All countries have extended solidarity with India following the Pahalgam terror attack, but some Western media and Indian left-wing portals diluted the truth, shielding the perpetrators behind media terms.
The Guardian called the attackers “suspected militants” in its headline: “At least 26 tourists killed by suspected militants in Kashmir attack.” This isn’t journalism, it’s whitewashing terrorism under the garb of cautious language.
BBC’s Jessica Rawnsley went more ahead and used the term “gunmen” and referred to Jammu & Kashmir as “Indian-administered Kashmir.” Her report read: “More than 20 killed after gunmen open fire on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.” By undermining Indian sovereignty and downplaying terror, the BBC continues its legacy of colonial condescension.
The New York Times, in a report by Anupreeta Das, Suhasini Raj, and Showkat Nanda, wrote: “Militants opened fire on a group of tourists in the Indian-administered region of Kashmir…” Once again, the terrorists were labelled “militants” and the Kashmir’s identity was questioned.
But in a rebuttal, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority took a stand for truth. It corrected The New York Times’ terminology, calling them “terrorists,” not “militants.” Committee Chairman and US military veteran Brian Mast exposed the paper’s headline.
France 24 also used the word “gunmen” and “Indian-administered Kashmir” . It reported: “Gunmen killed at least 26 people after opening fire on a group of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday, with authorities describing the incident as a “terror attack” and the worst such attack on civilians in years”.
The Wire, a known platform for its pro-leftist reporting, sank further. It misquoted eyewitnesses who confirmed a religious motive and still called the terrorists “gunmen.” “The gunmen, believed to be two to three in number according to police, hiked down from a range of mountains in Baisaran that are covered with lush pine trees and opened fire at the visitors,” the portal claimed, ignoring their selective targeting of non-Muslims.
Even as grieving families speak out about the specific targeting of Hindus, some politicians and celebrities have instead chosen denial and justification for the coward attack.
Bollywood actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha was questioned by media about the attack. Initially unaware, he asked, “Kya ghatna ghath gayi hai?” (Has something happened?). When the journalist began to clarify that Hindus were targeted in Phalgam, Sinha said, “Yeh Hindu-Hindu kyun keh rahe ho?” (Why are you saying Hindu-Hindu?) and instead of showing empathy he termed it as a “propaganda war.”
Robert Vadra, husband of Congress leader Priyanka Vadra tried to rationalise the terror attack, stating that it was the Hindutva policies of the current government that drove a wedge between the Hindus and Muslims and ultimately led to the attack.. “If they (terrorists) are looking at people’s identity, why are they doing this? Because there’s a divide that has come about in our country…,” Vadra said.
Former Maharashtra Home Minister and senior NCP-SP leader Anil Deshmukh stooped even lower. He demanded an investigation to verify if the terrorists had really asked the religion of the victims before killing them. “There is no clarity and confirmed information whether the gunmen had asked the religion of the tourists before shooting them. Only after investigation will we get to know the truth,” he said.
From suspected militants to gunmen, and from Indian-administered Kashmir to ignoring the victims’ religious identity, the Western media, India’s left-wing ecosystem and some politicians have trivialised the bloodshed in Pahalgam. But no one can erase the truth: this was a jihadi terror attack targeting innocent Hindus and challenging the sovereignty of India. The western and left media’s ‘secular’ terms cannot whitewash the ideology and crime of terrorism. Everyone believing in humanity and peace should expose their double standards word by word, lie by lie. All this is not journalism, it is a deliberate attempt to protect Islamic terrorism.
