India Denounces BBC's Terminology and Reporting Bias on Pahalgam Incident

India officially complained to a major UK public service broadcaster, making clear the country's "strong feelings" regarding the BBC's reporting on the Pahalgam terror attack, sources reported.

The government was particularly upset by a headline in which the BBC stated, "Pakistan suspends visas for Indians after deadly Kashmir attack on tourists."

In its release, the BBC described Pahalgam as "Indian-administered Kashmir," omitting the location as being in India. The BBC also termed the fatal terror attack a "militant attack" by "gunmen." The report added, "Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say all three suspects named are members of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). None of the men have commented on the allegations."

It was these that angered the social media users, some of whom also did not agree with the assertion that the BBC headline was not factual since it seemed to state "India killed the tourists."

Sources indicated that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) External Publicity Department had communicated India's "strong sentiments" to BBC India Head, Jackie Martin, regarding the news report of the attack. A formal complaint letter of protest was lodged particularly against the BBC's use of the word "militants" for the terrorists who attacked. The Indian government has stated that they will continue to observe the BBC's reporting in the future.

The attack followed the cruel firing in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam where terrorists opened fire on Hindus and murdered them. The attack, attributed to 'The Resistance Front,' a split faction of Pakistan-based banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba—saw terrorists firing at a gang of tourists inside the Baisaran Valley and killing 26 and several, including a Nepali national. Horrifying scenes on location had firing indiscriminately from the attackers and chaos all over.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the attack as "utterly devastating." He took to social media as follows: "The dastardly terrorist attack in Kashmir is utterly devastating. My condolences are with those affected, their families, and the Indian people."

The US government, on its part, also blamed a top US news source for its reporting of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, adopting the same vocabulary as the BBC. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee criticized The New York Times for using such words like "militants" and "gunmen" rather than "terrorists."

The Committee posted a photo of the original New York Times headline—"At Least 24 Tourists Gunned Down by Militants in Kashmir"—and substituted "militants" with "terrorists" in red bold letters. In an X tweet, the Committee stated, "Hey, The New York Times 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 out of touch with reality."