{"id":298489,"date":"2025-05-09T21:22:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=298489"},"modified":"2025-05-10T16:12:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T10:42:44","slug":"his-name-was-qari-mohammad-iqbal-he-was-not-a-terrorist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/his-name-was-qari-mohammad-iqbal-he-was-not-a-terrorist\/","title":{"rendered":"His name was Qari Mohammad Iqbal. He was not a terrorist."},"content":{"rendered":"

On the morning of May 7, the death of Qari Mohammad Iqbal became the focal point of news segments across media channels. He was labelled a “most-wanted terrorist” and a “top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander”. His death seemed to have marked the success of Operation Sindoor, a series of military strikes launched by the Indian armed forces to target nine sites that were a breeding ground for terrorism<\/a> in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Indian action came a fortnight after of 26 civilians were killed in Pahalgam, Kashmir, by terrorists with alleged links to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).<\/p>\n

The Indian strikes came on the intervening night of May 6 and 7. Shortly after this, there were reports<\/a> of heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan on forward villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch and Rajouri areas of Jammu and Kashmir. The LoC is an over 700-km de facto military border separating the two countries. The following day, May 8, the defence ministry confirmed that <\/a>Pakistan tried to target multiple military installations in Western India and that\u00a016 people were killed<\/a> due to firing by the neighbouring country.<\/p>\n

Qari Mohammad Iqbal was among those killed on May 7. Conferred with the title Qari, someone who reads and recites the Quran, he was dubbed a terrorist by mainstream media outlets. They said he was hiding in Kotli, Pakistan, and was killed by India as they targeted terror bases.<\/p>\n

On May 7, news channel Republic <\/a>aired a blurred image of the man’s corpse. The channel said he was a “top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander” involved in major terrorist attacks, including Pulwama.<\/p>\n

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ABP’s May 7 report on his killing had the headline: “\u092e\u093f\u091f\u094d\u091f\u0940 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092e\u093f\u0932 \u0917\u092f\u093e \u092e\u094b\u0938\u094d\u091f \u0935\u093e\u0902\u091f\u0947\u0902\u0921 \u0906\u0924\u0902\u0915\u0940 \u0915\u093e\u0930\u0940 \u092e\u094b\u0939\u092e\u094d\u092e\u0926 \u0907\u0915\u092c\u093e\u0932, \u0918\u093e\u091f\u0940 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0922\u0942\u0902\u0922\u093c \u0930\u0939\u0940 \u0925\u0940 \u090f\u091c\u0947\u0902\u0938\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0902; \u092d\u093e\u0930\u0924 \u0915\u0947 \u090f\u092f\u0930\u0938\u094d\u091f\u094d\u0930\u093e\u0907\u0915 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0939\u0941\u0906 \u0922\u0947\u0930”. This translates to “Most-wanted terrorist Qari Mohammad Iqbal reduced to dust. Agencies were searching for him in the valley; he was killed in India\u2019s airstrike”. (Archive<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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His death was also the key focus of a segment hosted by senior CNN-News18 journalist Rahul Shivshankar.\u00a0 “Lashkar Terrorist Qari Muhammad Iqbal, A Religious Preacher, Killed In Kotli By Indian Strikes,” the channel’s YouTube video said.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nr00n01f9MI?si=RW5_8uw0qmg4JX7u]<\/p>\n

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Zee News, too, aired a blurred image of his corpse with the ticker, “Terrorist Qari Mohammad Iqbal killed”.<\/p>\n

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News18 India’s reportage was similar. The channel said that Mohammed Iqbal was among the Lashkar terrorists India had been trying to track for a long time.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/video.twimg.com\/amplify_video\/1920430419540869120\/vid\/avc1\/358x632\/xx4rnZOanIgOWELn.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Regional media outlets <\/span>ABP Majha<\/a> (Marathi) and <\/span>News18 MP-Chhattisgarh<\/a> also aired the news that the Indian armed forces had killes the “terrorist” in Kotli.<\/span><\/p>\n