India counters Pakistan's fake pitch with 'true picture' in UN | World News - Hindustan Times
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India counters Pakistan's fake pitch with 'true picture' in UN

Hindustan Times, Washington | ByYashwant Raj, Washington
Sep 26, 2017 07:57 AM IST

India on Monday countered the use of a fake image by Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN by presenting an image of an Indian Army officer who was kidnapped and killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists.

India on Monday presented to the UN General Assembly a photograph of Lt Umar Faiyaz, a young army officer from Jammu and Kashmir who was kidnapped in May and “brutally tortured and killed” by Pakistan-backed terrorists to counter Islamabad’s accusations on the Kashmir issue.

Indian diplomat Paulomi Tripathi holds up a photo of Lt Umar Faiyaz, an Indian Army officer from Jammu and Kashmir who was kidnapped in May and “brutally tortured and killed” by Pakistan-backed terrorists, at the UN General Assembly to counter the use of a fake image by the Pakistani envoy to the UN.(Courtesy external affairs ministry)
Indian diplomat Paulomi Tripathi holds up a photo of Lt Umar Faiyaz, an Indian Army officer from Jammu and Kashmir who was kidnapped in May and “brutally tortured and killed” by Pakistan-backed terrorists, at the UN General Assembly to counter the use of a fake image by the Pakistani envoy to the UN.(Courtesy external affairs ministry)

“This is a true picture,” said Paulomi Tripathi, a young Indian diplomat, as she held up a picture of Faiyaz during a “right-of-reply” response to Pakistani envoy Maleeha Lodhi displaying a photograph of an injured Palestinian girl on Saturday and claiming it was a pellet gun victim from Kashmir.

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“It portrays a harsh and tragic reality,” Tripathi, the youngest diplomat in the India mission to the UN, said about Faiyaz. “A picture of terrorism emanating from across our borders that the people of India, especially in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, have to struggle with every day.”

Tripathi added, “This is the reality which the permanent representative of Pakistan sought to obfuscate.”

The photo presented by Tripathi was apparently taken at the funeral of Faiyaz, whose killing had triggered outrage across India.

She said Lodhi had “misled” the General Assembly by displaying the photo of Rawya abu Jom’a, a girl from Palestine, that was taken by an American photographer in July 2014. A fake picture, she said, was used to “spread falsehoods about India” and to “push a completely false narrative”.

During her statement on Saturday, Lodhi had “yet again sought to divert attention from Pakistan’s role as the hub of global terrorism”, Tripathi said. The photo of Faiyaz reflects “the real picture of pain inflicted by the nefarious designs of Pakistan on India”, she added.

Tripathi concluded her remarks holding up both photos, and said, “The true face of Pakistan is not hidden from anyone.”

Pakistan also responded, exercising its right-of-reply,  and accused India of “hiding behind a picture” even though the image used by Lodhi had been called out as a fake. The Pakistani representative went on to restate his country’s usual positions, using much the same key words. 

Watch | Indian diplomat Paulomi Tripathi’s response to the Pakistani envoy at the UN General Assembly

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