The Home Ministry has reportedly peddled a picture of floodlit Spain-Morocco border as that of Indo-Pakistan border in its annual report spotlighting the ministry’s achievements in the past one year.
The goof, first reported by Alt News, a website specializing in busting fake news, is serious because, picture that was spreading on propaganda sites and Whatsapp forwards has found space in the official website of the Union home ministry.
The annual report, with the picture inserted in it, said :'In order to curb the attempt of infiltration and cross-border crimes along the Indo-Pakistan Border, the Government has sanctioned 2043.76 km of floodlights along the International Border in the States of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.'
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Early this month, the government had said it has floodlit 647 kilometers of the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh to prevent terrorists and immigrants from infiltrating into Indian territory. The floodlighting of the 647-km-long stretches of the two international borders was completed in last one year, a Home Ministry official said.
The total length of the Indo-Pak border is 3,323 km, including the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh has ordered an inquiry.
“We are enquiring into the matter and will issue an apology if there is merit in it,” The Hindu has quoted Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi as saying.
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According to the Alt News, the picture was taken in 2006 by a Spanish photographer, Javier Moyano.” But shared by right-wing websites as an accomplishment of the Modi government with one article proclaiming 'Modi ji ne border pe jo kaam kiya hai vo dekhoge toh garv bhi hoga aur waah waah bhi karoge' (If you see what work Modi ji has done on the border, you will be filled with proud and will also shower praises).
