Stay away from terrorism, says Pakistani-origin rock star
May 16th, 2010 - 2:04 pm ICT by IANS
London, May 16 (IANS) Long-haired Salman Ahmad, a Pakistani-origin rock star whose band Junoon has sold over 30 million albums, is Britain’s latest effort to combat terrorism — as he wants to counter radicalisation among students “and if that comes from the power of a guitar” then so be it.
Ahmad, who cites Led Zeppelin among his influences, will urge Muslim students to choose an electric guitar over extremism, Times Online reported Sunday.
This week he will reach out to students at Oxford University, Imperial College and the London School of Economics, which all have sizeable Islamic societies, Times Online reported.
“You counter radicalisation through telling the truth and if that comes from the power of a guitar then do that,” Ahmad was quoted as saying.
There is concern over British students being linked to terror plots. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, an engineering graduate of University College London, is accused of trying to blow up a passenger jet over Detroit with a bomb hidden in his underpants Dec 25, 2009.
Ahmad’s tour of British campuses is funded by the Home Office through the Quilliam Foundation, which is a think tank.
“I have seen at first hand young Muslims being radicalised by the distorted message of Islam.
“They’re fed this guilt narrative that in order to be a good Muslim you have to give up the electric guitar, or you can’t wear jeans, or you have to cut your hair,” said 46-year-old Ahmad.
He said his objective was to stop students from being brainwashed by “murderous thugs masquerading as holy men”.
“Rock musicians and extremists have the same target market - the youth.”
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- Nigerian bomber Abdulmutallab joined al-Qaeda in UK - Jan 08, 2010
- Experts slam London University for being 'complicit' in radicalisation of Muslim students - Dec 30, 2009
- Brit universities are 'hotbeds of Islamic extremism': Report - Apr 28, 2011
- UK, not Nigeria is the breeding ground for Islamist terrorists: Nobel laureate - Feb 07, 2010
- UK Police set to hand over personal data of 1,000 British Muslim students to CIA - Apr 01, 2010
- Over three in ten UK varsities are training Islamic terrorists? - Dec 19, 2010
- Nigerian bomber warns of more terror attacks 'soon' - Dec 29, 2009
- Brit Muslim cleric warns royal wedding 'prime target' of al-Qaeda, aspiring 'jihadis' - Apr 26, 2011
- Intending underpant bomber was British double agent - May 11, 2012
- Plane attacker is son of Nigerian banker, studied in Britain - Dec 27, 2009
- Underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab pleads guilty - Oct 12, 2011
- Is Al-Qaeda preparing British women bombers? - Feb 06, 2012
- Islamic students at top UK university ' preaching hard-line extremism' - Oct 18, 2010
Tags: brainwashed, british students, electric guitar, extremism, farouk, holy men, imperial college, islamic societies, london school of economics, muslim students, oxford university, pakistani origin, passenger jet, rock musicians, salman ahmad, star london, target market, telling the truth, underpants, university college london