New Delhi: The wanted head of the Indian branch of Al-Qaida Sanaul Haq belongs to a family of freedom fighters, a revelation by the Indian intelligence that took everyone to surprise.
Haq was unmasked by the intelligence agencies as Maulana Asim Umar, the head of AQIS (al-Qaida in Indian Subcontinent), a report in Times of India said.
The family of Sanaul Haq belongs to Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh situated less than 200km from New Delhi.
His family who was alien to this news was unaffected from the disclosure. “For us, he died six years ago when the local intelligence agents told us he had joined a terrorist organization,” Times of India quoted Ruqaiyya, Haq’s 70-year-old mother, as saying.
“Sanaul was always fond of books, but one day he announced he wanted to study the Quran and Arabic at a madarsa,” Irfan ul Haque, the 80-year-old father recalled.
“In 1995, he demanded Rs 1 lakh to go to Makkah for higher studies. I was taken aback. I asked him to find a job to support the family or study in the local college, but he insisted he wanted to leave India. His uncle even beat him. We were all scared for him,” said senior Haq. Few days after, Haq vanished.
The ironical and upsetting part of the whole story being that Haq’s father whose family had fought the British during the freedom struggle was informed by the intelligence agents that their missing son being alive and working for terrorist organisations Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al-Qaida.
“We live here in Hindustan and we will die here. Agar usne Hindustan ke saath bagawat ki hai to use saja honi chahiye (if he has betrayed the country, he should be punished).”
The Hindi Haq learnt in school was put to use in translating Ayman al-Zawahiri, head of core al Qaeda’s provocative Arabic message in videos which were later on circulated to persuade young Indians into a life of violence.