Darul Uloom Deoband Condemns Al-Qaida Move
Darul Uloom Deoband, 08/09/14
Al-Qaida Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s video tape announcing the outfit’s India wing is anti-Muslim and a mischievous act. The Vice Chancellor Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani reasserted that Indian Muslims are non-violent and they love their country. They will never be persuaded by a terrorist group. Reacting to the video message from the al-Qaeda announcing the creation of its branch in the Indian subcontinent, Mufti Nomani said, “Islam is a non-violent religion which talks about propagating peace across the world. Followers of this peaceful religion would never buy arguments of the terrorist groups.”
He emphasized that the Indian Muslims have firm believe in the Indian secular constitution and the judiciary; therefore such provocations may not attract the attention of Indian Muslims. But, he expressed concern that Ayman al-Zawahiri’s new video tape can adversely affect the Indian Muslims and the communal forces in the country can seize this opportunity to spit venom against Muslims. The VC feared that the move may cause arrest of innocent Muslims in false terror cases as numerous Muslim youths were previously subjected to torture and imprisonment on the account of being a member of so-called SIMI or Indian Mujahidin.
Mufti Nomani also cited to the anti-terrorism fatwa issued by Darul Uloom and the All-India Anti-Terrorism Conference held in Feb 2008 which was applauded in the national and international media.
The Vice Chancellor urged the government, intelligence agencies and the media to fairly investigate the truth behind the video tape. According to him, it may be part of the conspiracies hatched against Indian Muslims in order to incriminate them.
