Kashmir is known to be one of the most controversial territorial disputes between India and Pakistan, and both sides have a special sentiments reserved for Kashmir. Both the countries are unwilling to give up Kashmir, and the fight over it has persisted ever since the partition in 1947.....
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The ‘Missing' Kashmir – Outraged Indians – Image:
The registerKashmir is known to be one of the most controversial territorial disputes between India and Pakistan, and both sides have a special sentiments reserved for Kashmir. Both the countries are unwilling to give up Kashmir, and the fight over it has persisted ever since the partition in 1947.
The issue was revisited recently, when CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the launch of his new initiative, ‘internet.org'. The infographic posted by Mark Zuckerberg sparked immediate outrage in India, since the map of India it showed did not include Kashmir.
The initiative of ‘internet.org' is to connect the whole world via the internet. In order to do so, internet connections will be provided all over the world, even in underdeveloped countries and remote areas. But, clearly, the good cause Zuckerberg had set out for, ironically, appeared sinister to some. As soon as the infographic post was updated, Zuckerberg was bombarded with hate comments on Facebook as well as Twitter.
The first person to notice the problematic map of India was AkhilDev, who comment on the post saying,
‘Great Job, Please correct the Indian MAP on this Picture, Kashmir is missing,'
Following this, people from all over India began commenting on the post and demanded for it to be changed.
Some even posted their own version of the infrographic post, showing India as a part of Kashmir. After the constant backlash on the post, Mark Zurkerberg finally removed it. However, this did not put an end to the hate.
Amidst this criticism, some people were seen to attempt to rationalize the map of India posted by Facebook; they pointed out that the infographic showed only the parts of India which are controlled by the Government of India, and Kashmir is not one of these areas. However, not much heed was paid to these comments and people continued to criticize Zuckerberg for his perceived wrong intent.
It is not the first time Kashmir has been excluded from the map of India. Recently, while Prime Minister Nahrendra Modi was on his visit to China, the local Chinese news channel excluded Kashmir in a map showed on the news.
Some people on the social media were seen pointing out the irony that while India and Pakistan fight over the territory, the people of Kashmir continue to suffer at the hands of the forces deployed in the area.
At several instances, they have voiced their barely heard opinions about not wanted to be controlled by either government and demanding autonomy. While small issues continue to spark the conflict between the two countries, there seems to be no solution anywhere in the near future.
Like Le Peng put it, "As a historical legacy, the Kashmir conflict has been an outstanding issue for more than half a century."