NEW DELHI: The Intelligence agencies have quietly launched a counter-radicalisation effort to neutralise the influence of radical elements in the wake of spurts of support to the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) across the hinterland. This move has come after the alert was issued in July about the possible radicalisation of Muslim youths misguided by the ISIL propaganda.
Sources say the move got fresh impetus after some youths from a minority community in Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir displayed the ISIL flag and sported T-Shirts with the ISIL logo. The youths were influenced by ISIL chief Abu-bakr Al-Baghdadi, who has called for establishing global Caliphate, inviting Muslim youths, essentially Sunnis from across the world including India, to join Jihad.
The majority of the cases that have come under the agencies’ scanner indicate that the process is a self-starter. There is no imam or a battle-hardened terrorist from J&K or Pakistan involved in mobilising vulnerable youths and turning them into followers. The youth were motivated through available Jihadi materials. “ISIL material is available in Hindi, Urdu, Tamil and other languages for the self-indoctrination of the gullible youngsters. It is alarming. They are getting self-motivated by reading Jihadi material like “44 ways to participate in Jihad, video messages of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dubbed in local languages and other stuffs available on social media,” a source said.
A senior intelligence officer said the Indian Mujahideen operative, Maroof, who was arrested from Rajasthan, has disclosed his intention of joining ISIL in Iraq to wage Jihad. He admitted the easy access of materials available on the net motivated him to join ISIL and the moral justification for terror act was imagined “injustice”.
The officer said that many of the youngsters said to have joined ISIL in Syria and Iraq do not have any criminal record. They were motivated by the Jihadi material easily accessible through the Internet and new mobile software known as Whatsapp. He said that even well educated, affluent and respected individuals are susceptible to radicalisation and it was found to be true in cases related to Mumbai youths who allegedly joined terror machine ISIL.
“There are Muslim youths in the hinterland who have direct access to these materials. It is not just about India. There are many British, Canadian and US citizen who allegedly joined ISIL after reading or listening to messages of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” the official said. He added that a structured multi-layered response for de-radicalisation has been planned by the agencies instead of blocking the access to materials.
The agencies have also mounted surveillance in the sensitive states and are deleting the links to objectionable contents to check self-indoctrination.But, that is not enough.