The US may be celebrating the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. But Muslim leaders here are quick to point out that the man’s whose killing is being hailed worldwide, and particularly in America, was a creation of the US itself.
Said S.Q.R. Ilyas, a member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), “Osama bin Laden was created by the US and his forces were initially trained and supported by the US.”
His view was echoed by Mujtaba Farooq, secretary (community and national affairs) of the Jamaat-E-Islami Hind, who remarked, “The US created him, used him and then killed him.” Dubbing the US itself the “biggest terrorist”, Mr Farooq noted that in the case of Osama, the US could have captured him and made him stand trial.
Questioning if the person the US claims to have killed is even Osama, Mr Farooq further joined the chorus of criticism from many in the Muslim world regarding the dumping of the Al Qaeda leader’s body into the sea. He says not only should the US have proved to the world that it was indeed Osama who has been killed, but it should also not have dumped his body into the sea.
Speaking in a similar vein, Navaid Hamid, secretary of the South Asian Council for Minorities, said, “The CIA has killed its own vishkanya (poison girl). Who created Osama? Who backed him? And who created the Taliban?”
Blaming American agency CIA for the creation of both Osama and the Taliban, Mr Hamid said, “It’s good that the world is rid of the Osama factor”. However, he said the manner in which his body has been disposed off by the Americans is “unfortunate”.
He also wondered why Osama wasn’t captured and put on trial in the light of US government statements that he was found unarmed. As for Osama having been found living in the heart of Pakistan, Mr Hamid said this only “exposed” India’s neighbour and “the world will become aware of the double game it’s been playing”.