NEW DELHI: India has expressed its resentment against Twitter for showing geo-location of Leh in ‘Jammu and Kashmir, People’s Republic of China’. Ajay Sawhney, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and IT has written a letter to Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, conveying the strong disapproval of the Indian government over misrepresentation of the map of India.
As per sources, in the letter, the Secretary of Electronics and IT ministry has asked to Twitter to respect the sensitivities of Indian citizens and emphasized that any attempt by Twitter to disrespect the sovereignty and integrity of India, which is also reflected by the maps, is totally unacceptable. The Indian government representative has also said in his letter that it is unlawful to do so. Giving a stern warning to Twitter, Sawhney has pointed out that such an incident brings disrepute to Twitter but and raises questions about its neutrality and fairness. Secretary IT has categorically stated that Leh is headquartered of the Union Territory of Ladakh and both Ladakh as well as Jammu and Kashmir are integral and inalienable parts of India governed by the Constitution of India.
National Security Analyst Nitin Gokhale who highlighted the outrageous discrepancy said, “The government has written a letter now after I pointed out the anomaly. It is high time that Twitter fixes all the problems. On Sunday they showed Leh as part of China and on Monday they showed Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir which is incorrect. Leh is now part of UT of Ladakh. I don’t know if Twitter has taken a step to that point because if they haven’t then this amounts to Twitter disregarding the government’s decision to reorganize J&K into UTs. If nothing else, the government should impose a hefty penalty for violating Indian laws. I hope the Government’s letter mentions all this fact.”
On October 18, Twitter came under fire again for displaying Jammu-Kashmir’s Leh as a part of ‘People’s Republic of China’. National Security Analyst Nitin Gokhale who was live on Twitter near Leh airport, noticed that his location was displaying as ‘Jammu and Kashmir, People’s Republic of China’. This anomaly was raised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) chairman Kanchan Gupta to Twitter India, stating that it was not an ‘isolated incident’, but that several netizens who were logging online faced the same issue.
Taking to Twitter, Gokhale had narrated, “This morning, I was live on Twitter along with Rohit Pandita to apprise people of my journey to Ladakh from Himachal Pradesh via a new road. After we finished our broadcast, to our horror, we found that the location we had put of our location of the War Memorial, Hall of Fame – a famous landmark in Leh came as Jammu and Kashmir, the People’s Republic of China. I apprised Twitter by tagging them, expecting them to take action, but except for anger from people of India, nothing happened.”
He added, “We tried again by doing an experimental live with a different broadcast, but again the same results came up. Even now if you go live in areas near Leh airport, Leh’s Hall of fame, it shows as ‘J&K, People’s Republic of China’. I do not know why this is happening, but it is my duty to inform you about it.”
— Nitin A. Gokhale (@nitingokhale) October 18, 2020
