NEW DELHI, Nov 28: Tndia’s ruling party on Thursday questioned the decision of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to lecture at a British centre for Islamic studies, saying it was allegedly linked to Osama Bin Laden.

Sonia Gandhi is to deliver a lecture at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies on Saturday.

Jaitley quoted British media reports that Osama’s family funds a fellowship programme at the centre, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said.

“We do hope that the Congress Party and its president had acquainted themselves with these facts before accepting the invitation,” BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley was quoted as saying by PTI.

“We believe that it is for the Congress and its president to ultimately decide whether they should associate with the Centre or not.”

A spokesman for the Congress party described the remarks as a “political gimmick”.

“We did check the antecedents of the Islamic Centre, but did not find anything objectionable,” PTI quoted spokesman Satyabrata Chaturvedi as saying.

“She is the leader of the opposition... and if at all anything was objectionable with the Islamic Centre, the government should have informed the party,” he said.

India’s foreign ministry had cleared the visit, he noted, adding that Osama had over 35 brothers and sisters, none of whom were terrorists.—AFP