Claim
The peace letter does not even mention the word 'terrorism'.
“तुम्हारे पत्र में 'आतंकवाद' शब्द का ज़िक्र तक नहीं है।”▶ Watch source segment
Rationale
The claim refers to the June 30, 2026 'Appeal to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan by Concerned Citizens' issued by the Centre for Peace and Progress and signed by 117 Indians and Pakistanis (including Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Manoj Jha, Khurshid Kasuri). Across all available coverage as of the broadcast date — both sympathetic (The Wire, FPJ, IANS) and hostile (OpIndia, Organiser, Republic) — every verbatim passage of the letter speaks of 'hostilities', 'mistrust and confrontation' and 'legitimate security concerns', and no outlet or defender cites any sentence in it using the word 'terrorism'; critics across the political spectrum attacked it for exactly this omission. No dedicated fact-check by AltNews/BOOM/Factly/Newschecker/PIB was found, and the complete verbatim text was not independently obtainable, so confidence is moderate rather than high, but the convergent evidence supports the anchor's specific factual assertion that the letter does not use the word 'terrorism'.
Evidence
- https://m.thewire.in/article/south-asia/over-100-prominent-citizens-india-pakistan-call-for-ending-hostilities/amp The Wire's sympathetic coverage reproduces the appeal's key passages verbatim (opening, dialogue rationale, conclusion); none of the quoted letter text contains the words 'terrorism' or 'terror', and the letter is framed around 'hostilities', 'mistrust and confrontation' instead. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/dialogue-remains-the-only-viable-way-117-eminent-indians-pakistanis-write-to-pms-modi-and-sharif-seeking-peace-initiative FPJ's report on the June 30, 2026 'Appeal to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan by Concerned Citizens' (Centre for Peace and Progress, 117 signatories) quotes the letter and summarizes its recommendations; 'terrorism' does not appear in any quoted letter text — the closest language is a paraphrased call to address the 'legitimate security concerns of both countries'. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://www.opindia.com/2026/07/pakistan-pleads-61-indian-aman-ki-asha-enthusiasts-amplify-read-how-they-want-pm-modi-to-revive-the-musharraf-manmohan-kashmir-formula/ OpIndia reproduces extensive portions of the letter and attacks it precisely for omitting Pakistan-sponsored terrorism; none of the reproduced letter passages contain 'terrorism', 'terror', 'Pahalgam' or 'cross-border'. ✓ reachable · archived
- https://organiser.org/2026/07/02/360695/world/india-pak-reconciliation-appeal-in-an-open-letter-by-a-section-of-indians-draws-fire-amid-cross-border-terror-concerns/ Organiser's critique argues the letter equates 'perpetrators of terrorism and victims of terrorism' and fails to demand Pakistan stop terror — criticism premised on the letter not addressing terrorism, with no terrorism-mentioning passage cited by anyone. ✓ reachable · archived