New Delhi: From standing for half-an-hour for Kashmir, to now forcing news channels to run an incorrect map of Pakistan that shows Jammu and Kashmir as its own territory, Imran Khan is back living his “Kashmir moment”.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has mandated all news channels in the country to show the so-called political map of Pakistan for two seconds before running the 9 pm news bulletin.
The new map of Pakistan was unveiled by Prime Minister Imran Khan in August last year, on the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370. It shows the entire territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the erstwhile princely state of Junagadh as territories of Pakistan and refers to J&K as ‘Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’.
In 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan had appealed Pakistani citizens to stand in solidarity of Kashmir between 12 and 12:30 pm on Fridays.
The latest directive has made Pakistanis on Twitter shame the government for being “insecure” and they are sharing “Kashmir Banega Pakistan” memes.
The microblogging site has classified some of the user content on Kashmir maps as “Funny tweets”.
Twitter's suggestion to me in funny tweet ?? tap and see full screenshot at top ??? pic.twitter.com/kslU09UtZf
— Pravin Suthar ?? (@Pravin24377581) November 9, 2021
Fazil Jamili, President, Karachi Press Club, asked, “Why not national anthem? and asking public to stand before watching the bulletin?”. Journalist Asad Ali Toor slammed the government for “continuing the circus” and “cheating Pakistanis by such jokes”.
Toor further said, “And the circus continues.. We lost #Kaahmir to India, not even able to get support from Muslim world for Kashmir no OIC summit on Kashmir…we failed Kashmiris and but still cheating Pakistanis by such jokes!”
Mapping the country in new dimensions: Govt mandates all tv channels to flash the map of Pakistan for 2 seconds before airing the news bulletin at 9.00 pm on regular basis. Why not national anthem? and asking public to stand before watching the bulletin? pic.twitter.com/lS9MOUQfch
— Fazil Jamili (@faziljamili) November 7, 2021
And the circus continues.. We lost #Kaahmir to India, not even able to get support from Muslim world for Kashmir no OIC summit on Kashmir.. we failed Kashmiris and but still cheating Pakistanis by such jokes! https://t.co/MWq3u5pbID
— Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) November 8, 2021
Another Twitter user pointed out that the Pakistan government has deliberately invisibilised Ladakh and left the “eastern border open for China” to avoid upsetting their “Cheeni master”.
Signifies open mouth, willing to accept any baksheesh from the Cheeni master
— BharatVarsh (@HarfanMaullah) November 8, 2021
An account by the name ‘PTI President London Official’ praised PM Khan for “proving his standing as the human rights ambassador of people in Kashmir”.
With the official approval of new map of Pakistan and recent orders of PEMRA, the Prime Minister has once again proved his standing as the human rights ambassador of our people in Kashmir. We as a nation are always right beside our brothers in Kashmir.https://t.co/T8rMLqoDGm
— PTI President London Official (@wurmian) November 8, 2021
Abu Minhas, who calls himself an ordinary citizen, said the “new political map essentially asserts #Pakistan’s longstanding position on #Kashmir and Sir Creek disputes.”
Thr new political map, essentially asserts #Pakistan 's longstanding position on #Kashmir and Sir Creek disputes. PM Imran Khan, while introducing the map at a ceremony, had said the map reflected the national aspiration and supported principled stance on the Kashmir dispute.
— Ayub Minhas (@daribaalam) November 8, 2021
While Geo News report said the map “included Indian-occupied Kashmir in its entirety”, Dawn said “The map clearly identifies occupied Kashmir as a “disputed territory” and states that the final status will be decided in line with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions”.
Speaking about how the country’s new map illegally claims Indian territories as theirs, Pakistani journalist Arzoo Kazmi said, “If this is how border disputes can be solved and you can make these regions yours, then PM Khan should mark Canada, Palestine, and Europe as its territories on the map. We won’t need to go beg for loans from these countries then.”
Edited by Anurag Chaubey