archive: Ad propaganda war over Kargil flares up in UK
Ad propaganda war over Kargil flares up in UK
IANS
The Navhind Times
July 16, 1999
Title: Ad propaganda war over Kargil flares up in UK
Author: IANS
Publication: The Navhind Times
Date: July 16, 1999
A full-page advertisement in The Times on "Pakistan's rogue army" has
set off an-other furious round in the propaganda war between Indian
and Pakistani groups in Britain.
The advertisement in The Times was similar to the one taken out in
American news-papers by The India League. It condemned Pakistan's
repeated aggression against India in Kashmir and held it responsible
for backing "fundamentalist terrorists operating in many parts of the
world."
The advertisement sets out in brief Pakistan's "five-decades long
legacy of lies and lawless-ness," beginning with its invasion of
Kashmir in 1947. It was published after The Times made sure of the
veracity of its contents, according to members of The India League
which put out the advertisement.
A flood of complaints has already poured into The India League office
in London. Members of The India League have challenged complainants
to an open debate on the subject.
The former leader of the' Labour Party, Mr Michael Foot, who has had a
long association with The India League, is reported to he willing to
engage in an open debate in defence of the advertisement, members of
the league said.
But the counter-campaign has begun. The Pakistani newspaper Jang, in
its London edition, published the address of the Advertising Standards
Authority (ASA) in a report condemning the advertisement in The
Times. The address was a clear invitation to its readers to flood the
offices of the ASA with complaints over the advertisement.
A spokesman for the ASA said, however, that there is no law to stop
the freedom of political expression. He said the ASA would
investigate complaints only if what was presented as fact in the
advertisement was in fact a lie.
Several Pakistani groups plan to pursue complaints before the ASA and
beyond. "If they do not listen and take action, we will go to the
courts," Mr Irfan Malik from an umbrella group of Kashmiri separatists
told IANS. "And we will take to the streets if we have to."
Pakistani groups have taken out two street demonstrations already. A
large group took out a rally to Downing Street in support of the
Kargil invasion. Another group held an angry protest outside the US
embassy to protest the peace deal between the Pakistani Prime
Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif and the US President, Mr Bill Clinton, in
Washington. The group described it as a sellout and a betrayal.
Pakistani groups are expected to have a harder time of it going to the
courts. The advertisement in the American newspapers was published by
The India League in London, but the one in the British news-papers was
placed by the league with an address in Delhi. That is expected to
create difficulties for anyone contemplating legal action against the
league.
Pakistanis are now targetting media baron, Mr Rupert Murdoch, for
betraying Pakistan to secure TV rights in India. But Pakistani
leaders here say there is little they can do to hurt Mr Murdoch's
interests.
Mr Malik said his group would launch a move among Pakistanis to
boycott news-papers like The Times and Sun, owned by Mr Murdoch. But
he admitted that such a campaign is unlikely to hurt Mr Murdoch much,
even if it succeeds.
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