The New York Times' coverage of the recent terrorist incident in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 people, including tourists, has drawn harsh criticism from the US government.  The US house Foreign Affairs Committee charged that the publication's choice of terminology like "militants" and "gunmen" rather than "terrorists" minimized the incident's seriousness. 
In a post on X, the committee's sharply rebuked the newspaper's choice of words, sharing an image of the original headline - "At Least 24 Tourists Gunned Down by Militants in Kashmir" - with the word "militants" struck out and replaced in bold red with "terrorists".

"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," the committee wrote, calling out what it sees as a pattern of minimising terror acts through diluted terminology.

The savage attack at Pahalgam, which was later claimed by The Resistance Front, a branch of the outlawed Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, sparked the outrage.
 
In the well-known Baisaran Valley, gunmen opened fire on a group of visitors, leaving 26 dead and numerous others wounded.  Chaos and panic were evident in the scene's visuals, and some of the attackers were seen firing randomly on camera.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi "called the shooting, the worst against civilians in the region for years, a 'terror attack' and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice," according to the New York Times, which also termed the terrorists "militants" and "gunmen."  Some parts of the US government strongly objected to the attack's portrayal as a "shooting" that was only attributable to PM Modi's designation of it as terrorism.
 
On Wednesday, US President donald trump gave prime minister Modi a call to convey his condolences and his unwavering support for prosecuting the offenders.  

"President trump strongly condemned the terror attack and expressed full support to india to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack. india and the united states stand together in the fight against terror," said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, in a post on X.
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G GOWTHAM

25/04/2025 11:17 AM