British MP calls for action against BBC for showing 'distorted' Map of India
Nirpal Singh Shergill
London, January 19, 2021: Virendra Sharma MP, Ealing - Southall( UK ), has written to the BBC Director-General urging action on a deeply insulting map published by the BBC World Service. The map in question shows an incomplete India without the integral state of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the letter MP Virendra Sharma who also chairs of the Parliamentary Group on India said: "To represent Jammu and Kashmir as anything less than Indian is deeply insulting to millions of Indians living here in the UK and India. The BBC World Service is a fantastic resource, an amazing part of our soft-power and a real force for good around the world, this record is under threat if the World Service is perceived as partisan and ‘anti-India’ as is currently being asserted online. As a member of the International Development Select Committee, I have seen the great work the World Service can do, I do not want to see that put at risk."
Asking the Director-General to take immediate action to withdraw the map and prevent this from happening again Virendra Sharma, stressed the immediate change.
Virendra further said: "That this graphic is withdrawn and republished with correct boundaries, and that action is taken to prevent this happening again. I would also like to know what editorial guidelines exist on this, and for you to ensure that they
represent the situation fairly and responsibly with Jammu and Kashmir as a fundamental and integral part of India."