Umar video on suicide attacks reveals brainwashing: Experts

NEW DELHI: A chilling video of Delhi's car bomber Umar Un Nabi surfaced on Tuesday, attempting to justify suicide attacks by calling them as "martyrdom operations".

Sources said the video was found in Umar's phone, which he had left back home in Pulwama.


Umar's brother, who had earlier tried to dispose of the handset initially in a pond because of fear of getting involved, handed over the phone to agencies. The video was shot close to the day of the Delhi blast.

Intelligence officials pointed out that this was a typical page from ISI's playbook to alleviate the dilemma faced by several recruits who consider suicide as forbidden. Notorious terror recruiter and Hafiz Saeed's aide, Abdul Rehman Makki, had even written a book on this topic.

Dr Rajiv Mehta, senior consultant psychiatrist at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, said the man's manner of speech indicated he was brainwashed.

Umar doesn't stare into camera... doesn't want to make video look scripted, say psychologists

Delhi bomber Umar, who drove the explosive-laden i20 that blew up near Delhi's Red Fort on Nov 10, is heard on video differentiating between fidayeen operations and suicide attacks. The terrorist is seen talking - appears to be explaining to someone on video - about how one of the very misunderstood concepts was the notion of what has been labelled as suicide bombing.

"It's a martyrdom operation and it is...known in Islam," he said.

Speaking in broken English but with an accent, Umar talked about "dieing (sic) at a particular place..at a particular time", corroborating a line of investigation that he was waiting to blow up the IED after Maghrib and Isha namaz in the evening.

"There are multiple contraindications (sic).... There are multiple arguments that have been brought against it. Martyrdom operation is when a person presumes that he is going to surely die at a particular place, at a particular time...," he was heard saying in video.

"He goes against the presumption that a particular person is going to die in a particular situation," he said.

He went on to say that the core problem with suicide attacks is that when someone becomes convinced they will die at a particular time and particular place, they slip into a dangerous state of mind. They begin to believe that death is their only destination.

"The biggest mistake people make is failing to understand what the idea of suicide bombing - truly is..," he added in the video.

Psychologists agreed that the video sheds light on Umar's hardline jihadi ideology, shows that he was ready for a "suicide attack". He did not stare into the camera, talked while pretending to think - didn't want to make it look scripted, they noted.

Dr Rajiv Mehta, senior consultant psychiatrist at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, said the individual's body language in the video suggested a high degree of confidence. The man appeared to be certain that he would be praised for what he was doing.

He seemed to be attempting to inspire others by portraying his actions as necessary steps taken for a specific cause.

Get an chance to win ₹5000 Amazon Voucher by taking part in India's Biggest Habit Index! Take the survey here