BBC flayed for not calling Mumbai gunmen 'terrorists'

A group of legislators from the Labour party has criticised the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for not referring to the Mumbai attackers as ‘terrorists’ in its news bulletins but the UK-based news organisation has defended the practice.

The BBC chooses to call such attackers as ‘militants’ or ‘bombers’. Criticising the news channel, Stephen Pound, chairman of the Labour Friends of India, said: “This is the worst sort of mealy mouthed posturing. It is a desperation to avoid causing offence, which ultimately hurts everyone. The terrorist term is universal.”

“The result is innocent victims being killed in restaurants by men brandishing machine guns. They are terrorists and the BBC should call them that,” Stephen said describing the attacks in Mumbai where around 200 people, including foreigners, were killed last week.

However, a BBC spokesman said: “This has nothing to do with political correctness. We are not calling them freedom fighters. We are calling them ‘bombers’ or ‘militants’. The fact is terrorist does not have a universal meaning. We are not alone in not calling them terrorists. ”