The ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) came as a relief as this rabid Islamic organisation had wreaked havoc in almost every part of the country. The ban was a hard hit on all those rabid Islamists who saw the PFI as a protector of their faith and felt that this would be the organisation that would help implement the Sharia law in India, something that the outfit had spoken about for long.
With the ban, a huge space has been created, and there is no outfit which is as powerful as the PFI, which could propagate the radical Islamic cause in India.
While there are attempts that are being made to revive the outfit through its underground operatives and those working abroad, the Intelligence Bureau has picked up a lot of chatter which suggests that the Islamic State is trying to fill in this space.
It is the Islamic State based in Sri Lanka which has been pushing this case for some time now. There is heavy online recruitment, with lucrative offers being made to the Muslim outfit to join their fold. Before the PFI was banned, the outfit was actively recruiting for the Islamic State. In fact, the 21 persons who had left Kerala to join the Islamic State in Afghanistan were recruited by the PFI.
The Islamic State has designed one Abu Pakistani to lead this plan and fill in the space left by the PFI. He is a Sri Lanka-based handler and is in close contact with the National Thowwheeth Jamath, the terror group responsible for the easter bombings in Sri Lanka.
The two outfits share a close bond, and members of the Jamath have very often frequented Tamil Nadu and kept in touch with like-minded radical elements. The Islamic State is trying to use the Jamath for logistics, especially in South India. Like the PFI, the Islamic State is trying to strengthen its cause through the South of India. This is largely because the PFI had a large base in this part of the country, and hence, the Islamic State is looking to tap into the same. With regard to the Jamath, its presence was felt during the Coimbatore bombing in which the accused tried to target a Hindu Mandir. The role of the outfit was also seen in the failed Mangaluru bombing case.
An Intelligence Bureau official tells Organiser that while the Jamath would help the Islamic State, it would like to keep its base intact in Sri Lanka. The two groups would help each other, but since the Islamic State has a better branding and is well known, like-minded terror groups would not stand in the way of the Islamic State setting its foothold in India, the official also explained.
The recruitment process has, however, not been a cakewalk for the Islamic State. Several modules in South India have been dismantled by the Indian agencies. Moreover, the fall of the outfit in Iraq and Syria has not boded too well for the outfit either.
Officials say that the Islamic State may have ambitious plans, but it may not be able to scale up like how the PFI did. This is largely because, unlike the PFI, the Islamic State does not have a structural command. It has not been able to create squads like how the PFI was created. The Islamic State largely relies on lone wolves to undertake terror attacks. While this may be a relatively smaller headache, the Indian agencies are leaving nothing to chance.
The Indian agencies are keeping a close eye on online activities, which have seen a surge in the last couple of months. Further, the eyes are also on some of the Madrasas, which have been known to brainwash children into joining terror outfits.
However, what could work in the favour of the Islamic State to a large extent is that in Kerala, there are several pockets where people blindly believe in this ideology.
This is largely to do with the fact that there were no checks on the large number of Wahhabi preachers who came in unabated from the Gulf into Kerala. During their visits, they invested a large sum of money into this cause. What the Wahhabis, however, successfully managed to do was take over the administration of several Mosques in Kerala and other parts of South India. This helped the cause of several radicals who could preach their school of thought in these Mosques. The Islamic State has set its eyes on such Mosques, and its foot soldiers would look to tap into that section who follow the Wahhabi school of thought.
Before the PFI was banned, the Islamic State only sought to focus on its Afghanistan module. It only sought Muslim youth or those who have converted to Islam to join its module in Afghanistan. However, the Islamic State Khorasan Province in Afghanistan has not managed to take off due to a very strong Taliban network out there. Hence, the focus is now back on India and other countries such as Bangladesh, where it wants the Muslim youth to follow its school of thought.
The Islamic State in India, according to counterterrorism experts, would be more ideological rather than structural, like was in the case of the PFI. It may look very minuscule when one sees the general picture. However, in the long run, it is the school of thought and the ideology that is more dangerous. If the Islamic State is able to attract even a small section of the Muslims in several parts of the country, it would change the dynamics to a large extent. If its school of thought is imbibed in the Muslim youth, then we could end up witnessing trouble and more targeting of the Hindus, like what we get to see in Bangladesh, another official explained.
