In Its Booklet Criticising Modi Government, Congress Labels J&K State As ‘Indian-Occupied Kashmir’

In what seemed to be a major goof-up, the Congress Party on Sunday handed out booklets at its press conference in Lucknow with a map of India that shows Kashmir and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir labelled as "Indian-Occupied Kashmir".

The booklet, released by Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress in Lucknow on the occasion of the third anniversary of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the centre, attacks the administration over national security, including the handling of Kashmir. Congress leader Raj Babbar and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad were present at the press conference.

Under the section security, the booklet displayed a map where the Kashmir state was labeled as 'Indian-occupied Kashmir' while explaining about the challenges faced by India with the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

On its part, the Congress party has apologised for the "big mistake", and said it was a "printing error". It, however, claimed the BJP had released a similar map on its website in 2014 but never admitted its mistake and apologised.

"This is a printing error. This was our responsibility. Such mistakes will never be repeated. Unlike BJP, we are a party which can seek apology if there are any mistakes," Congress leader Ajay Maken told ANI.

Reacting to the incident, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "It is not only regrettable but shocking that a senior Congress leader like Azad is projecting a map of Kashmir where it is described as Indian-occupied Kashmir”.

With inputs from ANI