NEW DELHI: Union minister for external affairs Sushma Swaraj on Thursday gave a lesson in geography to a Jammu and Kashmir student studying in the Philippines, whose Twitter bio said he was from “Indian Occupied Kashmir.”
Sheikh Ateeq had tweeted to Swaraj for help with his damaged passport on Wednesday. “I am from J&K doing medicine course here in Philippines my passport got damaged I applied for new one 1 month ago I request u pls help me to get it as i literally need to go home for medical checkup (sic),” Ateeq had tweeted on Wednesday morning from his now deleted Twitter account @SAteEQ019.
The very next day, Swaraj replied saying help was certainly possible, but his location, as outlined by him, was a problem. "If you are from J&K state, we will definitely help you. But your profile says you are from 'Indian occupied Kashmir'. There is no place like that," she replied on Thursday morning.
The tweet got a flurry of reactions on Twitter, attracting nearly 1,300 replies, 18,000 likes and 7700 retweets by evening.
Swaraj’s tweet prompted Ateeq to modify his location to "Jammu & Kashmir/Manila" barely 15 minutes after the minister replied to him. Soon after the modification, Swaraj acknowledged the change, tagging the Indian embassy in Manila, asking them to assist the student. “I am happy you have corrected the profile. Jaideep - He is an Indian national from J&K. Pls help him,” the minister tweeted. Jaideep Mazumdar is India’s ambassador to Philippines.
However, Ateeq’s Twitter profile has been deleted since. A search for his handle yields a page with the message “Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!”
