‘Million Abdul Raufs in Pakistan': Ex-minister Hina Rabbani Khar exposed on live TV over terrorist's funeral photo

Hindustan Times

09-07-2025

Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's former foreign minister, faced an awkward moment on live TV when she tried to portray a designated terrorist as a "common man", only to be promptly fact-checked by the host. Former Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar during her interview with Al Jazeera, where she was fact-checked over remarks dismissing a US-designated terrorist's identity in a viral funeral image.(AFP and a screengrab from 'X')
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hina Rabbani Khar was defending Pakistan's position on Hafiz Abdur Rauf, a US-sanctioned global terrorist seen leading the funeral procession of terrorists killed in India's Operation Sindoor on May 7.
The journalist then presented a widely circulated photograph of Rauf, the same photo was part of key evidence in India's global outreach in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people.
Trying to prove the claims as wrong, Khar insisted the man in the now-viral funeral image was not the Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked figure wanted by the US. She said, "There are a million Abdul Raufs in Pakistan."
'I am telling you, with authority, with evidence which has been shared with the whole world, that this is not the man that you (India) are claiming it to be. That is not the man you are claiming it to be,' she said, holding up the photo as part of her argument.
Anchor counters with facts, ID match
But the interview took a sharp turn when the news channel's anchor confronted her with evidence linking the man in the photo to the US-designated terrorist. The journalist said her and the Pakistan military's statements are different.
'They (Pakistan army) said that he's a member of a political party, and they released his national ID number. That ID number is the same one as on the US sanctions list. So, according to the US sanctions terrorist list, this man is a terrorist,' the journalist said, exposing the contradiction in Pakistan's narrative.
Cornered by the evidence, Khar scrambled to draw a distinction between the individual defended by the Pakistani military and the person on the US blacklist.
'The Pakistani army is defending this man (in viral photo). The Pakistani army is not defending the person who is proscribed by the US,' she argued.
However, the interviewer immediately pointed out that the identity card released by Pakistan's own army matched the ID number listed on the US sanctions list—leaving little room for denial.
ISPR's details match US database
After India's operation on Pakistan's terror hubs, at a press conference in May, Pakistan's Director General ISPR Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had confirmed the man seen in the funeral video is named Hafiz Abdur Rauf.
'This man is Hafiz Abdur Rauf, who is leading the prayers. He has three daughters, a son, and he was born in March 1973. You can see his family details and everything,' Chaudhry said.
Also Read | Who is Hafiz Abdul Rauf, man leading funeral of terrorists killed in Operation Sindoor?
While he described the man as an ordinary Pakistani, the ID number and personal details presented by ISPR match those listed in the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions database.
India cited the development as further proof of the nexus between Pakistan's state agencies and internationally sanctioned terrorist groups. A statement from India's Press Information Bureau at that time, said, 'The identity details shared by DG ISPR completely overlap with the details of Hafiz Abdur Rauf, a member of LeT's senior leadership since at least 1999 and part of the US Sanctions List.'
Top officials attend funeral of slain terrorists
Rauf, a close aide of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, is also the former head of the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), an LeT front organisation banned in several countries.
The funeral was held at the Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarters in Muridke, Punjab. Photographs and video footage show senior Pakistani police and military officials in attendance. A ceremonial wreath was sent by Punjab chief minister Maryam Nawaz, the niece of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Rauf is listed under various aliases and addresses in the OFAC database, including locations across Lahore such as 4 Lake Road, Choburji Dola Khurd, Jinnah Block, and Chamberlain Road. He held Pakistani passports CM1074131 and A7523531, issued in 2008 and expired in 2013 — details that further confirm his identity as per international records.