International news channel Al Jazeera was taken off the air on Wednesday by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for five days for repeatedly showing wrong maps of India. The channel in India showed a blue screen on Wednesday with a sign saying “As instructed by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, this channel will not be available until April 27”.
According to sources in the Ministry, the order was issued earlier this month, as the map of India showing Kashmir in some of the telecasts by the channel in 2013 and 2014 was incorrect. They accused the broadcaster of “cartographic aggression”. The maps show the region of Kashmir as divided between Pakistan, India and China. Maps approved by the Indian Government on the other hand show the entire State as lying within Indian control. “This is an extremely sensitive issue in the country,” they said . The matter was then referred to Surveyor General of India (SGI).
The SGI had observed that in some of the maps displayed by Al Jazeera, “a portion of Indian territory of Jammu & Kashmir (i.e. PoK and Aksai Chin) has not been shown as a part of Indian territory.” The channel also did not show lakshadweep and Andaman Islands in some of the maps, the SGI said.
The SGI also said that the maps were not in accordance with the Survey of India copyright map and is also against the National Map policy, 2005 and map restriction policy issued by Ministry of Defence from time to time. The Ministry of External Affairs also pointed out similar airing of a wrong map by the channel. The five-day ban was on instructions of an inter-ministerial committee, also comprising of representatives from Ministry of External Affairs that took cognisance of the incorrect map of India.