The unity of Hindus is an often spoken about subject, especially in the wake of the Islamic Jihad. This has been taken note of by terror groups who have now gone into overdrive mode, seeking Muslim unity in Bharat to counter the Hindu narrative.
An Intelligence Bureau official told Organiser that in recent times, the propaganda material by terror outfits such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have flooded the internet. In almost all of this material, Hindu unity has been cited as an excuse to incite Muslims into carrying out attacks.
Propaganda in multiple languages
Earlier, the propaganda put out by these terror groups was only restricted to English and Hindi when it came to targeting the Muslim audience in Bharat. However, now the agencies have started to notice that the same material is now available in Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Urdu, Assamese, Gujarati, Bengali and Telugu.
The Al-Isabah Foundation, a wing of the Islamic State, has been tasked with the job of circulating such material. While this group has for long put out Jihadi content in English and Hindi, now it has resorted to several other languages only to target a wider audience. For this purpose, it set up the Islamic Translation Centre so that propaganda material could be made available in multiple languages. It realises that in Bharat, people are sentimental about their language, and very often, it is a uniting factor. Taking note of the same, the Islamic State decided to translate its Jihadi ideology into various languages with the intention that its propaganda has a wider reach.
Al-Qaeda, too, is deploying the same tactics. The outfit relies on its media outlet for the region known as Al-Kifah.
While this has been happening since last year, the terror groups have now ramped up efforts in the wake of the events unfolding in Bangladesh. The Islamic State and Al-Qaeda feel that they now have two playgrounds (Bangladesh and Pakistan) which could be used as bases to target Bharat. The governments in both countries today have a soft policy towards Islamic Jihad, and this works well for these terror groups.
A larger agenda
When one goes through the literature closely, it becomes clear that the target is not just Bharat. The literature calls on Muslims from the various regions to unite and form the Caliphate.
One piece of literature titled, “Ghazwa-e-Hind’ tells Muslims that several provinces or ‘wilayahs’ have to be created. For this purpose, the Islamic State has created the ‘wilayahs’ of Pakistan, Khorasan (Afghanistan), Kashmir, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka. The Islamic State wants the Muslims of these provinces to unite and then declare the entire region as an Islamic Caliphate.
The literature, while speaking about the larger agenda, also narrates about the importance of carrying out lone wolf attacks. The Intelligence agencies say that the literature is so intense that it could easily radicalise a large number of Muslim youth. The New Orleans case in which a lone wolf Jihadi ploughed his vehicle through a crowd is a classic example of how such literature is used to radicalise a person. Similar literature, which has been on the internet and also on several messaging platforms, was used to radicalise the likes of Jameesha Mubin and Mohammad Sharif. Mubin and Shariq were lone wolves involved in the attacks in Coimbatore and a failed one in Mangaluru.
An official says that they have the situation under control, but their hands are full. Each time a piece of literature is taken out, ten more appear, and that only suggests the intensity at which these elements operate. They want to flood the internet and messaging platforms with so much content that it radicalises a large number of people.
Looking South
It is a well-known fact that there is not much discourse when it comes to Islamic radicalisation in South India. Wahhabism and cases related to Love Jihad and Islamic radicalisation are deeply rooted in the South. Owing to petty politics and so-called liberalism, the issue has been long ignored.
Going through the propaganda material that is put out by the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, it is very clear that the entire focus is on South India. The Jihadi literature has been translated into every South Indian language, and this is an indication of how much emphasis these terror groups are giving to the region.
Further, these groups have drawn inspiration from a series of incidents which went on to suggest how Islamists have operated with ease in this region. The influx of Wahhabis began in South India, and for nearly 10 years, it went unreported. The Wahhabi influx led to several changes, such as the structure of the Mosques being built in Saudi style in Kerala and other parts. Further, the dress code of the Muslims changed to match the Saudi style. Most importantly, the Persian ‘Khuda Hafiz’ has now become ‘Allah Hafiz.’
The other major turning point in South India was the birth of the Popular Front of India. The ease with which this outfit went about its business masquerading as a social organisation only shows how soft the establishment was on the outfit. The Popular Front of India turned out to be one of the most lethal terror groups and had such a solid set-up that it eventually became an official recruiter for the Islamic State.
These incidents have caught the attention of terror groups, and they feel that setting business down South would be a relatively easier affair. This would explain the emphasis that these terror groups are giving to South India.
Today, South India is not only home to extreme radicalisation but has become the major transit hub for international drug smugglers. Once again, in these cases, it has been seen how the administration has been complicit in dealing with the problem.
The Intelligence agencies are watching the South very closely as they expect more abnormal activities and a big push to spread Islamic Jihad in the region.
