Rana Ayyub, an accused in a September 2021 money-laundering case and a Washington Post columnist, wrote this after Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim elected to the US Senate: “Abdul can fix punctures by day and bring regime change by night.” Rana added: “Take that!” Rana has been kind enough to tell us two things an Abdul can do. I’m here to take the debate forward and tell you what else has been done in the name of Islam, by jihadists.
In March 1993, Dawood Ibrahim, head of the D-Company, along with Tiger Memon, coordinated a series of 12 bombings that took the lives of 257 Indians and injured 1,400. Why? Per police, to take revenge for the 1992 Babri demolition. This was the case that led to the hanging of the jihadist Yakub Memon in July 2015. Dawood and Tiger are still believed to be in Pakistan.
Eight years later, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked India’s Parliament in December 2001. The reason? Kashmir separatism, according to the conviction record of another jihadist, Afzal Guru. A car full of five jihadists, Rana, please note, entered Parliament using Home Ministry and Parliament labels. All five were killed by our security forces. This attack, Rana, you must be aware, killed nine people and injured 18. Afzal paid for his role: sentenced to death in 2002, he was hanged in 2013.
Taking a break of seven years, the Indian Mujahideen conducted the September 2008 Delhi blasts in Connaught Place, Karol Bagh and Greater Kailash. This attack took 26 lives and injured 135, per Delhi Police. The police charged 29 alleged IM operatives, including its co-founders Yasin, Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal. The jihadist group emailed media channels minutes before the first blast. Police say Yasin Bhatkal prepared the explosives at a farmhouse in Chikmagalur, using “cycle ball bearings.” That’s the talent of a jihadist, Rana, not just changing regimes. Take that!
Merely 74 days had passed when 26/11 came. Ten Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadist terrorists left Karachi by sea, hijacked the Indian trawler Kuber, killed four crew members and forced the captain to steer to Mumbai. These terrorists went on a killing spree at the Taj Mahal Palace, the Oberoi-Trident, CST station, Nariman (Chabad) House, Leopold Cafe and Cama Hospital, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel. Why? I know you’ll say: I don’t know. No worries, I’m here to let you know. The aim was to strike India’s financial capital, with Westerners and Jews deliberately chosen. Nine of the ten were killed, while the brave Tukaram Omble captured Ajmal Kasab, giving his life to do it. Kasab was hanged in 2012. India named Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi as the masterminds.
Then, ten years later, came Pulwama. In February 2019, at 3:15 pm, Adil Ahmad Dar, a 22-year-old from Kakapora in Pulwama affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying about 2,500 personnel. The attack, at Lethapora on the Jammu–Srinagar highway, killed 40 CRPF personnel and led to India’s Balakot strike. JeM claimed responsibility and even released a video of Dar. The task was assigned to Dar by JeM chief Masood Azhar.
Last year, in April 2025, the Pahalgam attack killed 26 people. And why were they killed, Rana? Because they could not recite the kalma. This might help: “They asked the men to separate into Muslims and Hindus. They then asked everyone to recite the ‘Kalma’ three times. Those who couldn’t were shot,” said the son of Shailesh Kalathiya of Surat, who watched his father die.
And in November 2025 came the Red Fort blast, which killed 15. Remember Dr Umar Nabi, who called suicide bombing “a martyrdom operation… known in Islam”?
So yes, Rana, Abdul can fix punctures by day and win a Senate seat. Good for him. The jihadists, whatever names they carry, only know how to kill. Take that!
