- The voice in the video has been identified as that of 41-year-old Ustad Farhatullah Ghauri, aka Shahid Faisal
- Faisal was the handler of the terror module that carried out the Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru last year
- In the video, Faisal says Muslims also died in the attack, but they were not the targets
Establishing another major link between Pakistan and the suicide bombing near the Red Fort in Delhi, NDTV has accessed a propaganda video by a Pakistan-based handler praising the blast and threatening many more. The video, by the handler of the terror module that carried out the Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru last year, also says Muslims were not the target of the attack.
Recovered by agencies from dark-web channels run by Pakistan-based terror organisations like the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the voice in the 5-minute 35-second video has been identified as that of 41-year-old Ustad Farhatullah Ghauri, aka Shahid Faisal. Originally from Karnataka, Faisal fled to Saudi Arabia in 2012 and then moved to Pakistan, where he is believed to be working very closely with groups like JeM and LeT, as well as the country's infamous intelligence agency ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence).
In the video, Faisal, who was the handler of the Rameshwaram Cafe blast, is asked about his thoughts on the Delhi suicide bombing, in which 13 people were killed, and he says some Muslims also died, but they were not the targets.
When Faisal speaks about the coverage of the attack in the Indian media, a screenshot of an NDTV article is also shown.
Justifying the suicide bombings, Faisal slams "opportunistic Muslims" for joining others in criticising Islam in the wake of such actions.
Claiming not to know who carried out the attack, he says it was a result of "injustice" and warns that several more would follow.
NDTV got access to the video on Tuesday, hours after footage of Delhi bomber Dr Umar Mohammad, alias Umar-un-Nabi, emerged. In his video, Nabi said there is nothing called a suicide bombing, only "martyrdom operations".
"One of the very misunderstood concepts is the concept of what has been labelled as suicide bombing. It is a martyrdom operation... known in Islam. Now, there are multiple contradictions; there are multiple arguments that have been brought against it," he says.
Nabi's video showed the extent to which organisations like the JeM have been successful in recruiting and brainwashing highly educated professionals in India. The link of Nabi's module to the JeM had already become apparent through the doctor's colleague at Faridabad's Al Falah University, Dr Shaheen Saeed, who had allegedly been tasked with setting up the terror organisation's women's wing in India.
