Washington: Indian Americans and some Pakistanis come together in Washington DC to protest outside the Pakistani embassy with symbolic shoes. What united these two seemingly disparate groups to protest against Pakistan under the slogan 'ChappalChorPakistan', or 'shoe-stealing Pakistan'? The Indian-Americans were protesting Islamabad's treatment of the family members of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who's on death row in Pakistan. Authorities there humiliated and intimidated Jadhav's wife and mother on their Christmas day visit with him. They even confiscated the footwear of Jadhav's wife claiming that it had a camera and a chip in it.
The protesting Pakistanis, who are exiles from the restive Balochistan province of their country, were protesting the same issue, to draw attention to how Balochis are treated in their country. Baloch exiles, and even those Balochis still living in Pakistan, have for long alleged the Pakistani state's brutal treatment of them - forced 'disappearances' and rapes being the gravest of charges against both the government and the Pakistani army.
"(Like) when they stole the chappal of a woman who was in distress, I hope they use these also," said one protester, pointing to the used shoes 'donated' to Islamabad that were lined up outside the Pakistan embassy. "I want to say one thing - Pakistan ka matlab kya? Amreeka (America) se dollar la, Hindustan ke joote kha!", the protester added. That means: "What does Pakistan stand for? Take dollars from America and face the wrath of India."
Protesters slammed the behaviour of Pakistani officials toward Jadhav's wife and his mother and said it showed the "narrow-mindedness" of the country. "Pakistan's narrow-mindedness was exposed with how they treated Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife. What policy makers and people here need to understand is that Pakistan as a whole is also being run with the same narrow-minded mentality," said another protester, seeking to draw the attention of US policymakers.
Meanwhile, the US, which considers Pakistan a 'major non-NATO ally', has in the last week taken firm action against Pakistan, not on the Jadhav issue, but for what it says is Pakistan's inaction on terror and its provision of safe havens for terrorists. Last week, Washington suspended about $2 billion in security aid to Pakistan for failing to clamp down on the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network terror groups and for doing nothing to dismantle their safe havens.
