Means to Counter Radicalization of Islamist Militants

By Pallab Bhattacharyya, New Age Islam

30 July 2022

Involvement Of All Qaeda In 1998 US Embassy Bombings, 9/11 Attacks, 2002 Bali Bombings, Etc. Indicates Its Presence In All These Areas And Prompted The USA To Launch The “War On Terror”

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1.    “15 suspected Jihadists were detained in the last 24 hours in Assam, 7 in Barpeta, 8 in Morigaon” was the headline of a news channel on 28th July 2022.

2.    “Madrassa teacher among 10 al-Qaida members held in Assam “ was the storyline of another Newspaper dated 29-07-22

3.    “Read Quran Sharif to help keep brotherhood: Assam DGP to Jihadi- affected youths” tagline of another news agency of the same date.

The above series of events are indications of the state of print, electronic and social media in Assam today.

Assam in which for every ten men there are four Muslims indicate the importance of this section of population whose existence obviously cannot be ignored by anybody-be he is a political leader or member of the society.

If we see the political history of Assam, it is found that after the demolition of Babri Majid on 6th December 1992, Muslim youths from Assam started going to Bangladesh and other countries to get radicalized and trained in warfare with the misplaced opinion of saving their community. The Metei-Muslim conflict in Manipur in the year 1993 led to organization of militant Muslim outfit like Peoples’ United Liberation Front, better known as PULF. With the onset of globalization in the nineties foreign radical thoughts started their ingress into the North East in general and Assam in particular.

I, as a youngster (sixties and seventies), grew up in the cosmopolitan town of Duliajan Assam where we never face such a tense and polarised atmosphere. In fact we boasted of the syncretic Assamese culture of Srimanta Sankardev and Azan Fakir.

The recent arrests and raid in a Madrassa has thrown open the floodgates of speculations in social and print media about likely danger to the safety and security of Assam. The involvement of all Qaeda in 1998 US Embassy bombings, 9/11 attacks, 2002 Bali bombings, etc. indicates its presence in all these areas and prompted the USA to launch the “war on terror”. However, affiliates closer to the organization are in sleeper cell mode in various parts of the world in general and India in particular. At the time of its formation in September 2014,

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) specifically listed Assam among the target for jihad, along with Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.

The arrest of Islamist militants is, however, not a new phenomenon in Assam. The Khagragarh blast in West Bengal on 2nd October 2014 and unveiling of the surreptitious presence of the JMB Module in Assam is still fresh in the minds of the people. A long list of Islamist outfits had been operating in Assam since the 1990s. The rise of Islamist militancy started in North Eastern India in the wake of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition and the subsequent communal disturbances; the Manipur's infamous Meitei-Muslim riots in 1993 are also a contributing factor. Pakistan’s’ Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) was relentless in its design to exploit India’s vulnerabilities and it received help from the Khaleda Zia regime in Bangladesh, which, at that time, was deeply hostile to India. Bangladesh was a hotbed of Islamist radicalization and militancy then and it was used by ISI to extend its 4th Generation Warfare against India. However, the situation has changed dramatically in New Delhi’s favour since the Sheikh Hasina Government assumed office in 2009. However, there is no denial of the fact that in the present moment there are two Bangladesh -one based on Bengali Nationalism and the other identifying itself to the Islamic world and the constant tussle between the two has a spill over effect in Assam.

A majority of Islamic militant groups in the Northeast were founded between 1990 and 1996, with the proclaimed objective of ‘safeguarding' the overall interests of the minority Muslim communities in the region. More groups surfaced in the early 2000s, but these were short-lived. Riots between Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims happened sporadically in BTAD and at that time the Central Government identified at least 19 Islamist organizations to watch in connection with violence in the State. The subsequent advent of Kerala based organization Popular Front of India (PFI) and its ingress into Goalpara, Karimganj, Silchar, Hailakandi, Kamrup, Barpeta, Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, and Tinsukia Districts of Assam in the process of updating of NRC paved the ground for the germination of radicalization in Assam.

