Ashraf Qazi calls Sethi ‘treacherous’
NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s high commissioner to India defended the controversial arrest of journalist Najam Sethi, in an interview published on Monday, saying Sethi betrayed his nation on India’s soil.
“Although his speech wasn’t critical, it was cynical … In my view, it’s contemptible, it’s treacherous in the sense that it’s a great let-down,” envoy Ashraf Jehangir Qazi told Outlook magazine, an Indian weekly.
Ashraf said he thought Sethi’s speech suggested that there was little need for India to be engaged in discussions on peace and trade with Pakistan. “An eminent journalist comes and suggests that Pakistan is barely going to make it to the 21st century. What message are you conveying to your Indian audience?” the envoy said. “You are confirming their (India’s) deepest reservations, also suggesting that there’s little need to be engaged in extremely difficult negotiations with a country that is not going to be around for very long,” he added.
Sethi was arrested after the Pakistan high commissioner sent a report to his government criticising his role and speech. “My report was in response to my extreme disappointment with his presentation, which I saw as no contribution to India-Pakistan relations, no service to Pakistan,” he said. He denied that his report said Sethi had links with Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). “There is no mention in my report of his being a RAW agent. There may be other evidence – he is being investigated for much more than just the speech … I have no personal knowledge of whether he is a RAW agent, I have made no observation on that,” the envoy said. – Reuters
Source: The News
Date:5/25/1999
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