Hindu Vivek Kendra
A RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE PROMOTION OF HINDUTVA
   
 
 
«« Back
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.
    



Back                          Top

«« Back
 
 
 
  Search Articles
 
  Special Annoucements