International media forced to show Kashmir part of India
India forces international media organizations to show Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan parts of Indiaur
LAHORE: (Dunya News) – International media is being forced by India to show Kashmir and Gligit-Baltistan areas as parts of India as the Indian government threatened to sue those not complying with the ‘directions’. However, Pakistan has so far been extremely lenient on the matter and its government has completely failed to counter this move by the Indian government.
Indian governments, whether from Congress or BJP, have always believed in Hindutva. Not only has India left no stone unturned to show Kashmir as its integral part on every forum but has also forced the international media to show the disputed areas as its parts.
When the English news magazine based in London, The Economist, showed Kashmir as a disputed area, it was forced to tender an explanation. Al-Jazeera’s transmissions were also banned for five days for showing the same map. Google also succumbed to Indian pressure and started showing Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, K2 and Nanga Parbat as parts of India. Similarly, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was also forced to remove the post from his page that showed Indian map without Kashmir. In 2015 also, Queensland University was forced to apologise for showing Azad Kashmir’s map upon Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
Moreover, Whatsapp and Uber were also pressurised to do the same. Even the Chinese state television showed Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as parts of India. Not only this, in order to pressurise the international institutions, India has also threatened to get the organisations punished that wouldn’t show Kashmir as a part of India. The Indian government also made a law according to which not showing Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as parts of India will be punishable.
The worst thing is that the international websites and news channels that are viewed in Pakistan will also be showing Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir as parts of India. However, Pakistani government officials didn’t take any notice of whatever the Indians were doing. Foreign Ministry didn’t do anything other than issuing a notice while Information Ministry also kept mum. Pakistan neither countered the move nor did it make the international institutions realise that Kashmir was a disputed region according to United Nations (UN), and that it couldn’t be shown a part of India under any condition.
How will India’s aggression and Pakistan’s lukewarm attitude affect the 69-year-old Kashmir issue, will only be seen in the days to come.
