By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: BJP did it again. Guess what? It is another instance of blatant misuse of photo of a secular organization by the party for the propagation of its communal ideology. This time, it used ANHAD’s photo without its permission in its “Kashmir Bachao Divas” ad.
The BJP lifted illegally a photograph of an ANHAD demonstration on Kashmir issue,held on July 8, 2010 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, and misused it in its advertisement on “Kashmir Bachao Divas” in the Indian Express on August 20, 2010 and Navbharat Times on August 21, 2010.
Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) is an organization which works for the defense of democracy, secularism and justice.
Lifted photos in the past also
Interestingly this is not the first time that BJP has been involved in such activity.
The Gujarat Government of BJP lifted a photo by TwoCircles.net of Muslim girls learning computer in Azamgarh Shibli College, and misused that photo for its advertisement on “Muslim Shining Campaign in Gujarat”, presenting the girls as belonging to Gujarat, in ads appeared in Patna dailies on June 10, 2010. It was in the context of Gujarat’s chief minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the BJP National Executive meet in Bihar’s capital.
Any one can notice the similarity between the photos of demonstration by ANHAD and the BJP banner and its advertisement. In fact not only the people participating in the ANHAd demonstration but even its slogans and placards are clearly visible in the BJP ad and banner.
Ideological bankruptcy of BJP
“It represents the total ideological bankruptcy of the BJP which uses the Anhad photograph with slogans ‘10,000 Missing in Kashmir who is responsible? Stop Killing Innocent People in Kashmir’, while having a diametrically opposite understanding about the issue,” said Shabnam Hashmi, Managing Trustee, ANHAD
Talking to this correspondent she highlighted the game of duplicity often played by the party in the past.
“Interestingly in the past, the BJP has illegally lifted photos. For instance that of girls from Azamgarh from TwoCircles.net, and which the party tried to pass off as the photo of Muslim girls from Gujarat.”
“The demonstration, whose photo was misused by the BJP, highlighted the fact that the policies of Kashmir and Delhi governments are resulting in the … [ Expand ]alienation of the people of the state who have been suffering violations of their civic rights for years. This is in total contrast to the stand of the party on the issue,which is unconcerned about the plight of the people of Kashmir and looks at the issue as a law and order problem and calls for even more severe repression by the use of security forces,” she further added.
Demanded public apology
In a letter written to BJP president Nitin Gadkari, she has demanded BJP to issue an advertisement of equal size in all the newspapers in which this advertisement has appeared apologizing for the use of that photograph and stating therein that Anhad and the persons who are shown in the photograph have nothing to do with the BJP.
Will take legal action
If the BJP doesn’t apologize publicly then ANHAD will take legal action against the party.
“If we do not receive a satisfactory answer within one week we will be at liberty to take further action in accordance with law,” she added.
If people think, that all this will stop the BJP from using duplicitous means to propagate communal ideology; who knows there might be few surprises for them in future.