Ahead of his visit to the US later this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that terror outfit Al Qaeda will find it difficult to recruit members in India and praised Indian Muslims for their commitment to fight for the country saying “they will live for India and they will die for India”.
In an interview to International TV channel, CNN, Modi said Indian Muslims will not dance to the tune of Al Qaeda, which has declared war against India. Earlier this month, Al Qaeda had announced the formation of its first wing dedicated to waging jehad in South Asia aimed “to end the suffering of Muslims” in places such as Kashmir.
“My understanding is that they (al Qaeda) are doing injustice towards the Muslims of our country. If anyone thinks Indian Muslims will dance to their (al Qaeda’s) tune, they are delusional. Indian Muslims will live for India, they will die for India — they will not want anything bad for India,” he told CNN.He was replying a question on a video appeal by head of Al Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahari for setting up base for the terror outfit in India and South Asia to free Muslims from the “oppression” they faced in Kashmir and Gujarat.
The Prime Minister was also asked a question about the phenomenon that out of the 170 million Muslims in India, there seemed to be no or very few members of Al Qaeda even though it is so active in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Modi answered that first he was not the authority for doing a psychological and religious analysis on this, “but the question is whether or not humanity should be defended in the world. Whether or not, believers in humanity should unite. This is a crisis against humanity, not a crisis against one country or one race. So we have to frame this as a fight between humanity and inhumanity, nothing else,” he said.
Questioning the timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement ahead of his US visit, the Congress wondered whether BJP and its other leaders adhere to it and pointed to alleged anti-Muslim statements of senior BJP leaders. “He has made this statement but let us see whether his party adheres to his statement,” Congress spokesman Salman Khurshid told reporters.
“What the Prime Minister has said is welcome and there cannot be any objection to it. But did he take his colleagues Yogi Adityanath, Giriraj Singh and Amit Shah on board on the issue as they have often been heard saying something elseIJ
“....What is the reason that he said this ahead of his visit to the USIJ Why did he not say that when he was addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort,” Khurshid said.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, a known detractor of Modi, also had a dig at him.“Modi’s ‘Patriotism of Muslims can’t be questioned and they can give their life for the Country.’ What a pleasant Turn Around! Does he mean itIJ” he tweeted.
The BJP, however, strongly defended Modi’s remark saying the Prime Minister was only voicing the party’s opinion towards the minority community.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said that the PM only voiced the party’s opinion towards the minority community. “Modi’s statements are totally fine. Indian Muslims have always lived and would die for the nation. In Kargil War too we saw that. This has been his thinking always, we are with minorities he has just said that,” he said.
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptullah said she was thrilled at PM’s response. “He has mentioned this to us in the past. I am glad that he is now speaking in public. It will prevent young Muslim boys from falling in ISIS, Al Qaeda trap. It’s laughable if opposition and critics are still labeling Modi as anti-Muslim,” she said.
To other questions on Indo-US relations, Modi said it was possible for the US and India to develop a genuinely strategic alliance. Modi is to meet US President Barack Obama later this month.
“I have a one word answer, and with great confidence I say - yes. let me explain - there are many similarities between the US and India. If you look at the last few centuries, two things come to light - America has absorbed people from around the world, and there is an Indian in every part of the world. This characterises both the societies,” he said.