Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: A regular government advertisement on ‘female foeticide’ that appeared in leading national dailies on Sunday on the occasion of ‘National Girl Child Day’, kicked up a national storm after it was noticed that the ad carried the picture of a former top Pakistani Air Force officer.
Former Air Chief Marshal of Pakistan, Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed’s photograph appears in the advertisement along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath, and cricketers Kapil Dev and Virender Sehwag.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement and said it apologises for the inclusion of photograph of a "foreign national" in the government advertisement on girl child.
The PMO has also ordered an internal inquiry into the lapse.
The advertisement was released by Krishna Tirath’s ministry and prepared by government agency, the DAVP.
Speaking to Zee News, the minister first tried to evade questions about the mistake and said the picture in the advertisement was not “important”.
However, speaking later at a press conference the minister acknowledged the mistake and said appropriate action will be taken against the erring official(s).
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi also acknowledged the error, saying “it was a mistake”.
