The Wire Caught Whitewashing Pahalgam Terror Attack: Misquotes Eyewitness, Silently Edits Report After Backlash

In yet another glaring instance of journalistic malpractice, left-leaning propaganda outlet The Wire has come under fire for distorting a victim’s testimony in its coverage of the Pahalgam terror attack that left over 20 Hindu tourists dead. The outlet, notorious for routinely shielding Islamist perpetrators and peddling narratives to paint them as victims, was caught red-handed misrepresenting a crucial eyewitness account that clearly pointed to the religious targeting of non-Muslims in the attack.

The original article, published on 22 April 2025 and authored by Jehangir Ali, quoted a distraught woman who witnessed her husband being murdered by terrorists. In a widely circulated video, the woman can be heard saying that her husband was shot “because he was not a Muslim.”

The terrorists, according to multiple survivor testimonies and video evidence, stripped victims, checked their ID cards, and then executed them point blank after confirming they were Hindus.

However, The Wire seemed to have deliberately twisted the woman’s statement, claiming instead that the attackers “assumed he was a Muslim.” This not only flipped the context of the attack on its head but also blatantly attempted to erase the clear religious motive behind the massacre.

Following a wave of outrage and scrutiny on social media, The Wire quietly edited the story, sneaking in a passive footnote at the bottom:

“A previous version of the story had inadvertently quoted a woman victim saying that her husband was targeted because the attackers assumed that he was a Muslim. However, the woman can be heard saying that he was targeted for not being a Muslim. The error is regretted.”

This casual “oops” from the publication exposes the rot at the core of its editorial standards. There was no proper apology, no correction highlighted at the top of the article, and no accountability for the sheer damage caused by spreading misinformation about an ongoing terror incident. Instead of retracting the report or issuing a formal editorial note, The Wire opted for a sly update buried in the footnotes — a tactic familiar to those who have tracked its long record of distortions and ideological bias.

Worse, the so-called journalist from the publication even responded to criticism on social media with a dismissive “It was an inadvertent error, being corrected, thanks for pointing out.”

This cavalier attitude toward gross misreporting, especially during a tragedy of this scale, reeks of both arrogance and editorial negligence.

The attack in Pahalgam, which many believe was timed and motivated in response to recent anti-Hindu rhetoric from Pakistan’s military leadership, has sent shockwaves across the nation. The visuals from the site are chilling — blood-stained clothes, distraught survivors, and grieving families of newlyweds. To misquote a victim in such a context is not merely “regrettable” — it is unforgivable.

The Wire’s coverage, rather than informing the public, appears focused on protecting narratives — even if it means gaslighting survivors and whitewashing the identities and motivations of terrorists. This incident must serve as a wake-up call about the real cost of agenda-driven journalism: truth becomes collateral damage.

This is not the first time The Wire has tried to whitewash crimes of Islamists and portray them as victims. You can read more here.

(With inputs from OpIndia)

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