This opinion by Farrukh Dhondy on BBC getting it all wrong in today’s edition of DNA got me to check out as to what exactly is the Difference between ‘MILITANT’ and ‘TERRORIST’…Ironically I have referred to the Oxford English Dictionary
‘MILITANT’ is an adjective that means ‘supporting a cause in a forceful and confrontational way’
‘TERRORIST’ is a noun and means ‘person who uses violence and intimidation in an attempt to achieve political aims’
BBC has told it’s panelists and anchors not to use the word ‘TERRORIST’ but to say ‘MILITANT’ instead when commenting on the recent Terrorist Strike in South Mumbai
I agree wholeheartedly with Dhondy….Methinks BBC needs a Brain Surgery…make that a Brain Transplant !
The Ten who came in by sea one Wednesday night in the last week of November 2008, audaciously attacked South Mumbai,firing indiscriminately and hurling grenades and placing RDX Bombs that killed nearly 200 innocent civilians and injured more than 300
Nine of the Ten were killed by Indian Security Forces and one was arrested…he has revealed that they had orders to kill 5000 Soft Targets and spread Fear and Panic !
Yet BBC wants us to call them ‘MILITANTS’ and not ‘TERRORISTS’ !
Is BBC the UK Government Stance too ? is this their way of appeasing Muslims in the UK who support the Kashmir Cause and who otherwise might have got alienated ?
Cause or No Cause! When you deliberately kill Soft targets of Civilians that include women and Children,you are nothing but a ‘TERRORIST’!…you’ve crossed that Thin Line in the Definitions.
Is our 26/11 any different from USA’s 9/11 except in scale !?…You rightly called Osama a Terrorist for 9/11…Now BBC,why are you applying a diffrent yardstick for the same nature of Crime for India’s 26/11 ?…Methinks you have a cause too…with a political aim…and this dictum of yours is clearly an intimidation…so should I label you too, BBC, as a TERRORIST !
And one more thought…BBC,why stop at your softening stance from ‘TERRORIST’to ‘MILITANT’ ! Go the whole hog and label these ‘TERRORISTS’ as ‘FREEDOM FIGHTERS’
And to conclude…I’m not sure what you would have called our Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in your Language..a ‘MILITANT’or a ‘TERRORIST’?…To us he was a ‘FREEDOM FIGHTER’ who used Non Gandhian means
Oh ! by the Way I’m just a FREEDOM FIGHTER too….fighting for Freedom of Expression of Speech,Thought,Opinion and Words !…sometimes forcefully with confrontation and intimidation…so,BBC, by your criteria and definition and in your language, I too would qualify to be termed a ‘MILITANT’ or even maybe a ‘TERRORIST ‘ by you !
BBC,If you get the Point,you may not need the Brain Transplant after all !
Maybe you always have got the Point…but by issuing this dictum you’re displaying pusillanimity…I’ve explained this term in a seperate blog earlier in the year under the category ‘Interesting New Words’