There are wounds that bleed and then there are wounds that linger silently, beneath the surface, deep in the soul. For Pakistanis, such wounds are a reality. They are inflicted not only by bullets and bombs, but by the far subtler politics of words—the deliberate callousness of words used and avoided by segments of international media.

Recently, I received an open letter from a young man, Aqib Hussain, who, in his heart-wrenching letter, expressed his raw, unfiltered grief. The letter is published next to this column.

He had lost his brother, Shahzaib Hussain, in the terrorist attack on 6th February 2026. It was a suicide attack which occurred at the Khadija Tul Kubra Mosque. Besides his brother, 30 innocent people who were praying in Jumah embraced shahadat.

This was the latest terrorist attack on Pakistan, which has faced the brunt of terrorism in the last 25 years, primarily because of the War on Terror launched by the USA against the Taliban in 2001. With over eighty thousand dead and an economic loss of more than 125 billion dollars, Pakistan has indeed paid a very high price.

Aqib expressed his deep anguish not only over the death of his brother but also over the apathy of the international media, who label terrorists as “militants” or “separatists” or “fighters”.

Labelling is one of the most powerful tools available in narrative building. Words are not neutral; they are among the most powerful engines of perception. Since the general public is the end user, labelling is used as a branding apparatus to garner a specific image. Thus, when a person hears a word, he or she conjures up an image. Resultantly, a........

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