opportunities and challenges besides its emergence as a global power.

He said that India seeks peace in the region for the benefit of all the countries but some are adopting a different approach.

The Vice President said that the Indian voters have shown great maturity from time to time while casting their votes as was evident in their fierce defence of personal freedoms by voting against the 'Emergency' in 1977.

He observed that after long years of single-party rule at the Centre, India transited through coalition governments till the people gave an absolute majority to the present Government in 2014.

"India faces the challenges of inequality, rural-urban divide, unemployment, border issues, poverty and illiteracy. The ruling and opposition parties need to work together with shared perspectives for further strengthening parliamentary democracy " Vice President Naidu said.

He stated that the mood of the young and aspirational India is in favour of 'development and reforms' and the ruling government has taken several initiatives in this regard.

Responding to a query on India's role in global politics vis-a-vis some leading countries, the vice president stated that as one of the oldest civilisations which accounted for 27 percent of world's GDP before foreign invasions, India never believed in hegemony and only would like to harness its potential as an economic power-house that benefits the people of India and other countries as well.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Pakistan disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's family, who met him on Monday in Islamabad.

The wife and the mother of Jadhav were asked to remove mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire for "security" reasons.

After the meeting, Jadhav's mother and wife were also harassed in heavily guarded foreign ministry office by Pakistani journalists.