We have known this for a while now. About how the Indian journalists and ISI work together and even help each other with a certain narrative. A lot of journalists from India would frequent the jaunts organized by the ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai.

How they – the Indian journalists – twist the narrative in India has been on show after Pulwama Attack very clearly. But one could have never imagined that Pakistan, the chicken that it is, would resort to newspaper articles for its defense in front of the World court!

When its request for adjournment of the hearings at International Court of Justice (ICJ) was thrown out – on the grounds of indisposed ad-hoc judge, Pakistan, probably shivering after the strong offense from Harish Salve the day before, resorted to something unbelievable!

It started using newspaper articles written by dubious writers in India to prove that Kulbhushan Jadhav was an ISI agent.

Qureshi also gave an electronic presentation in the world court and presented excerpts from Indian journalists’ Karan Thapar and Parween Swami’s reports published in April 2017 and January 2018.

This is Pakistan’s defense!

It used an article from – who else – Karan Thapar! Isn’t that odd?

In the #InternationalCourtofJustice the #Pakistan lawyer accusing #KulbhushanJadhav ,

uses #KaranThappar article on 21st April in the @IndianExpress to show #KulbhushanJadhav was a RAW agent ! — Tehseen Poonawalla (@tehseenp) February 19, 2019

And Chandan Nandy.

They (#Pakistan)

are also using an article by Chandan Nandy on @TheQuint on 5th Jan 2018 to establish again #KulbhushanJadhav was a RAW agent . So Qureshi using articles to prove #KulbhushanJadhav was a RAW agent … https://t.co/66mhwC1kUt — Tehseen Poonawalla (@tehseenp) February 19, 2019

Harish Salve not just went on to demolish the whole narrative that Pakistan was building but also the fact that his trial was done by a military court. In those courts, one does not even need a law degree!

Harish Salve representing Kulbhushan Jadhav in International Court of Justice: I would invite this court to keep in mind the relief to be granted in the backdrop of the fact that his trial has been conducted by a military court pic.twitter.com/0gM8obyP8d — ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2019

How Karan Thapar batted for ISI

Every country uses spies. And in that business, there are things that are done which do not apply to ordinary people. Like having passports, documents of different identities. The facts of Kulbhushan Jadhav are that he was in Chabahar. Whether he was a spy or a businessman is irrelevant. The fact is that he was in Chabahar, from where he was abducted by Jaish u-Adl terrorists and handed over to Pakistan.

Further, he was tortured and made to record statements that were doctored. Even worse was the treatment that his mother was meted when she went to meet him. They were not allowed to be close physically. And she was mistreated.

These are the facts.

But what does Karan Thapar focus on? That Kulbhushan had two passports and two identities. His only source of information is other newspaper articles. A whole web of articles by dubious sources planted in Indian media is used by Karan Thapar to paint a picture of Kulbhushan Jadhav that matches exactly what the ISI wanted.

He starts off by saying:

I’m not sure who Kulbhushan Jadhav is, or how he came to be in Pakistan, but my curiosity has been aroused and I’ve tried to read as widely as I can to find the answers.

Well, THAT is the first step isn’t it? Who he is and HOW he ended up in Pakistan? There were reports in the papers about how he was abducted by Jaish ul-Adl which Karan Thapar conveniently ignored or did not want to cite.

He then discusses the two passport theory.

First, why does Jadhav have two passports, one in his own name and another in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel? According to The Indian Express, the second passport was originally issued in 2003 and renewed in 2014. The passport numbers are E6934766 and L9630722. When asked, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson would only say that India needs access to Jadhav before he could answer.

Well, its not as if there were no answers. Rahul Kanwal did get answers. And his answers pointed to something else completely!

One of the big loopholes in Pakistan’s allegations is the claim that Kulbhushan was carrying an Indian passport in the name of Mumbai resident Hussain Mubarak Patel. India’s intelligence czars argue that no specially trained field agent can be so silly so as to carry a passport which links him back to his native country if he is entering hostile territory. If Yadav was a RAW agent, would it not have been very easy for him to carry Pakistani identity papers instead of running the risk of getting caught with an Indian passport. Sources say this claim by Pakistan is by itself proof of the fact that Yadav was an Indian businessman who was transacting bonafide business activities in Iran’s Chabahar rather than an undercover agent.

