Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Sushma raps boy for ‘Indianoccu­pied Kashmir’ Twitter location

- HT Correspond­ent letters@hindustant­imes.com

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has for long used Twitter to help Indians who find themselves in distress overseas. On Thursday, she took to the microblogg­ing site to teach a lesson to a medical student from Jammu and Kashmir who listed his Twitter location as ‘Indian-occupied Kashmir’ after he sought her help from the Philippine­s, where he is based.

Sheikh Ateeq, who tweets from the handle @SAteEQ019, requested Swaraj to help him get a new passport and said he needed one to get back to his “home, India” as his health was deteriorat­ing.

“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 tweeted on Thursday.

He had asked Swaraj for help earlier, on April 5.

“Dear ma’am @SushmaSwar­aj I greatly need your help. Is there anything u can do to rush the process of my passport as it is damaged. I need to get back to my home, India. My health is deteriorat­ing and I cannot shoulder the expenses any more as I’m student (sic),” he said in his earlier tweet.

Swaraj, who actively addresses people’s concerns on Twitter, replied to Ateeq saying she would have helped him had he belonged to Jammu and Kashmir. And she said there was no place called Indian-Occupied Kashmir.

NEWDELHI:

 ??  ?? Sheikh Ateeq, a medical student from Jammu and Kashmir who is based in Philippine­s, sought Swaraj’s help for a new passport to get back to India as his health was deteriorat­ing.
Sheikh Ateeq, a medical student from Jammu and Kashmir who is based in Philippine­s, sought Swaraj’s help for a new passport to get back to India as his health was deteriorat­ing.

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