Al-Jazeera to be taken off air for showing wrong India map
Reuters
Al-Jazeera
said that all maps that are displayed by them are generated by an
internationally-known software used by Global News Providers. (Picture
shows the logo of Al-Jazeera America.)The channel also did not show Lakshadweep and Andaman Islands in some of the maps.
An inter-ministerial committee of the Information and Broadcasting ministry has found that Al-Jazeera
channel violated the programme code by showing wrong maps of India on
repeated occasions and recommended that it be taken off air for five
days.
According to sources, it had come to the notice
of the I&B ministry that on repeated occasions the channel had
showed a wrong map of India in some of its broadcasts in 2013 and 2014,
after which the matter was referred to the Surveyor General of India
(SGI).
According to an order issued by the ministry
on April 10, the SGI observed that the maps displayed by the TV channel
were shown wrongly. The SGI said that a portion of Indian territory has
not been shown as a part of Indian territory in some of the maps while
the territorial boundary of India is not shown with clarity and proper
shape in another map. The channel also did not show Lakshadweep and
Andaman Islands in some of the maps, it said.
The
Ministry of External Affairs also pointed out a similar airing of a
wrong map on July 2, 2014 by the channel. The I&B ministry had
issued a show-cause notice to the channel on August 21 last year.
In their reply, Al-Jazeera
said that all maps that are displayed by them are generated by an
internationally-known software used by Global News Providers. The
channel also added that it takes the Indian government’s concerns about
maps very seriously and accordingly reviews all its India and Pakistan
maps to ensure compatibility with recent official U.N. map.
As
per the order of the I&B ministry, the Inter-Ministerial Committee
(IMC) which was also attended by representatives of the MEA, after
deliberations, held that the channel had clearly violated the provisions
of the programme code and recommended to prohibit transmission or
re-transmission of the channel throughout India for five days.
When
contacted, a senior official confirmed that the IMC had recommended
prohibition of transmission or re-transmission of the channel for five
days and said further action will be taken as per norms.
An e-mail sent to the channel seeking its comments remained unanswered.
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