There is no denying the fact that the main driver of radicalization is the “Ideology”. The internet, social media, and in some cases the print media, some charity organizations, and NGOs contributed to its growth. It is strongly felt that instead of allowing a person to be “radicalized” first and then, on the discovery of the same, steps for his “de-radicalization” are taken, the better course of action will be to ensure “counter-radicalization”. In other words, it's about creating an environment where radicalization cannot take place. It is clear that in the instant cases in Barpeta and Morigaon the arrested youths were radicalized by foreign thoughts that clash with the syncretic culture of Sankar-Ajan. The following steps may be initiated for implementation by Government in collaboration with society:

In the syncretic culture of Sankar-Ajan, a few steps could be initiated by the Government, Muslim community , the majority Hindu Community and the electronic and print media in collaboration with society:

Steps from Muslim Community:

•        Countering the radical ideology through Ijtihad or the use of individual reasoning to counter radical thoughts. Effective use of Muslim intelligentsia, after gaining their confidence, will be a sine-qua-non.

•        The saner sections of Muslim Community must come out in the open to criticise such foreign radicalized thoughts and appeal to the community to abide by the true precepts of Islam as enshrined in the Koran, which the DGP has highlighted. The Government should proactively support such groups of leading citizens in their efforts.

•        Since involvement of some Imamas of Masjids in such radicalized activities are highlighted, the appointment of such Imams by the Masjid Committees should also be transparent. Alternatively Masjid Committees should be constituted with persons of high morale and integrity.

Steps Suggested from the Government

Establishing a Counter-Radicalization Forum within existing Police District Head Quarters or think tanks with the following missions (i) Monitor and analyse global, national, and regional radicalization trends (ii) Adopting best practices from global counter-radicalization models (iii) Train Counter Radical Teams consisting of Imams, Maulvies and Hindu Priests (iv) Promote Ijtihad in all forms (v) Build and maintain a radical database fusion center (vi) Promote counter-narratives through social media, print, TV/Radio). An appeal by the Imams of Guwahati and syncretic songs sung by Nahid Afrin was initiated by Assam Police under this category.

•        Involve and embolden the Indian Ulema to counter radical ideology through a closely monitored system.

•        Highlighting the global counter-narratives

•        Closely monitoring and controlling the foreign idealogues visiting India-study global precedence in this regard.

•        Incorporate the study of Islam and other religions in the curriculum of police for better appreciation of the problems.

•        Monitoring and social-controlling of activities of radical theologians.

•        Countering radicalization through the internet-Special Branch and its Project Cyberdom incorporating Digital Intelligence and Training and Analysis Centre (DITAC) should be adequately strengthened to tackle this menace as one of its verticals.

•        India cannot fight radicalization without the active support of its neighbours. Engaging the neighbourhood will be essential.    

•        Some counter-radicalization operations are creating institutional forums in Intelligence agencies to deal with emerging threats, deregistration of radical

sites, providing training workshops for law enforcement agencies, Think Tanks, Students, media personalities; carrying out Human Terrain Analysis, etc

Steps Suggested From The Print And Electronic Media:

•        Anti-extremist scholar Sultan  Shahin through his website www.newageislam.com

is taking on the fundamentalists and such efforts should be encouraged.

•        Stopping glamourizing of World Jihadis and countering radical literature.

•        Articles by leading muslim scholars against radicalization and highlighting constructive and syncretic steps by both the communities should be publicised.

Steps Suggested From The Majority Community:

•        There is no denying the fact that when Assamese language was passing through a very serious identity crisis, it is the immigrant muslims of chor and supories (river islands) who vouched for the Assamese and reflected Assamese as their mother tounge. Even now they carry out their education in Assamese language. Assamese Hindus should stress on their well being. There should be constant literary/cultural interaction between Asom Sahitya Sabha and Chor Chapori Sahitya Sabha so that integration of these groups with Assamese society is complete.

•        Because of the situation prevailing in Assam, saner sections of Muslim people do not want to express themselves in a free and fair manner. Majority Hindu saner sections encourage them to vent their feelings which is certainly going to create a congenial atmosphere.