'Terroristan' Pak Is Left Red-Faced At UN As Its 'Kashmiri Victim' Photo Turns To Be That Of Gaza Girl
A desperate Pakistan resorted to a blatant lie to take on India at the UN General Assembly, but faced widespread embarrassment as it failed in its attempt to pass off a photo of a violence victim in Gaza as that of a Kashmiri girl.
Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi brandished the girl's photo, showing multiple pellet injuries on the face, to back her charges of Indian "atrocities" against civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.
But she was immediately called out as the photo turned out to be that of 17-year-old Rawya Abu Jom, who was injured when two Israeli airstrikes hit her family's apartment in Gaza in 2014.
The Palestine resident's photo had been featured in many photo galleries online, including by the New York Times and the Guardian. Rawia's picture was taken by award winning photographer Heidi Levine.
The official Twitter account of the Pakistani mission to the UN also tweeted the photo. India did not immediately exercise its right to response to Lodhi's claims.
Lodhi was trying to counter Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's blistering attack on Pakistan hours earlier. Swaraj had described Pakistan as a "pre-eminent export factory for terror".
Exercising the right of reply, Lodhi claimed that Swaraj was "indulging in an orgy of slander against Pakistan".
Swaraj had said India has moved forward despite being the principal destination of Pakistan's nefarious export of terrorism. "We have marched ahead consistently without pause, creating IIMs, IITs, AIIMS... in the fields of education, health, space and across a range of human welfare. We established scientific and technical institutions, which are the pride of the world," Swaraj had said.
"Pakistan has only produced terrorists and terrorist camps... Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hijbul Mujahideen, Haqqani Network," she had said.
Swaraj was referring to Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi's speech and had said, "A country that has been the world's greatest exporter of havoc, death and inhumanity became a champion of hypocrisy by preaching about humanity and Human Rights from this podium."
Abbasi has in his speech urged the United Nations to appoint a special envoy to Kashmir, as he claimed that "the struggle of the people" in the region is being "brutally suppressed" by India.
CALLED OUT
- Photo turns out to be that of 17-year-old Rawya Abu Jom, wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in 2014
- It had featured in many photo galleries online, including by NYT and the Guardian
- Rawya's picture had been taken by award-winning photographer Heidi Levine
(With agency inputs)
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