MANDYA/MYSURU: A day after a video emerged in which Ayman Al Zawahiri, al-Qaida chief, purportedly praises Bibi Muskan Khan for defending her right to wear the hijab, the Mandya student’s father sought to distance the family from the controversy.
In the purported video released on social media, Zawahiri praises Muskan through a poem that he allegedly penned. He is also critical of the hijab row. Mohammad Hussain Khan, Muskan’s father, told reporters on Wednesday that they don’t want any appreciation from the leader of a terror outfit. “We don’t know anything about it [video], we don’t know who he is,” Khan said. “I saw him today for the first time.
He says something in Arabic...In India, we all live peacefully like brothers with love and trust.” On the demand from a section of people for an investigation into possible links with al- Qaida, Khan, a TV technician, said police and the government are free to initiate any kind of inquiry. “His[Zawahiri] statement appears to be aimed at sowing discord and creating division among us Indians,” Khan said. Khan said the row has disturbed the peace in his family and he plans to enrol Muskan in a college that allows students to wear the hijab.
