'What exactly are you mourning...': Father of Daniel Pearl slams Pakistani Army's presence at terrorist funeral

Judea Pearl, father of the late American-Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl, has raised questions over the presence of a Pakistani Army official at the funeral of slain terrorists.

The morning following India’s Operation Sindoor – a decisive military action that eliminated nine terror hubs across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir – witnessed Pakistani Army personnel attending the funeral of three terrorists neutralised in the strikes.

The funeral service for Qari Abdul Malik, Khalid, and Mudassir took place in Muridke under heavy security and was led by Hafiz Abdul Rauf, a known Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Judea Pearl commented, “What exactly are you mourning? What role models you wish your children to revere? What have you learned from this man?” He included a photo from the funeral service in his post, questioning the legitimacy of such reverence for terrorists.

The Indian airstrikes had targeted key terror leaders, including Abdul Rauf Azhar, the operational chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed and a central figure in Daniel Pearl’s 2002 kidnapping and murder. Azhar, younger brother of JeM founder Masood Azhar, was also behind the infamous 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814, which led to the release of Al-Qaeda operative Omar Saeed Sheikh. Sheikh later abducted and executed Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, in a brutal act that shocked the world.

Pearl had been investigating terror networks in Karachi when he disappeared on January 23, 2002. He was reportedly set to interview a religious leader when he was abducted near a café. His captors, calling themselves the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, accused him of espionage and demanded the release of Pakistani prisoners held by the United States. His body was discovered on May 16, 2002, after his execution.

India’s Operation Sindoor had precision-targeted nine terrorist locations, including the Bahawalpur strike on JeM's Markaz Subhan Allah complex. This attack reportedly killed Azhar and ten members of Masood Azhar’s family, including his sister and brother-in-law. JeM later confirmed these deaths in an official statement.