Muslim scholars condemn al-Qaida threat

MUMBAI: Dismayed at al-Qaida's threat to India, a section of Muslim scholars have denounced the terror outfit as "a ruthless army of agent provocateurs''. Both clerics and secular activists agree that al-Qaida's threat is a tactic to win Pakistan's sympathy which is under pressure to crack down on terror camps inside that country.
Mustafa Abu al-Yadi, believed to be al-Qaida's military commander in Afghanistan and the number 2 in the terror outfit after Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a 20-minute video received by the BBC, said: "India should know that it will have to pay a heavy price if it attacks Pakistan.''
Muslim scholars have strongly condemned it.
"They claim to represent Islam and protect Muslims. But which Islam is this? This is a political game and has nothing to do with Islam or Muslims as Islam doesn't sanction its believers any right to issue threats,'' said Islamic scholar Asghar Ali Engineer.
Cleric Abu Zafar Hassan Nadvi Azhari is equally outraged. "Yeh hemaqat hai aur hemaqat ka ka koi jawaz nahi hota (This is stupidity and it has no logic),'' said Maulana Azhari, who likened the al-Qaida with radical Hindutva outfits like the Bajrang Dal and the VHP. "They are two sides of the same coin,'' he said, adding that al-Qaida was harming the interests of Muslims across the world.
Urdu columnist Hasan Kamal agreed: "By appearing as Pakistan's saviour, al-Qaida is making that country more vulnerable.''