The University of Chandigarh has faced mounting reactions online after a map showing Pakistani-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of Pakistan was displayed in the alumni association section of its website. The distorted map was first noticed by a Twitter user @root3vil who posted a screenshot of the website on June 15. “Hey Chandigarh University, don’t you consider POK a part of India?” the user wrote while tagging the varsity’s Twitter page.
The tweet quickly went viral and several other users demanded strict action against the university. Users called the varsity’s act “anti-India” and called for a boycott of Chandigarh University. “Thank you for telling me this, was about to advise people to get admission here. I can’t let them stay in an AntiIndia Institute,” one tweets.
Hi @Chandigarh_uniDon’t you consider POK a part of India? pic.twitter.com/wVOws5Phv7
— root3vil (@root3vil) June 15, 2022
Thanks for telling me this, was about to advise people to access here @Chandigarh_uni
Can’t let them stay with one #AntiIndia institute #HindusUnderAttackInIndia #Hindu #HinduLivesMatters #hindusAwakening #chandigarhuniversity https://t.co/6PKJjX7faB— vonay (@sarcasticindo) June 15, 2022
Boycott such anti-national entities https://t.co/v1gob0Xi5Z
— raghu (@raaghub1) June 16, 2022
“Why? Lack of geographic knowledge about India. You are an institution and you do this kind of nonsense, please do some research, copy and paste and do not publish correctly,” wrote another user on the distorted map posted on the university’s website was posted.
@Chandigarh_uni Why? Lack of geographic knowledge about India. You are an institution and you do this kind of nonsense, please do some research, do not copy and paste and publish correctly #Card from #India https://t.co/TojoelTkVq
— VED PRAKASH (@vedprks) June 16, 2022
By tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Interior Minister Amit Shah, users called for strict action against the university. “Strict crackdown on top management of Chandigarh University *THIS IS AN INCOMPARABLE CRIME*,” demanded a social media user.
@PMOIndia @HMOIndia Take strict action against top management of @Chandigarh_uni
*THIS IS AN INCOMPARABLE CRIME* https://t.co/Waqx2dmQcW— Tejas Kulkarni 🇮🇳 (@TejTalkOfficial) June 15, 2022
@PunjabGovtIndia @narendramodi sir, @ianuragthakur sir,@GautamGambhir sir,@UPGovt @RajatSharmaLive and everyone else to whom this may concern, so have we already stated that land is not ours? I cannot accept this map of our nation… 🙏 Please investigate this matter.. https://t.co/MryEvsawUu
— Sajal Bhardwaj (@CSsajalbhardwaj) June 16, 2022
Some Twitter users also came to the defense, claiming that the map used on the website came from an outside source and was not designed by Chandigarh University. Users pointed out that such similar maps exist on Google Maps and platforms such as Wikipedia.
I absolutely love how anyone commenting on this doesn’t realize that this map is through a third party api owned by the community and they can influence the map themselves. https://t.co/tVTKtqrONJ
— mayank (@ModernDayFreud) June 15, 2022
“This error is from OpenStreetMap. @Chandigarh_uni just used their api. FYI, all international map providers don’t show POK any part of India,” one internet user claimed.
This error is from OpenStreerMap. @Chandigarh_uni just used their api.
FYI, all international map providers do not show POK any part of India. https://t.co/sqmDHzU9dn— Rinkesh Kumar Jha (@rinkesh_jha) June 15, 2022
“They use OpenStreet maps as seen in image and map tiles not made by them, I believe the developer just use existing tiles, images and all existing tiles have a similar problem as developers who are not in India,” wrote one other. While an official response from Chandigarh University about the controversy is still awaited, the distorted map appears to have been removed from the website.
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