The death of Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Riyaz Naikoo in an encounter with Indian security forces has had a ripple effect of sorts. Soon after the terrorist was neutralised, heavy security was deployed in the valley, and mobile internet services were shut down.
Naikoo was a wanted man, with a bounty of Rs 12 lakh on his head. He had been on the run for over eight years and had given officials the slip on several occasions. He was wanted for his involvement in the deaths of several officials and had been considered one of the top leaders of the Hizbul Mujahideen, taking over after Burhan Wani's death.
Now, Naikoo had been a math teacher prior to his terror-related affiliations. He had taught at a local school in Kashmir's Awantipora district.
This may have been an interesting factoid, but for many it became a bone of contention, after media houses made his transition from school teacher to terrorist, as well as his journey so to speak a topic of discussion after his death.
As one news headline put it, Naikoo was a "maths teacher who became a dreaded terror overlord".
We'd reported earlier about how the Huffington Post's 2018 article had fueled the ire of many netizens. For the uninitiated, that particular report had traced Naikoo's journey from "being a math teacher to Hizbul Mujahideen's chief", and it did not go down well with people.
"Humanising a terrorist," a Twitter user had written, sharing screenshots of the article.
Now, it would seem that another international and reputed media organisation is facing flak for a similar article. This one however was posted on Thursday, and does not seem to have picked up on the already prevalent annoyance.
"Indian troops kill maths teacher-turned-rebel commander in Kashmir," Reuters India captioned a tweet while sharing their reportage on the issue.
Twitter screengrab |
Needless to say, the post has not gone down well. It must be noted that this is not the headline of the article. Nor is the fact that he was a teacher mentioned in the introductory paragraphs.
"It is now imperative to call out the in-your-face anti-#India racism of Western #media and cringe-worthy reportage/commentary penned by Uncle Toms & Aunt Janes for their White mastahs. Racist Western media is what it is. What about desis who hawk their honour for a fistful of $? (sic)" wrote one irate Twitter user.
