The Congress kicked up a controversy on Saturday after it described Jammu and Kashmir as “Indian occupied Kashmir” in a booklet it published that talks about the failures of three years of the Narendra Modi government, reported ANI. The book was released at a press conference in Lucknow which was attended by Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Raj Babbar.
On the 12th page of the 15-page booklet, Aanch, a wrong map of Kashmir was published labelling the state as “Indian-occupied Kashmir”. The page talks about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project and its consequences for India.
The Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the gaffe and demanded an apology from the party. “Is Congress speaking the language of Pakistan?” Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, according to PTI. “By projecting Kashmir as India-occupied Kashmir the Congress party has not only made separatists happy but also gladdened the heart of its patrons across the border.”
Meanwhile, he Congress said the gaffe was a “printing error”. “However, we should have taken caution, we have committed a grave mistake,” Congress leader Ajay Maken said. “We will ensure that such type of errors are not repeated.”
However, Maken said the BJP had committed a similar mistake in 2014 when it displayed the same map on its website. “The difference is that we apologise for our mistake immediately,” Maken said. “Till now they have not apologised.”
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