Remember this whole “two passport” theory was the narrative of the Pakistani ISI, not the real deal! The Indian media sanctified it by running it differently in different papers and then Thapar gives it his blessing while sounding mystified and winking at the obvious facts before him!

On the other hand, there were many inconsistencies in the story that Pakistanis have been presenting. Of course, in that country the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand carries. So, here is the mystery of their arguments.

The Home Minister of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, Sarfaraz Bugti, first announced that Yadav was picked up from Chaman. But in the Pakistan army’s press conference on Tuesday, the Director General of the Inter Services Public Relations General Asim Bajwa, announced that Yadav was picked up from Saravan. Now, Chaman is the eastern most extremity of Balochistan and is near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Whereas, Saravan is south-east of Zahidan and is near the Pakistan-Iran border. Chaman is 873 kilometres from Saravan by road. This is a major inconsistency in the claim made by Pakistan’s agencies.

But what is Karan Thapar obsessed with? The classic whataboutery arguments. What about the other Indians. Why Jadhav?

If Pakistan did abduct Jadhav, don’t we need to ask why? Doesn’t that raise the question of what was so special about him that made them do this? After all, there are 4,000 Indians in Iran — and no one else has been abducted.

Well, because he had a background in Indian forces which is something that these Pakistanis or their jehadi flunkies may have found out! Is that too hard to understand?

Then he goes on to cite other dubious newspaper articles which carry the talking points from the ISI narrative to ask absolutely silly questions built on alternative facts. No one has endorsed those facts. There is no proof that any of these things happened. But, for Thapar, these are gospel.

Third, both The Indian Express and Asian Age suggest that Jadhav has links with the Pakistani drug baron Uzair Baloch. Did he play dirty with him and get caught in a revenge trap set by the drug mafia? Given that Jadhav was arrested a month after Baloch, this could be part of the explanation.

Now, Karan Thapar in his hurry to suck upto the ISI masters, even paints a fake picture of the person he alleges Kulbhushan Jadhav was working with.

Uzair Baloch is not a drug lord. He was, as per the Pakistanis (which isn’t saying much when it comes to credibility around the world) a criminal. A war lord!

He was with the militant arm of the Pakistan’s People Party (PPP) – which was Benazir Bhutto’s party!

Now, the funny thing is that the whole story of Uzair Baloch and his links with Kulbhushan Jadhav is nothing short of asinine. It does not make any sense.

This is what a Firstpost report says.

According to reports, Uzair was earlier arrested by personnel of Pakistan Rangers outside Karachi in January 2016 in a “raid.” Uzair’s arrest was a controversial one, this Dawn reportsaid, because more than a year after Uzair’s arrest in Dubai by Interpol, he mysteriously surfaced in Karachi, only to be caught by Rangers in their so-called targeted action.

So, Uzair Baloch was first arrested in 2015 in Dubai by interpol and then re-arrested in January 2016 in Karachi. Right? Remember the dates. And this “rearrest” business is something a bit too convenient! As if they took him out of their jail and publicly “rearrested” him in Karachi, after interpol had arrested him a year back in Dubai!! Funny how you Pakistanis keep recycling their prisoners – political ones at that – so conveniently and our journalists, like the idiots that they are take the second (not even mention the first!) arrest so very seriously!! Go figure!!

Now to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Jadhav, who was arrested from Balochistan, reportedly entered the region from Iran in March 2016.

That he was “arrested from Balochistan” is Pakistani narrative. But even as per their narrative, he was picked up in March 2016!! A time when Uzair Baloch was in jail twice over!!

So now go back to Thapar’s narrative – “Did he play dirty with him and get caught in a revenge trap set by the drug mafia? Given that Jadhav was arrested a month after Baloch, this could be part of the explanation”

Thapar forgets that Baloch was already IN custody in 2015!!

You see, the ISI was trying to target two birds with one stone – Baloch and India. And this is the narrative they set forth. And, their Indian sepoys – like Karan Thapar happily picked these bits and pieces up to dish out a narrative full of half-truths built on other media articles which were UNSUBSTANTIATED!

And, guess what? It is his article which is now being cited at the International Court of Justice by Pakistan to counter India.

Bravo, Thapar, way to suck up to your masters! You really do deserve a special bonus from ISI Chief Munir!