India has recently seen the uncovering of several terror conspiracies, a reminder of how hard security agencies work while most people go about their daily routines.

Yet, even with their vigilance, a major terror attack still managed to hit the national capital, shockingly close to the Red Fort. This happened soon after an inter-state module of the Jaish-e-Mohammed was exposed, where officials recovered almost 2900 kilograms of explosives, assault rifles, and a variety of other ammunition. The scale alone was enough to show how deadly the planned attacks could have been.

The authorities arrested three Kashmiri doctors — Adeel Ahmed Bhat, Muzammil Shakeel (Musaib Ganaie/Ganie), and Mohammad Arif — along with several other involved individuals. Another arrest was of Dr Shaheen Saeed, a member of the same network. She is from Lal Bagh in Lucknow and had been appointed by Sadia Azhar to oversee the setting up of JeM’s women’s wing, Jamaat ul-Mominaat, in India and recruit new members. Sadia Azhar is, of course, the sister of Muhammad Masood Azhar Alvi, better known as Masood Azhar.

Meanwhile, another Kashmiri doctor, Dr Mohammad Umar un Nabi, who was also part of the conspiracy, detonated his Hyundai i20 at a highly crowded tourist area in Delhi. His explosion killed at least 13 people and left many others severely injured. Reports say he acted in panic after their terror network was exposed. All these accused individuals were affiliated with Al Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana.

Now that the terrorists have been exposed, it is hardly surprising that their dedicated supporters and apologists rushed in to begin the usual performance. They never waste a single moment when it comes to whitewashing the identities of such men or emotionally manipulating the public with carefully crafted sob stories. And right on cue, The Wire, committed as always to its expected propaganda duties, grabbed its latest “headmaster’s son” opportunity. It went on to produce a sentimental portrait of the terrorists for its loyal audience — a crowd that is either predictably extremist or dangerously gullible.

On 13th November, the platform published an article titled “We Are Doomed, What More Can Be Said: Families of Kashmiri Doctors Linked to ‘Terror Module’ Case” by Jehangir Ali. The piece practically turned the terrorists into helpless victims, and painted the state as some sort of cruel villain simply for doing what any responsible government must do.

Humanising a monster

The article opened with an interview featuring Umar Nabi’s 53-year-old father, Ghulam Nabi Bhat, who reminisced about the moment his son fulfilled his dream of becoming a doctor. The family comes from Koil in Pulwama, and the deceased terrorist — who had two brothers and a sister — was working as an assistant professor of medicine at Al Falah University.

Even though numerous reports confirmed his involvement — including DNA test results — the article claimed, “Officials have not confirmed these reports.” It then described how Bhat left his teaching job, which forced the family into financial hardship, setting up the perfect stage for The Wire’s trademark sympathy opera.

The article also included comments from Bhat’s brother, who explained how Umar Nabi’s mother “begged for his education” and how he became the sole provider for the family. The writer then highlighted that his brother cracked NEET on his second attempt and secured a place in Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, even after “studying at government-run schools in the village.”

Adding another emotional stroke, the article quoted the bomber’s uncle saying, “He has never participated in private tutoring but has consistently offered prayers,” clearly implying that religious devotion itself generated academic success.

Ironically, for such elements, religion must always be celebrated for achievements, but somehow religion bears no responsibility when its distorted forms lead individuals to carry out horrific crimes.

If the family was genuinely under such severe financial distress, should Umar Nabi not have used his position as a doctor to improve their condition instead of joining a terror group? He had the intelligence — he was one of the state’s NEET-PG toppers. He had the stability of a job. He had every opportunity granted by the nation he later targeted. Yet he chose destruction over duty, murder over medicine, and jihad over his own family’s survival.

So who exactly should be blamed for this catastrophic choice? Certainly not the security agencies, who were simply doing their job. Should they have ignored a growing terror threat because the perpetrator happened to be an academically gifted Muslim from a low-income home? He had already taken many innocent lives and shattered countless others. How many more were supposed to die to satisfy this monstrous bloodlust?

But The Wire’s article did not stop there. The terrorist was described as a “shining example,” a “hardworking student,” an “intelligent student” who wore almost torn clothes and attended college in flip-flops. As if this carefully constructed propaganda wasn’t farcical enough, the article insisted that he was merely “missing,” avoiding the simple truth: he died in the very explosion he created.

Next, the article introduced Umar Nabi’s “distraught-looking younger cousin”, sitting in a messy house with books thrown around after police raids. It spent time portraying their poverty and hardship, with the cousin calling Umar Nabi a “role model.”

