Indian Muslims will never dance to al Qaeda’s tune, insists Prime Minister Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said al Qaeda will struggle to recruit members in the world’s second-most populous nation and he praised ‘patriotic’ Indian Muslims for their commitment to fight for the country. Al Qaeda announced the formation of its first wing dedicated to waging jihad in South Asia earlier this month. A few days later it claimed responsibility for hijacking a Pakistani naval ship. Modi 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.

Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi

When asked why so few of India’s Muslims have joined al Qaeda, Modi characterised the threat from Islamist militancy as not about country or one race, calling it a fight between “humanity and inhumanity”. Modi has long been a hate figure for Islamist groups because of religious riots in 2002 when he was chief minister of Gujarat state. More than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, died in the violence.

This is a fight between humanity and inhumanity

Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi