Operation Sindoor brings joy to the American Jews
When India attacked nine terror targets within Pakistan on 7 May that led to the killing of the operational head of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) Abdul Rauf Azhar, American Jews were amongst those who celebrated his elimination. Rauf was the younger brother of UN designated terrorist and chief of JEM Maulana Masood Azhar.
When, under Operation Sindoor, India avenged the deaths of the 26 people of the Pahalgam attack, which took place on 22 April, it also had a far-reaching impact on the global fight against terrorism. Rauf Azhar was the mastermind of the IC814 hijacking and was also involved in the kidnapping and beheading of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl (an American Jew) in 2002. Hence, the rejoicing of the American Jewish community at Rauf’s killing.
It may be recalled that Rauf Azhar orchestrated the 1999 Kandahar hijack, which facilitated the release of Omar Saeed Sheikh, a key Al-Qaeda operative, who kidnapped and murdered Pearl. The journalist was beheaded in 2002 – an execution that shocked the world.
An investigative journalist, Pearl had disappeared in Karachi on 23 January 2002. He was reportedly scheduled to interview a religious leader as part of his investigation. He was abducted near a cafe, where terrorists captured him and accused him of being a spy. Identifying themselves as the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, the group demanded the release of Pakistanis imprisoned by the US and later beheaded Pearl.
Meanwhile, the American-Jewish community, human rights activists and international voices from across the world have expressed their support to India in avenging his killing. “Rauf Azhar orchestrated the hijacking that led to the release of Omar Sheikh – the man who lured Pearl into captivity. Sheikh was later sentenced to death but ultimately released from prison and kept in a ‘government safe house’,” said Daniel’s father Judea Pearl.
“India delivered justice for the brutal murder of American-Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl by eliminating Abdul Rauf Azhar, the Jaish-e-Mohammed commander and key conspirator behind Pearl’s kidnapping, torture and beheading,” says American activist Amy Mek. “Abdul Rauf Azhar wasn’t just a terrorist; he was the brother of Masood Azhar, JeM’s founder and a mastermind behind some of the most heinous Islamic attacks,” she adds. “Operation Sindoor struck at the heart of terror, hitting Jaish-e-Mohammed strongholds and sending a clear message – that India will not stand by while radicals slaughtered non-Muslims. To India, ‘thank you’ for standing strong against Islamic terror and taking the fight directly to the jihadis.”
Finally, justice delivered
Former US Special Envoy Ellie Cohanim also expressed her gratitude: “For too long, we did not see justice for the evil beheading of Daniel Pearl. Personally grateful to the government of India. Daniel Pearl is forever memorialised by his last words echoing thousands of years of Jewish history and persecution: ‘My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish’.”
Prominent voices including American author Pamela Geller, international human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky and Israeli journalist Emily Schrader also have thanked India for the strike. “India kills a Muslim terrorist, who beheaded Jewish-American Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Thank you, India!” Geller wrote.
The Bahawalpur site, long believed to be a major base for JeM’s terrorist operations, was reduced to rubble in the strike under Operation Sindoor on 7 May. Maulana Masood Azhar, who is also accused of orchestrating multiple deadly attacks, including the 2019 Pulwama bombing, which killed 40 CRPF personnel, survived the attack, though members of his extended family died.