New Delhi: Following the furore over the ISIS video in which Indian recruits are seen threatening to wage a war in India, the Centre on Tuesday asserted that no amount of threats from terrorists could make any difference whatsoever as every citizen in the country, including Muslims, would stand united against such destructive forces.
"India is a land of peace and prosperity and there is no place here for those who support terrorism. Patriotism is filled in every Muslim in this country. Be it videos or threats, it`s not going to make much of difference," Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told ANI here.
He further said that the nation will come together to fight against such forces threatening the peace and sovereignty. In a latest video released by the ISIS, Indian Jihadis, including Thane engineering student Fahad Tanvir Sheikh, has issued a warning and vowed to avenge the demolition of the Babri Mosque and the purported killing of Muslims across the country.
Four youth from Mumbai`s Kalyan - Aarif Majid, Fahad Tanvir Sheikh, Amaan Tandel and Saheem Tanki - had fled to Iraq in May 2014 to join ISIS. Out of these, Aarif Majid has been taken into custody by the NIA soon after his return from Syria. Shahim Tanki is supposed to have been killed in a bomb attack in Raqqa last year, as claimed by Sheikh in the video.
"Our Muslim brothers should come forward to fight the ISIS. Just by criticizing them on paper won`t do. If they (ISIS) speak of raising swords against us then the people of all faiths should take up swords and aptly respond," Raut added.
The ISIS operatives in the video also urge the Muslims in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan region to join their movement to establish an Islamic caliphate.According to a leading national daily, Fahad Tanvir Sheikh is the only individual conclusively identified in the video.
Reports state that several still-to-be-identified members in the video could be former members of the Indian Mujahideen.
The video also claims that `cow-worshipping` Hindus are responsible for violence against Muslims in many places, including Mumbai, Gujarat, Assam and Moradabad.
One of the Jihadis, speaking in English, also gave a stern warning to India and said either accept Islam, pay Jiziya (a medieval tax for non-believers of Islam) or be prepared to be slaughtered.
The Jihadis have also launched a tirade against the Indian Muslims for maintaining trade and social relations with the `infidels`. They have has also criticised the Muslim politicians and clerics for compromising with a purported tyrannical system responsible for massacring Muslims.
