The filmmaker's criticism of BBC has gone viral after a tweet suggesting that the British broadcaster call Northern Ireland "British Occupied Ireland" was retweeted 33,000 times and garnered over 90,000 likes since Sunday (12 August).
Twitter users have also accused the BBC of “misreporting” the Kashmir issue after the the revocation of its special status.
However, some netizens supported the BBC, saying that the broadcaster had never used the term “Indian Occupied Kashmir”, and slammed Kapur for his comments.
In a series of articles, the BBC reported about the alleged unrest in Jammu and Kashmir after New Delhi’s decision to abrogate the Indian Constitution’s Article 370, which had provided special status to the state, and its subsequent bifurcation into two administrative units.
The state police of Jammu and Kashmir have categorically dismissed claims made by the BBC and Al Jazeera over their reports on “large-scale protests" in the state capital of Srinagar on 9 August.
Slamming the reports of unrest as “mischievous and motivated”, state police officials have said the situation remains calm in the region.
In its turn, the BBC said it stands by its coverage of Jammu and Kashmir.
The situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has been tense since the parliament scrapped the previously granted special status to the region, turning it into a union territory in addition to declaring Ladakh a separate union territory. The new system is likely to come into effect in October.
Ahead of the unprecedented move, the government pushed prohibitory orders in Kashmir and took all political leaders of regional parties into preventive custody.
India's move caused a diplomatic row with Pakistan and in response, Islamabad has expelled New Delhi's envoy to the country, suspended trade, and communication links.