Indian Muslims are nationalists who oppose terror: Rajnath
25 May 2015 6:19 AM IST
He lauded India's Muslims for not allowing fundamentalist groups like ISIS to influence them.
Responding to questions here after an event, he said terrorism should not be associated with a particular religion.
"Muslims in India are nationalists. They have always opposed such (terror) elements. They have opposed and demoralised them," the Union Home Minister said.
He said several countries in the world are facing the menace of terrorism and they should fight unitedly against it.
To a question regarding <g data-gr-id="45">naxalism</g>, Singh said, "though I don't believe in the figures, if one focusses on last 10 to 15 years, then there has been a decline of 20 per cent to 25 per cent in the last one year."
With regard to questions being raised by opposition over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits, Singh said all his predecessors have travelled abroad but the "warm welcome" accorded to Modi showed that the country's goodwill and prestige <g data-gr-id="42">is</g> rising.
"The questions being raised over PM's foreign visits are unfortunate. All PMs including Manmohan Singh have undertaken foreign visits. The warm welcome being accorded to PM Modi is evidence that the country's goodwill and prestige <g data-gr-id="38">is</g> rising.
The world has started taking India seriously," Singh said on the sidelines of a programme organised by Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya Mission.
Earlier, addressing the function, he said great personalities should not be associated with any particular party and Mahamana should have been conferred with Bharat Ratna long back for the contribution he made.
By establishing Banaras Hindu University, Mahamana made an important contribution in linking traditional knowledge with modern science, he said. He also <g data-gr-id="36">discussed about</g> personality and contribution of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In another programme when asked about Mumbai serial blast mastermind Dawood Ibrahim, Singh said he had already made a statement in Parliament.
India to ask Pak to seize assets of Dawood, Hafiz, Lakhvi
India is planning to ask Pakistan to seize assets of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and most wanted terrorists Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi as all three are in the UNSC's al Qaeda sanctions list which makes it incumbent upon Islamabad to freeze their holdings. The UN Security Council's al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee has listed Dawood, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Saeed and Mumbai terror attack key conspirator Lakhvi and put sanctions on them. "As a UN member state, it is the responsibility of Pakistan to freeze their assets. We are planning to send a formal communication to Pakistan to let us know whether assets of the three terrorists were seized and if not will ask it to freeze them immediately," a government official said.
The committee, established pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 1267 (1999), is a Security Council subsidiary organ that oversees the implementation by member states of the three sanctions measures -- assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo -- imposed against targeted individuals and entities associated with al Qaeda, as designated by the Committee in its sanctions list. India has been maintaining that 1993 Mumbai serial blasts key accused Dawood is in <g data-gr-id="62">Pakistan,</g> though Islamabad denies it. Hafiz Saeed roams freely in Pakistan while Lakhvi, set free from a Rawalpindi jail last month, is currently living in the country. Dawood was put in the UNSC sanction list in 2003, Saeed in 2008 and Lakhvi in 2008.
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