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Global media blitz planned to expose Pak role in Kashmir

Y Siva Sankar in Bombay

As the countdown for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to the United States in September nears zero, a group of Indian citizens has taken upon itself "the task of exposing Pakistan's reprehensible role in Jammu and Kashmir" to the world in general and the US in particular.

Calling itself the People of India, the group is set to unleash a global-scale media blitz about the "reality in Kashmir". The group is seeking to create "the right atmosphere in the US for the Indian PM's visit".

Full-page colour advertisements are being sought to be published in leading publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Times (London), The Straits Times (Singapore), The Bangkok Post, The Jerusalem Post, The Japan Times, The Sunday Times (London), The International Herald Tribune, the Economist, Time, Newsweek, The Financial Times and BusinessWeek.

The advertisements will project the theme 'Jehad for Pakistan, Agony for India' and portray peace-loving India's patience even in the face increasing casualties on its side in J&K. "How much will be too much for India? You tell us," the group says in its appeal to Indians.

Also in the pipeline are advertisements in French, German, Swedish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Finnish, Turkish, Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Bengali, Korean, Norwegian, Thai, Sinhalese and Arabic. These will be complemented with campaigns in cyberspace via an exclusive Web site, agonyofindia.com and chain e-mails.

Funds for the campaign are being raised from Indians the world over, through voluntary contributions.

"For long, Pakistan has been indulging in negative propaganda about India on the J&K issue. Truth has been often distorted and projected. Now we will show what determined, patriotic Indian citizens can do," a member of the group told rediff.com

The full-page advertisements quote the utterances of Pakistan's Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf, at various times (including on August 14, Pakistan's Independence Day), to drive home the point that "he himself admits Pakistan is a state sponsor of terrorism in J&K".

It is learnt The Financial Times (London) has expressed reservations about publishing the advertisement. "We shall prevail. World-renowned personalities and influential, well-connected Indians are supporters of the group," the source said.

The group had unleashed a similar media blitz during the Kargil battle in 1999. "Even then, some publications turned cautious because they perceived political overtones in the campaign. After we reasoned, all of them ultimately published the ads," the source said. Then, the campaign focused on the "atrocities committed by the Pakistan army" which was labelled "rogue army". A Web site, roguearmyout.com was launched.

"That's how every politician in India had come to demand that Pakistan be declared a 'rogue state'," the source claimed.

Leading ad agencies have been hired in New York and other major cities of the world to handle the latest campaign in multiple languages. "We expect that Indians the world over would respond to the campaign. Not only that. Indians master foreign languages spoken in the regions they live in outside India. So we expect that they would help us to sharpen the ad's copy further," the source said.

RELATED SITES

agonyofindia.com

roguearmyout.com

Core issue, my goat: Pakistani columnist Ayaz Amir on the Kashmir issue in Dawn

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