The screenshot shared by the House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority
Credit: X/@HouseForeignGOP
The United States House of Representatives has slammed the New York Times after the publication referred to the terrorists behind the Pahalgam attacks on April 22 as 'militants'.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority said in a post on X, "Hey,
@nytimes we fixed it for you. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK plain and simple. Whether it’s India or Israel, when it comes to TERRORISM the NYT is removed from reality," and attached a screenshot of a story on the publication's website with the word militant struck out and terrorists written in uppercase in a red font.
Publications like the NYT or Reuters often use the word 'militant' instead of 'terrorist' to maintain neutrality when dealing with sensitive topics like insurgencies or conflicts.
While both words indicate the use of force or violence, terrorism usually refers to a foreign entity using force to create tensions in a country or to make the government act a certain way.
However, considering the fact that the Laskhar-e-Taiba, whose offshoot The Resistance Force has claimed responsibility of the Pahalgam attacks, is a UN-designated terrorist organisation, the act is classifiable as a "terrorist" act.
Western media has often stuck to the west's narratives when it comes to reporting on issues between foreign countries. Most of the western media refers to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as Russia's invasion of Ukraine but the India-Pakistan faceoff in Kashmir as a 'dispute' between the two nations.
Terrorists opened fire at a famed meadow near Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, in the deadliest attack in the valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
Security has been beefed up throughout Jammu and Kashmir post the attacks. Union Home Minister visited the erstwhile state on the day itself while the Centre announced a slew of diplomatic measures against Pakistan, from where Lashkar operates.