Al-Qaeda report formation of Indian subgroup

The As-Sahab Media Foundation, media arm of Al-Qaeda yesterday released a 55 minute video in which Al- Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri announced the formation of a new branch in the Indian subcontinent.  

Warning  “the oppressive and criminal government of India that every crime has a punishment… the oppressed will get their rights back even if it takes some time”. “A massacre of Muslims is being carried out these days” says Al-Zawahiri, accusing the Western media of “colluding with the killers to belittle its significance and hide the facts”.

it is evident it is not your right to rule by your Shariah, even if the overwhelming majority of your people support you Al-Qaela leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri

In a veiled reference to the growing Al-Qaeda/Islamic State divide amongst radical Islamists, the speech exhorts Muslim scholars to unite under a common agenda and “confront the alliance of India, the West, secularists and atheists”, adding that “it is evident it is not your right to rule by your Shariah, even if the overwhelming majority of your people support you. This is because democracy is a one-way highway that lands you in a position where you can serve the West. But if you try to use democracy to oppose the interest of the West, you are a terrorist”

Zawahri describes the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as positive news for Muslims in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujurat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir, saying the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.

Senior Pakistani Taliban fighter Asim Umar also speaks in the video - using the Urdu language of Pakistan rather Arabic - along with a new group spokesman identified as Usama Mahmoud.

In comments to foreign media, academic Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University gave his interpretation of the rationale behind the announcement. "They are losing a lot of constituents to the Islamic State, and they are mostly Arabs" he said.

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