KARACHI: Indian media exploded last week with a ‘breaking news’ story involving the son of controversial Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and the elusive Mumbai don, Dawood Ibrahim, who news outlets said had become “involved” in stirring up unrest in Kashmir, reported Dawn.com on Wednesday.

According to different sections of the Indian media, Hafiz Saeed’s son had incited a crowd gathered in an unidentified location in Pakistan on Kashmir Day to take up arms against India, urging them to “be like Dawood” and exhorting them to violence against the Indian state.

As it turned out, most of the claims made in the initial story and the follow-up coverage did not hold up on closer scrutiny.

Who said what?

Prominent Indian news outlets — including Asia News International (ANI), Times of India (ToI), Zee News and DNA India — on March 2 and March 3 reported that a recently-surfaced video showed Talha Saeed addressing a rally in Pakistan on Kashmir Day (Feb 5), and telling the crowd to wage war against India using fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as an inspiration.

The ToI reported: “Talha is seen inciting a crowd to wage war against India using Dawood Ibrahim’s name.”

Zee News wrote: “Pakistan-based underworld don Dawood Ibrahim may join jihadi forces against India, JeM [Jaish-e-Mohammad] chief Hafiz Saeed’s son Talha has reportedly hinted during a recent speech.”

Zee News went on to cite ANI quoting defence experts claiming: “Talha has dropped enough hint[s] that Dawood would be actively involved in planning and executing terror strikes in Kashmir and other parts of India.”

DNA India claimed that Talha Saeed “talked about a Dawood-linked jihad on India” and was “seen inciting a crowd to wage war against India using Dawood Ibrahim’s name”.

ANI also reported on the concerns raised by two ‘defence experts’ — Flying Officer Shivali Deshpande and security analyst Brig S.K. Chatterjee — who urged Indian security officials “to view Hafiz Saeed’s son’s speech last month with alarm, as he talked about a Dawood-linked jihad on India”.

Mr Deshpande, quoted by ANI, said: “He hinted that Dawood and jihad could be joined together and terrorism can be conducted. Now this is a big alarm for Indian security forces that they are associating Dawood Ibrahim also with terrorist activities.”

“We need to be very alert and vigilant now, especially because Dawood has also joined hands with JuD and jointly they will be conducting terrorist activities,” she said.

The report went on to say that India’s intelligence agencies were now investigating a possible link between Ibrahim and JuD.

The ‘evidence’

Videos uploaded by ToI and India Today with proof of their claims show a man shouting slogans at a rally, asking the crowd if they want to become judges, policemen or doctors, to which the crowd replies no.

However, when the man asked them if they want to become like “Burhan” and “Dawood”, the crowd responds in the affirmative.

The charge-sheet

Both Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim are internationally designated terrorists who stand accused of sponsoring various attacks in India and India-held Kashmir (IHK).

The JuD leader is currently under house arrest and his activities along with the organisations run by him are under scrutiny by the Pakistani authorities.

However, though it has been claimed that Ibrahim, who is wanted for multiple crimes in India, is hiding in Pakistan, the accusation has never been substantiated.

In a reply submitted to the Indian parliament in May 2015, the Indian Home Ministry itself admitted that the government had no clue about his whereabouts.

Notwithstanding this, there are significant problems and factual inaccuracies in Indian media’s reportage on this story, and it is disturbing to see IHK’s struggle for self-determination being twisted to suit state narratives.

The video

The original video of the freedom rally — from which Indian media excerpted the inflammatory bits — was shared on video-streaming website YouTube five months ago, according to the person who uploaded it.

The uploader also said that the video was shot on Sept 1, 2016 — not on Kashmir Day (Feb 5, 2017), as wrongly claimed by Indian media.

YouTube’s own timestamp of the date the video was uploaded shows it was done in September last year.

An opening shot from the original video shows a banner reading ‘Ittehad-i-Millat Conference (Okey, Kulgam)’.

The video’s uploader told Dawn.com that he had filmed the video at a freedom rally in Kulgam, which is located deep in IHK.

Hafiz Saeed’s son

A brief moment in the beginning of the original video shows a man who later leads the rally in sloganeering against India.

From his appearance, it is difficult to draw similarities with Talha Saeed, who has a beard and a heavier frame.

Furthermore, there is a difference in speech patterns between the man shouting slogans and what Talha Saeed himself sounds like.

Misrepresentation

Given the context of this gathering, the Indian media inferred that ‘Burhan’ most likely refers to slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani — lionised as a young, charismatic hero by Kashmiri freedom fighters, who was killed by Indian security forces in July, triggering protests across the valley.

In the same vein, when the man leading the rally asks attendees if they want to “become like Qasim”, it would seem to be a reference to Lashkar-e-Taiba operations chief Abu Qasim, a militant commander killed by Indian forces in Kulgam (where the rally was held) in 2015.

Assuming that those gathered at the ‘freedom rally’ are being encouraged to emulate Kashmiri icons, it is possible or rather, more in line with the context of the sloganeering that the Dawood mentioned here is not Dawood Ibrahim, but slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Dawood Sheikh, a prominent militant who was killed by Indian forces in an encounter in Kulgam in March 2016 — merely six months before this gathering took place.

After initially carrying the story, India Today and Times Now have removed it from their websites.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2017