We have been now accustomed to seeing a section of foreign media often use charitable terms like “gunman” or “attacker” instead of the more direct “terrorist” in certain circumstances. Today, The Times of India too joined the ranks of such media houses by using the words “rebels”, and just “men” to describe LeT terrorists who ambushed CRPF personnel in Pampore in a Fidayeen attack.
On Saturday in a major strike, eight CRPF personnel were killed and at least 20 others injured when LeT terrorists attacked their convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway near Pampore town in south Kashmir on Saturday. Claiming responsibility for the attack, the Lashkar-e-Toiba said it was carried out by a two-member fidayeen squad. The Lashkar spokesman also warned of similar attacks in future.
While the web version of the story, which was based on a PTI report clearly called them “terrorists”, the print edition had different headlines:
It is important to note that in the body of the above story, Times Of India did call the attackers as terrorists, but the headline irked many on social media:
https://twitter.com/abdullah_0mar/status/746901016981843969
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https://twitter.com/pkaushal_99/status/746914708012183552
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https://twitter.com/DivyaSoti/status/746927452434243584
https://twitter.com/iMac_too/status/746925470076174337
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Some even demanded that the Information and Broadcasting ministry take action against Times of India:
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https://twitter.com/s_navroop/status/746921987478433792
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