In a heartwarming gesture that can be described as a fitting tribute to the former External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj who passed away recently, her daughter Bansuri has fulfilled her mother’s last promise. Hours before her demise, the former External Affairs Minister and BJP stalwart, Sushma Swaraj had a conversation with Harish Salve asking him to collect his fee of Re. 1 for representing India in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Last month, Salve had spoken about the emotional conversation. He had said, “I spoke to her at 8:50 pm. It was a very emotional conversation…. She said ‘You have to come and meet me. I have to give you your one rupee for the case which you won’. I said ‘of course I have to come collect that precious fee’. She said come tomorrow at 6 o’clock.”
Kulbhushan Jadhav, an ex naval officer was abducted near the Iran Pakistan border, by March 2016, by the Taliban terrorists, who sold him to Pakistani intelligence at Balochistan, after which he was incarcerated presumably in Karachi, and sentenced to death within three months of the proceedings being opened in the military courts, on charges of espionage, throwing all legal proceedings to the wind. Senior Advocate Hairsh Salve represented India as the matter was taken to the ICJ after Pakistan passed an unlawful death sentence against Jadhav. Salve secured a huge victory for India at the ICJ.
On Friday, late Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri visited the senior Advocate and handed him a coin of Re. 1, the nominal fee that Salve charged for representing India. The senior lawyer reportedly charges Rs. 30 lakh for a day otherwise. Swaraj Kaushal, former Mizoram Governor and the husband of the late Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, “Your daughter Bansuri has fulfilled your last wish today. She has presented Rs. 1 fee to Harish Salve in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case, which you had left.”
This gesture indeed reflects upon how former Foreign Minister, Sushma Swaraj, remained concerned and dedicated towards protecting and furthering India’s interests till her last breath. She remained invested in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case till her last moments. Due to health reasons, she had not contested the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year. However, she had made it clear that she was not retiring from politics. True to her words, she remained invested in issues of national importance. Even in her last tweet she had thanked PM Modi over abrogation of Article 370. She had tweeted, “Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime,” hours before her demise.
प्रधान मंत्री जी – आपका हार्दिक अभिनन्दन. मैं अपने जीवन में इस दिन को देखने की प्रतीक्षा कर रही थी. @narendramodi ji – Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime.
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 6, 2019
It is this sheer dedication towards the national cause due to which the entire nation shock had gone into mourning on the unfateful day of her sudden demise. Her legacy is the legacy of complete commitment to the nation’s cause and as such it will go on to live forever. In fact, the huge vacuum which her sad demise has created remains hard to fill.