Indian Muslim clerics reject claim by congress leader on Muslim youths' link with Pakistan intelligence

India's Muslim clerics Friday rejected claim by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that some Muslim youths in a riots-inflicted town in northern India are in touch with Pakistan's intelligence agency. Maulana Saif Abbas Naqvi, a prominent Shiite cleric in Lucknow, state capital of Uttar Pradesh, said such statements not only painted the Muslim community in bad light but also strengthened the communal forces, according to Indo-Asian News Service. He also called Rahul's statement as a "grave insinuation" on millions of peace loving and patriotic Muslims in the country and criticized the latter for playing politics with communal riots and the victims, instead of understanding the plight and pain of the riot victims. Another Muslim leader, Shahar Qazi, Maulana Abul Irfan Miyan Farangi Mahali in Lucknow, said the statement of Rahul Gandhi was "most unfortunate" and he demanded an immediate and unconditional apology from the Congress leader. Lucknow is one of the most important Muslim community centers in India. At an election rally in Indore, central India, Thursday, Rahul Gandhi claimed that in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, where deadly riots between Muslims and Hindu took place last month, many Muslim youth were in touch with Pakistan's intelligence agency Iner-Services Intelligence. Riots and communal violence in the district have killed 62 and made 43,000 homeless.