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Microsoft’s Kashmir map prompts online confrontation

Daily Times Monitoring

Certain Indian extremists in the United States have launched a campaign to protest against an alleged error in India’s map published in the Microsoft MapPoint 2002 software.

The software depicts Kashmir as a disputed territory, as it should be done in accordance with the United Nations’ description.

However, Indian extremists are requesting thousands of online signatures at a website (), in order to pressurise Microsoft to withdraw its software from the market and ‘fix’ the Kashmir map according to the Indian version, which insists Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India.

The website is also demanding that the phrase ‘Indian Kashmir’, used to describe the disputed region, be removed.

India’s assertion that Kashmir is part of its sovereign territory and that Pakistan is actually making incursions into this area is not supported by the United Nations. Kashmir map on the UN’s website () shows the region as a disputed one. A group of Pakistanis has also launched a website to counter the Indians’ signatures campaign. They are urging Pakistanis to sign their online campaign at to thank the Microsoft team for not heeding the Indian pressure and for adopting the Kashmir map endorsed by the United Nations.

The website says Kashmir belongs neither to Pakistan, nor to India, and its future must be decided by the people of Kashmir themselves. It adds that Microsoft’s choice to publish a map that is close to the UN position must be appreciated. It urges surfers to participate in the campaign to help Microsoft resist the Indian propaganda.

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