Pakistani newspaper slammed for cartoon mocking Imran Khan, apologises
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Pakistani newspaper slammed for cartoon mocking Imran Khan, apologises

The cartoon showing Imran Khan pulling a carriage with US President Donald Trump and PM Modi sitting on it was slammed on Twitter.

   

The cartoon that was later retracted by The Nation | Twitter

New Delhi: A cartoon published in Pakistani newspaper The Nation has sparked a controversy for its depiction of Prime Minister Imran Khan, seen pulling a carriage with US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sitting in it.

Readers criticised the publication, saying the cartoon was in bad taste and that it mocked Khan. The cartoon, published on 25 September, also depicts Trump dangling a carrot in front of Khan, meant to be symbolic of the US president’s mediation offer.

Many readers pointed out their objections were for how the criticism of Khan was depicted, and not the criticism itself.

Following the backlash, The Nation issued an apology, which comes ahead of PM Khan’s address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The publication said the cartoon did fall short of their “standards” and doesn’t reflect its “editorial policy”. The statement went on to reiterate that the artwork was “inappropriate”.

Speaking to the media after the meeting with Khan, Trump had said, “If I can help, I would certainly do. It will be dependent on both of these gentlemen (Modi and Khan), one without the other doesn’t work if you’re going to do mediation or if you’re going to do an arbitration.” Trump has offered to mediate on several occasions in the last seven weeks.

Khan has been trying to pressurise the international community to intervene in the Kashmir issue after the Modi government scrapped Article 370 and divided the regions of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh into two union territories. Pakistan even downgraded diplomatic ties with India. New Delhi, however, has maintained that Kashmir is an internal issue and any conversation with Pakistan can only occur after the issue of terrorism is addressed.


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