The Wire kept repeating how brilliant Umar Nabi was as a student and how capable he was as a doctor, while also emphasising the family’s economic struggles. Yes, hardship exists — but these points only highlight something undeniable: education does not cancel out Islamist indoctrination. In his case, it may have even sharpened it. The man was known as the “most radicalised member” of the group. He put killing his own countrymen above helping his family or saving lives as a doctor.

And his brother-in-law was also involved in the plot, proving that the entire family was not as clueless as the emotional narrative tried to suggest.

Blatant glorification of terrorists, concocting lies to defend them

After exhausting itself in trying to build sympathy for Umar Nabi, the article shifted to the other Kashmiri terrorists — Dr Adeel Ahmad Bhat and Dr Muzzamil Shakeel Ganie. They were arrested in Saharanpur and Faridabad. Ganie lived barely 300 meters from Umar Nabi’s home, in the Huirpora neighbourhood of Koil.

The article described how his wealthy apple-farmer father bought him a payment seat worth several lakhs of rupees at Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences and Hospital in Jammu. It noted that he worked for a while at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar after earning his MBBS in 2016–17, and later moved to Al Falah University in Faridabad for his postgraduate DNB residency.

His sister, Asmat Shakeel, called him “kind and religious,” and argued that the media was fabricating the allegations against him. But what neither she nor the article mentioned is that she completed her MBBS in Bangladesh — a country recently in the spotlight for rising Islamist extremism and anti-Hindu attacks.

The Wire even felt the need to mourn the postponement of her wedding, scheduled for 9th–10th November, as though a delayed marriage ceremony were a greater tragedy than a terror plot targeting Indians. But clearly, for this outlet, the wedding mattered more than the danger these men posed.

Ganie, of course, placed jihad above wedding celebrations. And expecting a Kashmiri family to openly admit their son’s guilt — given the history of the region — would be unrealistic. Still, the article unintentionally demonstrated an important truth: no matter one’s wealth, intelligence, or education, jihadist ideology can dominate everything else.

So the idea that education defeats radicalisation? The evidence shows the opposite.

When wedding celebrations undermine innocent lives

The article once again repeated that Umar Nabi was “missing,” ignoring the growing evidence. It cited “unconfirmed reports” claiming he was evading authorities after the blast. It mentioned that a DNA test was being conducted to match his mother’s samples with remains from the wrecked car near Red Fort. But what it conveniently skipped was the fact that this very test confirmed his identity.

Instead, the article moved on to discussing Dr Shaheen Saeed and other medical professionals under investigation.

The Wire continued bending facts, spreading misleading hints, and trying to shift the blame away from the terrorists. But the truth was clear: nothing can fix someone who chooses jihad, and certainly nothing can fix media apologists who defend them.

The article even framed Umar Nabi’s verified terrorist actions as “unconfirmed reports that seek to project him, a promising young doctor as a suicide bomber.”

Had he invested even a fraction of this “promise” into medicine instead of terrorism, the tragedy could have been avoided. He would be alive, and The Wire would simply have found another extremist to romanticise.

The article lamented the hardships the family faced during police searches and interrogations — an attempt to evoke sympathy for people directly connected to an attempted mass murder. The writer clearly preferred that the authorities not uncover the terror network, even if that meant endangering more lives.

Umar Nabi’s father refused to accept his son’s real identity. His uncle dramatically declared, “We are doomed. What more can be said,” a fittingly theatrical ending for an article built on emotional manipulation rather than truth.

But if their words are accepted, then their doom is nothing but the result of their son’s choices — not the actions of the state or the security agencies. Blaming others or softening his crimes will not change the reality.

The Wire’s nauseating rhetoric

This is hardly the first time The Wire — an outlet known for giving space to rape-accused individuals — has shown sympathy towards jihadis or those accused of terrorism. It has repeatedly twisted facts to shield such individuals while demonising Hindus.

Its chief propagandist, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, openly endorsed “I Love Muhammad,” a controversy that led to widespread unrest in India. The platform has spread false narratives attacking the sacred “Jai Shree Ram” slogan. It even called the partition of India “social justice” and did its best to downplay the targeted killing of Hindu men in the Pahalgam terror attack.

Similarly, it portrayed Guflisha Fatima, a key figure in the anti-Hindu Delhi riots, as some kind of victim.

The list of such behaviour is long, and with its latest masterpiece of emotional manipulation, The Wire has added another shining gem to its blood-soaked crown of sanitising jihadis, terrorists, and anti-Hindu elements.