Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s office on Sunday took to Twitter to appreciate Punjab Police in its breakthrough where they arrested one Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist and recovered Rs 29 lakh from him. Except, in its tweet, the Punjab Chief Minister whitewashed the terrorist and referred to him as an ‘activist’.
The terrorist was identified as one Hilal Ahmed Wagey is reportedly a resident of Nowgam in Pulwama, Kashmir. Many media outlets, too, referred to him as ‘activist’.
New agency PTI, too, referred to the Hizbul terrorist as ‘activist’.
Soon, Punjab Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh faced severe backlash for whitewashing the Hizbul terrorist by referring to him as activist.
कैप्टन साहब यह हिजबुल के आतंकवादी एक्टिविस्ट कब से होने लागे! pic.twitter.com/rV5QXj94KQ
— Kuljeet Singh Chahal (@kuljeetschahal) April 27, 2020
Picture 1: Terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen has been arrested.
— COMMON MAN (@Commonman_i) April 26, 2020
Picture 2: As per Congress CM he is an activist.
That means Hizbul Mujahideen must be a religious or social organisation for Congress.#terrorists @CMOPb @DefenceMinIndia pic.twitter.com/hAYjahY7aW
Soon after the backlash, CMO Punjab deleted the tweet and posted another tweet identifying Hilal as Hizbul terrorist this time.
In a major breakthrough, @PunjabPoliceInd has arrested a terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen with a recovery of Indian currency worth ₹29 lakh from his possession. @PunjabGovtIndia has unwavering commitment to fighting terrorism. pic.twitter.com/86bfx44nvJ
— CMO Punjab (@CMOPb) April 26, 2020
Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist caught in Amritsar
Hizbul Mujahideen is a Pakistan-sponsored designated terror group which carries out terrorist attacks on Indian soil on Indians. Hilal had reportedly visited Amritsar on instructions of the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen Riyaz Ahmed Naiku, for collecting money. The money was delivered to him by an unidentified man on a two-wheeler.
Media and terrorists
Following the killing of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Washington Post had glorified the terrorist in its obituary and referred to him as an ‘austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State’ as if Baghdadi being an ‘austere religious scholar’ was his primary identity. After public backlash, Washington Post changed its headline to refer to him as ‘extremist leader of Islamic State’.
