TechLahore

We're wondering how much longer it will be before the Greater Pakistan map shows up on Indian government PCs - Map courtesy of the Greater Pakistan group on Facebook.

How many times will we come across these “Digital map shows Kashmir in Pakistan” stories? Well, certainly more than once! After all, it wasn’t too long ago that we reported on the outbreak of great outrage and violence in India because Nokia’s digital maps showed Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan. In that instance, Nokia resellers were assaulted, shops were destroyed and distribution centers for Nokia were set on fire by angered Indian mobs. So when we saw this story on the wire, it just made us, well, wonder why the Indians continue to protest against the inevitable.

It turns out, thousands of the Indian government’s own official-use PCs show Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan. And why shouldn’t they? After all, it is. But we know the Indian government probably wants to pretend otherwise and in pursuit of that pretense, would understandably want the map to be ‘adjusted’ to take into account their biases on the subject. The interesting spin on this whole affair, of course, is that it was Chinese company, Lenovo, that supplied these PCs! Therefore, the entire incident is being looked upon as a “Chinese Conspiracy” within ‘learned’ circles in India. We just figured we’d get some kicks out of the story and share with you the mix of befuddlement and rage that has struck across our eastern border. And also to trigger some ROTFL reactions. In fact, consider this a holiday gift from TechLahore!

The link to the original story shows up after the break. Enjoy!

The IndiaTimes complains:

India and China have not resolved a dispute over several areas of their border, notably the section demarcating a barren plateau in Ladakh—most of which was called Aksai Chin. New Delhi has all along maintained that this area—which China claims falls in the Chinese province of Xinjiang in the west—is the easternmost part of Jammu & Kashmir.

Similarly, Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PaK), which India refers to as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), is also a disputed territory claimed by India but controlled by Pakistan. The territories border the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the east and Pakistan to the west.

While IPS officer turned lawyer YP Singh said that there was no specific law at present under the Indian Penal Code to deal with such offences, customs officials said that under the Customs Act they are empowered to seize the laptops if the software has been imported. “It is like bringing in a prohibited item. We are gathering details. The income tax department should also have been more alert,” a senior official said.

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