The issue of wrong maps of India being circulated on the internet was raised by BJP MP Tarun Vijay in the Rajy... Read More

NEW DELHI: The issue of wrong maps of India being circulated on the internet was raised by BJP MP Tarun Vijay in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The BJP leader said the India is under cartographic attack by Microsoft and other American companies who he accused of using truncated Indian maps which show entire Kashmir in Pakistan and Aksai Chin in China.

"The maps thus available on the internet are used by our people ignorantly and offend the sentiments of people. They are illegal and anti-Indian. Why is the government silent on the issue? Google's US and European sites show the truncated map of India. Why does it not hurt us?" he said in the Upper House.

Tarun Vijay also demanded boycott of these companies and strict action against them; the demand received support from many other parties.

In April, international news channel Al Jazeera was forced to go off air in India for five days as the government penalized it for repeatedly showing wrong maps of the country.

In December last year, a case was registered against Google Maps for alleged wrong depiction of India's international boundaries following a complaint by the Survey of India. Survey of India is country's national survey and mapping organisation under the department of Science and Technology.

Displaying incorrect map of India is an offence under section 69-A of Information Technology Act, 2000.