Former Pakistan air chief in Indian government advertisement
The Indian government was left red-faced Sunday after a full-page advertisement it issued as part of a women's rights campaign included the photograph of a former Pakistan Air Force chief.
The newspaper advertisement issued by India's federal Ministry of Women and Child Development was aimed at raising public awareness of the killing of female foetus in the mother's womb.
"Where would you be if your mother was not allowed to be born?" the advertisement asks and alongside photographs of two famous Indian cricketers and Pakistan's former air chief marshal Tanvir Ahmed.
The government quickly ordered a probe into the faux pas and the prime minister's office issued a public apology, "noting with regret the inclusion of a foreign national's photograph" in the government advert. An internal enquiry has been launched, it said.
The advertisement also included portraits of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the federal Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath.
Government advertisements are routinely handed over to private creative agencies after which they are issued by the government's Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity. All advertisements are cleared by the respective ministries.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to voice its criticism as television channels played up the blunder.
"This is a very serious thing if our government officials and politicians do not know who our top military officials are," senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
Women's rights activists said the focus of on the issue at the centre of the campaign was lost with the media highlighting the blunder.
India has laws banning sex determination tests, but aborting female foetuses is still common. The government has long been campaigning for an end to the practice.
According to UNICEF, 80 per cent of districts in India have recorded a declining sex ratio since 1991, with the northern state of Punjab being the worst.
According to the 1991 census, the figure was 947 girls to 1,000 boys, while the 2001 Census showed it had fallen to 927 girls for 1,000 boys.
The Indian government was left red-faced Sunday after a full-page advertisement it issued as part of a women's rights campaign included the photograph of a former Pakistan Air Force chief.
The newspaper advertisement issued by India's federal Ministry of Women and Child Development was aimed at raising public awareness of the killing of female foetus in the mother's womb.
"Where would you be if your mother was not allowed to be born?" the advertisement asks and alongside photographs of two famous Indian cricketers and Pakistan's former air chief marshal Tanvir Ahmed.
The government quickly ordered a probe into the faux pas and the prime minister's office issued a public apology, "noting with regret the inclusion of a foreign national's photograph" in the government advert. An internal enquiry has been launched, it said.
The advertisement also included portraits of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the federal Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath.
Government advertisements are routinely handed over to private creative agencies after which they are issued by the government's Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity. All advertisements are cleared by the respective ministries.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to voice its criticism as television channels played up the blunder.
"This is a very serious thing if our government officials and politicians do not know who our top military officials are," senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
Women's rights activists said the focus of on the issue at the centre of the campaign was lost with the media highlighting the blunder.
India has laws banning sex determination tests, but aborting female foetuses is still common. The government has long been campaigning for an end to the practice.
According to UNICEF, 80 per cent of districts in India have recorded a declining sex ratio since 1991, with the northern state of Punjab being the worst.
According to the 1991 census, the figure was 947 girls to 1,000 boys, while the 2001 Census showed it had fallen to 927 girls for 1,000 boys.
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