Al-Qaeda Chief Jumps Into Karnataka Hijab Ban Row

New Delhi: Just when it seemed like the controversy surrounding the Karnataka hijab row was laid to rest, Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has once again brought it back to life and his comments could add fuel to the fire.

A new video message was released by the chief of the global terror outfit, where he has emphasized the raging Hijab controversy erupting in Karnataka.

Zawahiri, who happens to be one of the world's most wanted terrorist and who also features in the CIA's blacklist showered praise on Bibi Muskan Zainab Khan, the burqa-clad protestor, who yelled "Allahu Akbar" at anti-hijab student protestors in Karnataka's Udupi district.

In his latest video message, the Al-Qaeda chief appealed to the Indians to not get deluded by the pagan Hindu democracy of India and added that the Indian state is nothing but a tool to oppress Muslims.

Al-Zawahiri also tried to ignite the Indian Muslims by encouraging them to resort to violence and said that they need to respond to the "oppression" of the Indian state.

Meanwhile, the Al-Qaeda chief's recent statement has drawn a strong reaction from the Karnataka government as it has alleged that the entire hijab row had been orchestrated by the terrorist outfit.

"It is clear that al-Qaeda is behind the Hijab controversy," Karnataka Home Minister was quoted as saying by media.

Who Is Ayman al-Zawahiri?

Ayman al-Zawahiri was born in Cairo, the capital city of Egypt and he hails from an upper-middle-class family.

He thrived as a student and had developed an attraction toward poetry. However, he disliked organized sports and perceived them as 'inhumane'.

During his teenage years, he got influenced by the teachings of Islamist ideologue Sayyid Qutb and he subsequently joined the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Sunni Islamist organization.

Qutb's works include Milestones and In the Shade of the Quran, which is believed to be foundational texts for the global Islamist movement.

Zawahiri later trained as a doctor after which he became a surgeon by profession. He tied the knot with Azza Nowari, a philosophy student of Cairo University, back in 1978.

He was thrown into prison with hundreds of other people following the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981. He was tortured during his time in prison and was finally released after three years.

Thereafter, he fled Egypt and went to Saudi Arabia where he began practicing medicine. He came in contact with Osama Bin Laden in Saudi Arabia and got swayed away by Osama's ideology as a result of which he visited the Laden-funded Jihadi facilities in Pakistan back in 1985.

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