The Government on Friday said it will probe into the matter of the publication of a map showing Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of Pakistan in RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ after it drew the ire of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The Opposition sought to know if the BJP and RSS support it to which the Government said neither of the two outfits supports it. Raising the matter during Zero Hour, leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said a map published in the ‘Organiser’ depicted Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of Pakistan. “Jammu & Kashmir is the crown of India and numerous sacrifices have been made to maintain it as the crown,” he said.
Observing that the BJP and RSS have been in the forefront of protests whenever a foreign magazine showed PoK as part of Pakistan, Azad wanted to know from the Government if it approved of the ‘Organiser’ map. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India and “we will investigate” the article in ‘Organiser’. He also said this is “not the view of the Sangh, neither the BJP’s and nor that of the Government”.
However, the Congress members were not satisfied by Prasad’s clarification. Satyavrat Chaturvedi asked the Government what action it proposes to take against the publication or the author. Associating himself with Azad’s assertion, Ramgopal Yadav (SP) said let the Government come forward and say it will take action against the magazine. Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said the Minister has made a categorical statement that Jammu & Kashmir is part of India and nobody can change it.