Claim

These eminent signatories have never demanded the arrest, prosecution and punishment of terrorists such as Hafiz Saeed, Maulana Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar.

“इन प्रतिष्ठित व्यक्तियों ने कभी भी मोहम्मद जेड जैसे आतंकवादियों और आतंक के उस मौलाना मसूद आर और दाऊद इब्राहिम कास्कर जैसे आतंकवादियों की गिरफ्तारी, अभियोजन और सजा की मांग नहीं की है।”

Rationale

The anchor's claim is a sweeping universal negative about the entire public record of 61 Indian signatories. Its kernel of truth is that the June 30, 2026 open letter itself makes no reference to terrorism or to Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar or Dawood Ibrahim while urging normalized ties. However, no source — including coverage hostile to the letter — documents a survey of the signatories' past statements, and at least some signatories (e.g., Farooq Abdullah, whose list also includes former RAW chief A.S. Dulat) have publicly demanded decisive action against Pakistan-based terrorists, even if not the specific formula 'arrest, prosecution and punishment' of the three named men. No Indian fact-checker (AltNews, BOOM, Factly, Newschecker, PIB) had examined the claim as of the broadcast date. Presenting an unverified universal negative as established fact, while the letter-omission point is accurate, makes the claim misleading rather than strictly accurate or provably false.

Evidence

• https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/revive-bilateral-dialogue-restore-normal-ties-politicians-former-diplomats-from-india-pakistan-urge-both-govts/ The June 30, 2026 open letter (61 Indian + 55 Pakistani signatories, coordinated by O.P. Shah's Centre for Peace and Progress) demands restored diplomacy, visas, trade and dialogue; the letter text contains no mention of terrorism or of Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar or Dawood Ibrahim — supporting the narrow point that the letter itself omits terror accountability. ✓ reachable · archived
• https://www.opindia.com/2026/07/read-who-are-the-indian-signatories-of-the-aman-ki-asha-letter-to-the-pms-of-india-and-pakistan/ Names the Indian signatories (Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, A.S. Dulat, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Manoj Jha, Jawhar Sircar, etc.); this sympathetic-to-the-anchor source likewise offers no evidence surveying the signatories' full public records on demanding terrorists' arrest. ✓ reachable · archived
• https://www.businesstoday.in/amp/india/story/threw-two-nation-theory-in-water-farooq-abdullah-slams-pakistan-over-pahalgam-terror-strike-473904-2025-04-28 Signatory Farooq Abdullah publicly condemned Pakistan over the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, said its actions 'murdered humanity', and demanded decisive action so such attacks never recur — counter-evidence to the sweeping characterization that signatories never sought action against Pakistan-based terrorism. ✓ reachable · archived
• https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/j-k/terrorism-will-never-succeed-farooq-on-killing-of-pahalgam-perpetrators/ Farooq Abdullah called the elimination of the Pahalgam perpetrators proof that 'terrorism will never succeed', further showing signatories have publicly backed punitive action against terrorists. ✓ reachable · archived