Who are these “militants”?

Why is the English mainstream media so scared of calling terrorists for what they are – instead of the silly label – “militants”?

Is this not an insult to our brave officers and soldiers who day in and day out expose themselves to enormous risks…and put their lives on the line to protect our country and uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India?

I am sad, disgusted and very very angry…

Here is a sample from today’s new stories:

An Army Major has been killed and two jawans injured in encounter with militants in Rajouri district in Kashmir. [ link ]

An Army Major and a police constable were killed and three other security personnel seriously injured in a fierce gun battle with a group of Lashker-e-Toiba militants in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir today (July 20). [ link ]

An Indian Army officer and a policeman were killed and four soldiers injured in a shoot out that erupted in a frontier district of Jammu and Kashmir Sunday, defence sources said. The sources said Maj. Bhanu Partap of 43 Rashtriya Rifles and Sanjeev of Kashmir police were killed while fighting heavily armed militants hiding in the Bangai forests in Thana Mandi area of Rajouri district, about 190 kms north of Jammu. [ link ]

An Army Major and a police constable were killed and three other security personnel seriously injured in a fierce gun battle with a group of Lashker-e-Toiba militants in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. [ link ]

Interestingly, the Hindi language media (with which I am somewhat familiar) uniformly uses the term “Aatankwadi” (Terrorist) – save for the lone BBC Hindi which prefers “Charampanthi” (Extremist) – but then it is the BBC, as you know.

Any doubt why we need a robust, right-of-centre alternative to what passes of as mainstream media? 

Related Posts:

The missing “T-word” 

Nice, politically correct reporting – UPDATED 

and “The great joke that is Indian Media” series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5. 

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UPDATE: According to this report, these so-called militants were using a woman as a shield:

Army sources claimed that on specific information, a joint team of the Thannamandi-based 43 RR and the Rajouri SOG launched a search and destroy operation in Kunda near here on Saturday night. After cordoning the area, a search party led by Major Bhanu reached a dhok (temporary shed used by nomads in higher reaches) owned by Gulzar Begum of Shahdara Sharief area and knocked at the door. Begum who was inside the dhok at that time was allegedly used by militants, reportedly belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), as their shield, sources added.