Recently, there were reports, especially in Indian media, that the United Kingdom had added Pakistan to its list of dangerous countries. The false reports had also been circulating on various websites as well, which claimed that there was a ‘black list’ and ‘red list’, and that Pakistan had been included in the latter. However, the British High Commission officials issued a denial, saying that its government had not added Pakistan to the list of dangerous countries. Infact the officials claimed that there were no black or red lists and that every country had its own travel advisory.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) had recently added eight more countries to the list of places considered ‘too dangerous’ for citizens of UK to visit. The countries that had been declared dangerous for travel were Ukraine, Iran, Sudan, Lebanon, Israel, Belarus and the Palestinian territories. These countries had joined the list which already included Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen.
According to the British government’s website, there was no change in the travel advisory for Pakistan which was last updated on January 24.
In fact, the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office had a similar travel advisory for both India and Pakistan.
Regarding Pakistan, the office has advised British citizens against travelling within 10 miles of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as the Line of Control. As far as India is concerned, the advisory warns against travelling to Manipur and parts of Indian-held Kashmir.
There were also other no-go areas in Pakistan, which included various districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Among them were Bannu, Buner, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat and Gwadar in Balochistan.
A country issues a travel advisory for its citizens keeping in view the security situation in those areas. As far as Pakistan is concerned, yes the security situation in some areas is bad where even Pakistani citizens do not go to. But then such areas exist in every country. Overall, the situation in Pakistan is normal and there is no threat to any foreigner visiting the country.
In fact it is in India where every other day, there is news of a tourist getting raped, even in places like New Delhi. But when it comes to Pakistan, the Indian media does not miss an opportunity to spread fake propaganda against it. It seems as if they are obsessed with Pakistan. Another reason why most websites and TV channels in India resort to Pakistan bashing is to raise their TRPs and viewership. Indian media has used Pakistan to its benefit, portraying the country as a ‘villain’ through fake news and as many Indians fall for it.
It is the media in India, in collaboration with the Indian government and politicians, that fans rivalry and hatred among its people against Pakistan.
This can also be seen in Indian movies where the antagonist is Pakistan.
Pakistan therefore needs to counter fake news against it, and approach relevant forums for remedy.
