Author: Y Siva Sankar
in Bombay
Publication: Rediff
Date: August 24, 2000
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.
