One of the tenets of counter intelligence is that if a person or organisation is not a total threat, then it should not be banned.
It is better to keep such a person or organisation 'over ground' and capable of being 'watched', than have that organisation going 'underground' and having to require a greater effort in funds, manpower et al to keep a watch.
Well that makes sense until a person is not involved in terror activities or hate speech. And Anjem Choudary has been convicted of hate speech as well as supporting terror activities. His prison sentence was commuted to the disbelief of UK muslims given that other muslim caught in even planning terror acts were given much longer prison sentences.
SIMI for example, was never implitcated in terror acts when it was banned in 2001. But its support of the 9/11 attacks - non-violent it may be- was enough for the Vajpayee govt. to ban it.
The average Indian Muslim would find this man a total embarrassment and would give them grounds to worry! Hence, they would not like him to come and add fuel to the fire.
However, the more strident Muslim organisation and personalities would possibly be pleased that he come officially to espouse the Muslim cause which they themselves would like to raise but cannot owing to the secular characteristic of India and the fear that it could cause a tsunami that would wipe out their hold and maybe they themselves in the bargain since it would give cause to the Hindu right wing to justify their agenda against the Muslims reinventing the Muslim Mughal hold over India.
No one will demolish Anjem.
They will wait to see how the pennies fall!
All I know is that his presence on Indian soil would be dangerous for the average peace loving Indian of all religious hues and Anjem would be just another wind de la mort!
When I mentioned that Indian Muslim religious scholars can demolish him intellectually on his shariah points, I was mentioning this because this is what they have been doing as part of the anti-terror conferences being organized and one of which I attended. Not Anjem Choudary himself ofcourse, but the idea that democracy is UnIslamic and the political Islamic ideology that groups like Hizb-ut-Tahrir and SIMI would represent. The idea that Muslims have to work towards establishing some top down "Islamic state". And this is something that is being done around the Muslim world and not just in India. Even the much maligned wahabbis ulema have written polemic tracts discrediting this political Islamic ideology. Infact, some of the best pieces have come from the Arab world where Muslim Brotherhood members have written how democracy is integral to Islam and elections is perfectly alright to ascertain the will of the people.
In the UK, the Qulliam foundation formed by former HT members does a more English-oriented work on discrediting the basis of this political religious discourse.
As I have said earlier, its not the sect Deobandi,. Barelvi, shia, sunni that we should worry about but whether a groups has a political religious agenda. Such a group would be on a watchlist and as they radicalize there is a very good chance of them moving towards terrorism and violence.
And yes, I do agree, it will cause problems for Indian Muslims in particular because a fringe lunactic like Anjem is perfect for getting TRPs and media coverage, particularly given his English speaking and media savvy skills. We would have a UK born and bred extremist apparently representing the Indian Muslims in the minds of some. And while some Hindu extremists(I don't call them right wingers as I don't see extremism of this sort as right wing) might hope for a clash so as to polarise votes in their favour - after all Ram Sene activists raising the Pakistani flag in K'taka was part of the same tactic - I believe Anjem Choudary and his supporters would like the same as well and are on the same side as them.
After all what better way to bog India down than by creating intra-religious tensions between the two pillars of Indian society - the Hindus and Muslims. The Pakistanis have tried their best to do the same and although we have no proof of this here, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some support from them here as well. Because after all, Pakistan would have been the logical place for Anjem to go; given that Pakistan is already an Islamic country and has Sharia courts established. And as any student of Islamic law knows, shariah laws would apply only to Muslims and not non-Muslims in any case.
In any case, I am sure everyone will keenly await March 3. Does anyone know if he actually has been issued a visa yet? Also, I can't see what the venue is except that they will do a street protest near the parliament. But that is not possible given the security restrictions. And you have to take permission from the Delhi police to hold any open air meet like in Ram Leela maidan for example. So still not sure if its a publicity stunt or is some event really planned in Delhi.
