By Mohammed Shafeeq, IANS,
Hyderabad: India’s leading Urdu newspapers Tuesday raised doubts over the manner in which United States claimed to have killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
The Urdu media suspected Osama might have died long ago but the US claim now is an attempt by President Barack Obama to check his falling popularity graph and divert public attention from the weakening economy and domestic issues, including the controversy over his birth certificate.
A few newspapers opined that even after Osama’s killing, the US will continue the so- called anti-terror war targeting Muslims around the world.
While most newspapers carried the story with the headline “Osama bin Laden halak (killed)”, a few used the words “jaan bahaq (laid down life)”.
“Osama bin Laden jaan bahaq” said the headline of Rashtriya Sahara, a leading daily published from 10 cities, including Hyderabad.
Munsif, one of the largest circulated dailies from Hyderabad, also carried the same headline. It went on to say “body dumped into sea, anger sweeps among Islamists”.
“Osama bin Laden halak” said Siasat, another leading Urdu newspaper from Hyderabad. Inquilab of Mumbai had a similar headline. It went on to add “body thrown into sea”.
Inquilab also carried an editorial titled “Questions over Osama’s killing”. It said the theory presented about Osama’s killing in Pakistan has no logic and hence raised many questions. The editorial referred to many claims made in the past about the killing of Osama including the one made by then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.
“It appears Osama died a natural death in 2001 but the US did not announce it so that from time to time, it can take political advantage of his name, tapes and his alleged threats or it is also possible that Osama was killed during war imposed on Afghanistan but it was kept a secret as an alive Osama rather than a dead one was in the US interest,” the editorial said.
It added that Osama had died natural or unnatural death much earlier but this was announced now in view of the weakening US economy and Obama’s declining popularity.
Rashtriya Sahara carried an article titled “Is a dead Osama bin Laden more dangerous than an alive one?” It also referred to Osama’s predictions: “He had said he would not be caught alive and he had also said many like him will born after him. While his first prediction proved true, it remains to be seen whether his second forecast will also prove correct.”
“American officials may be happy that their number one enemy has been killed but they may also be worried that even after his death, Osama may get on their nerves.
“His personality was such that while many used to hate him, there were many others who used to call him a selfless hero. People may mourn his death or even get angry about it,” the article added.
Etemaad, published from Hyderabad, in its editorial, referred to Obama’s statement that the war against terror will not end. “It is obvious that it is aimed against Muslims.”
Munsif, in its editorial, recalled that the US had blamed Al Qaeda for 9/11 without investigations and Afghan leader Mullah Omer had asked then US president Geroge Bush to provide evidence against Osama.
“The US never conducted investigations into 9/11 and attacked Afghanistan, which points the needle of suspicion towards the US that it is fighting a war against Islam in the guise of fighting terrorism,” it added.
“Now that Osama is killed and Obama is saying the US is not waging a war against Islam, the US should pull out its troops from Afghanistan because it ravaged that country to get him,” the editorial said.
(Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at [email protected])