Why on Earth this border line neurosis?

Remember when foreign magazines carrying maps of India not consistent with the official version had the words, ‘The external boundaries of India as depicted are neither correct nor authentic’ stamped across them? After 2011, this was replaced by black stickers. On Monday, a map on a tweeted website showed Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh outside the territory of India. A very active Bajrang Dal activist, with an eye for imperfection and plenty of time on his hand, not just demanded the removal of the wrong map but also registered a case against Twitter India’s managing director. The police of Uttar Pradesh, an undisputed part of India, complied.

What is it about incorrect maps — essentially, those showing India smaller— that gets some people’s goat? After all, a map showing Kashmir or Punjab or Timbuktu — well, not Timbuktu, since that town in Mali is, indeed, outside Indian territory — as extra-Indian territory doesn’t mean it actually lies outside India. This outrage is peculiar to India. A map depicting Hawaii outside the US won’t ruffle any feathers. The answer may lie in a very Indian nervousness of outsiders trying to break up India — a neurosis that comes from a postcolonial complex. After all, for those dreaming of an Akhand Bharat, any harmless mis-depiction of a ‘khand’ one can be unduly unsettling and pointedly prophetic.