Red Fort Bomber Umar Nabi Talks Of Suicide Attack In New Video, Calls It A ‘Misunderstood Concept’

A week after the explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort that killed 13 people, a video of the accused bomber, Umar-un-Nabi, has surfaced. The video shows him speaking about suicide attacks and what he describes as “martyrdom.”

According to investigating agencies, the video was recorded two months before the blast. In it, Nabi attempts to present a strong justification for a suicide bombing, but police say he was unable to make a convincing case. Probe findings indicated that even members of his own module opposed the Fidayeen-style attack and rejected the suicide bombing plan, officers said.

In the video, the doctor-turned-militant argues that what is commonly referred to as a suicide bombing should instead be understood as a “martyrdom operation” in Islam.

In the clip, he said: “One of the very misunderstood concepts is the concept of what has been labelled as suicide bombing. It is a martyrdom operation, and it is known as that in Islam. There are multiple contraindications, there are multiple arguments that have been brought against it.”

He then expands on the idea, saying there are ongoing debates and objections around such operations, and describing them as acts in which an individual knowingly embraces death at a fixed place and time, a deliberate rejection of the natural uncertainty surrounding mortality.

Explaining what he believes constitutes a martyrdom mission, he said: “Martyrdom operation is when a person presumes that he is going to die for sure at a particular place, at a particular time, he goes against the presumption that he is going to die in a particular situation. It’s not, we don’t have, we don’t have a situation.”

Investigators said the video captures Umar attempting to rationalise suicide attacks by presenting them as misunderstood and misinterpreted. They noted that he begins the recording by arguing that the public fails to grasp what he calls the “real concept” behind such acts.

“The biggest mistake people make is failing to understand what the Liberia bombing, or the idea of suicide bombing, truly is. It is not democratic, nor can it be accepted in any civilized society. There are many contradictions and countless arguments against it,” he says in the video.

He goes on to claim that the mindset behind such attacks stems from the belief that death is inevitable once a mission is accepted, a psychological shift that he argues pushes individuals into a predetermined acceptance of death.

“The core problem with suicide attacks is that when someone becomes convinced they will die at a specific time and place, they slip into a dangerous state of mind. They begin to believe that death is their only destination,” he says.

He further mentioned that such actions and thought processes cannot be justified in any democratic or civilised framework, saying they violate the fundamental principles that underpin society.

“But the truth is that such thinking, or such circumstances, cannot be accepted in any democratic or humane system, because they violate the basic principles of life, society, and law,” he says.

According to sources, investigators have recovered multiple videos of Umar Nabi from his digital devices. The clips appear to be practice recordings in which he attempts to build an argument in favour of carrying out a suicide attack.

Sources said Umar felt the need to record such videos because other members of the module were not convinced about executing a suicide operation. At least one member, identified as Danish, had backed out of participating in a suicide bombing, they added.

Investigators probing the Red Fort blast, which killed 13 people and injured several others, quickly zeroed in on Dr Umar-un-Nabi after analysing CCTV footage and forensic evidence recovered from the site.

Intelligence officials said his movements before and after the explosion matched the route taken by the bomber, and electronic surveillance proved that he was driving the i20 in the vicinity minutes before the blast.

Soon after the blast, material linked to the attack allowed agencies to trace the plot back to him and identify him as one of the key operatives behind the bombing.