Modi responds to al-Qaeda remarks
September 23, 2014 11:49 am
Al-Qaeda Chief recently said that it has launched a new wing in South Asia. In respond to this observation Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an interview with the CNN has said that al Qaeda will fail if it seeks to spread its terror network into his country because Muslims there “will die for India.”
Al Qaeda announced plans this month to launch a new branch in the Indian subcontinent, in a video message featuring al Qaeda leaderAyman al-Zawahiri.
Al-Zawahiri said that his group would seek support in the Indian states of Assam and Gujarat, and in Kashmir, the disputed region between India and Pakistan -- and that he wants to free Muslims from the “oppression” they face there.
But in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Modi insisted that any such efforts would not succeed.
“My understanding is that they are doing injustice towards the Muslims of our country,” he said.
“If anyone thinks Indian Muslims will dance to their tune, they are delusional. Indian Muslims will live for India. They will die for India. They will not want anything bad for India.”
Asked why so few among India’s roughly 170 million Muslims have joined al Qaeda’s ranks, Modi suggested the issue was one of a wider fight for principles, rather than a question of nationality.
