Caliphate Tentacles Enter South Asia

By Gamini Weerakoon

07 Dec, 2014

Islamic State (ISIS), the a billion dollar terror group that has had the world aghast with its ghastly performances, is getting closer to South Asia including Sri Lanka. A small number of Indian Muslims have travelled to fight with the group in Syria and Iraq and ‘there is a small presence in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’, says Pro Karl Kaltenthaler, a political scientist writing in Nikei Asian Review, published in Tokyo.

In a recent TV talk- show on NDTV (New Delhi) a top Indian Security official admitted that some Indians had travelled to ISIS controlled areas in Syria and Iraq and have returned home.

The entry of ISIS into the Indian sub-continent changes the landscape of violent extremism in Asia and could bring doom and gloom to a near quarter of the global population living in the region as has been the tragic fate of areas now under the control of the Islamic caliphate.

The caliphate headed by former Iraqi activist Abu Bakr Al- Baghdadi is today the most dreaded global terror outfit but appears to be relatively free in its expansionist moves with the Global Policeman, America and its European allies being in no mood for a military confrontation on Middle East soil. The impact of the aerial bombing on ISIS held targets in recent times seems to have made little impact on this belligerent group in their determination to set up an Islamic state according to their interpretation of Islamic fundamentalist principles.

Al Quaeda on the Wane?

According to Western media reports, Al Quaeda, the terror group that rocked Western civilisation and caused the US and its allies to wage a war against it on Global Terrorism is on the wane, outclassed by ISIS.

Young Muslims from Islamic countries are making their way across international borders into Syria and Iraq to fight with the ISIS. The young Jihadists find ISIS much more attractive than the Al Quaeda of Osama bin Laden. The explosive expansion on the Syrian-Iraqi borders into what was called a Caliphate has continued expansion in Iraq and Syria. Acquisition of modern armaments from routed Iraqi forces, the challenge posed to the Western powers who have been unable to respond effectively to ISIS and the financial support extended from oil rich countries – from private sources if not governments themselves – seem to be irresistible forces of attraction to Muslim youth, even those born in European nations. The fear and challenge faced by European leaders today is the return of these battle scarred Jihadists home who are citizens and the possibility of Jihads being staged in Europe.

ISIS has been establishing close links with Jihadist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Islamist group in Uzbekistan said to be the most dangerous group, is now with ISIS. Al Quaeda groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been infiltrated by ISIS fighters. A recent attack on security forces in the Ghazani province, it is reported, had Afghan militants flying ISIS black flags. Some mid- level Taliban commanders have declared allegiance to ISIS abandoning Taliban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar, it is said.

South Asian Manpower

Analysts have speculated that the ISIS strategy in focusing on South Asia is to get the required manpower. The potential is immense. India has 172 million Muslims constituting 14.2 percent of the population. Pakistan’s population is 195 million of which over 95 per cent are Muslims. But all these will not fall into the category of jihadists backing the caliphate. Only a miniscule will become Islamic militants but a few of them could cause havoc as evident in Al Quaeda performances.

ISIS is a Sunni Muslim phenomenon, Sunnis having been a favoured minority under Saddam Hussein but persecuted by the Shiite majority after his overthrow. Sunnis in Iraq are said to have voluntarily joined ISIS and today the hard core of ISIS is Sunni. It has the patronage of the oil rich Gulf States which now is backing the US and Western forces opposed to the Islamic state for geopolitical reasons—mainly to protect their oil resources but strong religious bonds hold them together, say observers.

The only countries opposed to ISIS are Shiite Iran which is regional power and Syria whose leader Bashar al Assad is backed by the Alawite, a variant of the Shiite school.

Reluctant West

With America and its Western allies unwilling to send their troops for a ground war against the Islamic State, only Iran and Syria together with the Peshmerga fighters of the Kurds can ensure complete rout of ISIS.

But these two countries are still sworn enemies of America and the West. Thus, ISIS continues to expand despite the efforts of a rejuvenated Iraqi army and some groups opposed to Bashar al Assad.

With the American and Western troops scheduled to pull out of Afghanistan and Pakistan by the end of this year it may provide an opportunity for ISIS fighters to stroll into South Asia.

Source: http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/12/07/caliphate-tentacles-enter-south-asia/

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/caliphate-tentacles-enter-south-asia/d/100414