BBC under fire in India for Kashmir terror attack coverage

New Delhi has asked the British broadcaster to clarify why it used the word ‘militants’ to designate terrorists

The BBC’s coverage of the Kashmir terror attack last week has come under criticism from the Indian government, which has formally written to its operations head, sources familiar with the situation told RT.

The sources said New Delhi expressed its strong reservations to the channel after it referred to terrorists as “militants” in a TV report. The government, through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), approached BBC India head Jackie Martin to convey its concerns. 

The sources added that the MEA’s External Publicity and Public Diplomacy (XP) Division has been tasked with monitoring the BBC’s future reporting. 

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The government has also flagged the use of the word “militants” in an article on the BBC website entitled: ‘Pakistan suspends visas for Indians after deadly Kashmir attack on tourists’. Many Indians on social media found the headline offensive and accused the network of blaming India for the killings. 

Similar concerns were raised against other international news outlets such as AP and Reuters, according to the sources. The MEA is expected to monitor their reportage and flag anything which it finds downplays the severity of the situation, or is factually incorrect. 

In addition, the Indian government has blocked 16 Pakistani YouTube channels. This decision was taken based on recommendations from the Home Ministry, a NDTV report said. The list of banned platforms in India includes the channels of several Pakistani news outlets, such as Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Bol News, Raftar, Geo News, and Suno News. 

Additionally, the channels of individual journalists like Irshad Bhatti, Asma Shirazi, Umar Cheema, and Muneeb Farooq have also been blocked. Other banned channels include The Pakistan Reference, Samaa Sports, Uzair Cricket, and Razi Naama.