Why Al-Qaeda Chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri’s 9-Minute Video is Cause of Concern For India’s Security Agencies | EXPLAINED

Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri's video is the first proof that the man who was once Osama bin Laden’s No. 2 is still alive. His proves that Al-Qaeda keeping an eye on India as a serious ground for recruitment and may use its resources for the same. 

New Delhi: In a rare video, Ayman Mohammed Rabie Al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda‘s chief can be seen speaking on the Hijab controversy in Karnataka and showering praise on Indian student Muskan Khan (the college student from Karnataka’s Mandya district) for raising the slogans of ‘Allah-Hu-Akbar‘ while countering the mob shouting ‘Jai Shree Ram‘ in the college premises. In the 9-minute video, Zawahiri is seen dressed in a traditional white headscarf beside a poster in the background featuring a caricature of the Karnataka girl—‘ The Noble Woman of India‘. The Al-Qaeda chief composed and recited a poem praising the Karnataka student. He maintained in the video that he came to know about Muskan Khan through social media videos and is moved by the act of a ‘sister’.

“Her takbeer inspired me to write a few lines of poetry, in spite of the fact that I am not a poet. I hope that our honourable sister accepts this gift of words from me. I call upon them to lay bare the injustice that is taking place, confront this oppression, and spread the facts concerning the situation on the ground,” he said in the video, verified by the American SITE Intelligence Group. This video has also put an end to the speculations about his death.  For the unversed, rumours of the death of Ayman al-Zawahri have been in circulation.  However, the video is the first proof that the man who was once Osama bin Laden’s No. 2 is still alive.

Zawahiri also lauded the ‘free media’ for circulating the video of Muskan. “I call upon them to lay bare the injustice that is taking place, confront this oppression, and spread the facts concerning the situation on the ground,” Indian Express quoted the Al-Qaeda leader as saying.

AQ Leader Zawahiri Promotes Female Symbol of Hijab in India, Remarks on February 2022 Protests https://t.co/K3hzpLpRiW pic.twitter.com/XTo4pUGpzo

— SITE Intel – Jihadist Threat (@siteintel_jt) April 5, 2022

Why The 9-Minute Video is Cause of Concern For India? 

Al-Zawahiri’s 9-minute video has raised concern in the Indian security establishment. Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior security establishment official asserted that Zawahiri’s video proves that Al-Qaeda is keeping an eye on India as a serious ground for recruitment and may use its resources for the same.

“Zawahiri devoting so much time to a single issue is a development that cannot be ignored. A message of this kind from the dreaded terrorist is likely to energize cadres and inspire those harboring perception of persecution”, the daily quoted the top official as stating.

Besides, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said that the video of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri on the hijab row proves the involvement of an ‘invisible hand’ behind the row in the state. Speaking to reporters, Jnanendra said the suspicions are coming true with the surfacing of video.

“The Centre, the state Home Ministry, and the police department are working on it. This is a very serious matter and duly handled by the authorities,” he added.

Pramod Muthalik, the founder of ‘Sriram Sena’ has said that a terrorist organization does not have any standing to advise India. “They must address the issue related to women being treated cheaply and barbarically in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

Who is Al-Zawahri? 

Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian terrorist. He took over as al-Qaida leader after the 2011 killing of bin Laden by U.S. Navy SEALs during a daring nighttime raid deep inside Pakistan where he was hiding. Bin Laden, who masterminded the 9/11 attacks in the United States, was found in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, barely 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital of Islamabad.

Al-Zawahri has been rumored to be in Afghanistan’s northwestern Kunar and Badakhshan provinces on the border with Pakistan.

The border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan is lined with inhospitable mountain ranges that have served as redoubts for a number of militant groups.