'Look who is behind him': Indian envoy slams Pakistan with photo evidence

India's envoy to UK shows photo of Pakistan military at funeral of slain terrorists; says Hafiz Abdur Rauf, brother of JeM chief, seen with officers, coffins draped in national flag

India’s High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, has presented what he called irrefutable visual evidence linking Pakistan’s military to terrorist organisations. 

 

In an interview with Sky News, Doraiswami displayed a large photograph that purportedly shows top Pakistani military officials alongside a US-designated terrorist at a funeral ceremony.

 

The photograph, also shared during a press conference in New Delhi, shows Hafiz Abdur Rauf — brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar — attending the funeral of militants reportedly killed by Indian forces under ‘Operation Sindoor’. Rauf, who is under US sanctions, is seen standing in front of coffins draped in Pakistani flags, flanked by uniformed military personnel.

 

“Let me show you this photograph from yesterday,” Doraiswami said during the interview. “I believe it is for your viewers. This person here is a sanctioned terrorist under the American sanctions regime. His name is Hafiz Abdur Rauf. He’s a brother of the founder of the terrorist group that you're mentioning. Look who is behind him. Pakistani military. Look at the coffins there. They have the Pakistani national flag. If you're going to be giving terrorists state funerals, what does that make of your system?” 

 

  Operation Sindoor and retaliatory strikes

The image was made public shortly after India conducted a series of coordinated airstrikes in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The strikes came in response to a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which killed 26 people.

 

One of the key targets was the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur, located in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Indian intelligence has long considered the city a central hub for terrorist activity. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) circulated a social media post following the strikes, claiming the elimination of Abdul Rauf Azhar — Masood Azhar’s brother — by superimposing the word “eliminated” on his image. 

Abdul Rauf Azhar is believed to have played a key role in several major terrorist operations, including the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814, the 2001 attack on India’s Parliament, and the 2016 attack on the Pathankot Air Force base. During the IC-814 hijacking, India was compelled to release three imprisoned terrorists — one of whom was Masood Azhar — in exchange for the safety of 190 hostages.   

 

India dismisses Pakistan’s call for international probe

Doraiswami dismissed Pakistan’s appeal for an international investigation, citing past episodes that, according to him, demonstrated Islamabad's insincerity. He referred to the 2016 Pathankot attack, where India granted Pakistani investigators access to a sensitive military base, only to see the gesture go unreciprocated.

 

He also pointed to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, saying that despite India handing over comprehensive evidence to Pakistan, authorities there failed to act meaningfully. Instead, he claimed, the information was either ignored or manipulated to obscure the role of Pakistan’s “deep state” in sponsoring terror.

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