Muslims won't let al Qaeda succeed: Rajnath Singh

At a time when radicalisation of young Muslims in the country is emerging as a major security challenge, Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday reposed faith in the community that it will never allow al Qaeda's designs to succeed in India.

At a time when radicalisation of young Muslims in the country is emerging as a major security challenge, Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday reposed faith in the community that it will never allow al Qaeda's designs to succeed in India.

The home minister warned terror outfits and said, "They may think India has sizable population of Muslims and they might stand with them. But I know the Muslims of the country".

"Even during the freedom struggle… if Chandrashekhar Azad scarified his life for the country, then we can never forget the sacrifice of Ashfaqulla Khan. I am assured that the whole (Muslim) community is standing together to keep the country safe. The designs of al Qaeda or any other terror outfit will not succeed here," said the home minister in his inaugural address to the annual conference of police chiefs.

The conference also had a session on the growing radicalisation in the country with a special focus on the ISIS and al Qaeda's Indian sub-continent wing - Qaeda-tul-Jehad.

Intelligence Bureau director Syed Asif Ibrahim, who chaired the conference, underlined the threat from such youth in his inaugural address. "The return of the battle-hardened youths from these regions (Iraq and Syria) into India poses a fresh challenge," he said.

Rajnath Singh attacked Pakistan its efforts to destabilise India. Referring to the attack in Arnia sector in J-K, Singh said: "Pakistan claims that non-state actors are behind such incidents. I want to ask that is ISI also a non-state actor?"

He also mentioned the failed attempt by al Qaeda to hijack a frigate to target American and Indian Naval ships. "What is of more concern for us is that some of the Pakistan Navy personnel were also involved in it," he said.

The Maoists problem also figured in the agenda. "This is the best time to hit CPI (Maoist) to solve the problem," said the IB director.