Indian Mujahideen Is Symptom of Deeper Rot
By V. Balachandran
July 8, 2012
The Ministry of Home Affairs has done nothing about the deradicalisation of youngsters.
There are two ways of looking at the Abu Jundal (Syed Zabiuddin Ansari) phenomenon. Either we could follow Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who has smugly thrown the responsibility of his activities to Pakistan; or we could ask ourselves why a young boy from Bheed, Maharashtra's backward district, came to nurse so much hatred against his mother country that he directed the destruction of his state capital during the 26/11 terror attack. Was it only Pakistan which was responsible for converting this young technician into militancy? In a paper submitted to a Mumbai University seminar (September 2009) on the rising indigenous militancy, I argued that the "Indian Mujahideen" was only a symptom, while the disease lay far deeper. I had also said that our counter-terrorist policy had been traditionally stymied by a constant refrain that all terrorism in India was because of religious subversion from abroad. This was based on an illusory or diversionary hypothesis that Indian citizens by themselves were unsympathetic to militancy unless prodded from outside. Some prominent experts from the Middle East, participating in an Oxford seminar (October 2010), where I read a paper, had also said that self radicalisation was a growing threat.
What have we done about it? While some countries have attempted the "deradicalisation" of youngsters, our Ministry of Home Affairs in a 307-page self congratulatory report (2010-11) gave no indication of going beyond the security and intelligence approaches. The only serious attempt was by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorist Squad in counselling some delinquent young boys. Our policy makers feel that "quotas" to make better job opportunities would solve the problem. However, Indonesia, which made serious attempts at "deradicalisation" by their "Detachment 88", has noticed disturbing trends on religious intolerance, which has not abated with rising income. A recent paper by Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International studies (RSIS) by researchers Verra and Fitrani has cautioned against this assumption ("Indonesia's rising middle class, tweeting to be heard", 19 June, 2012). It concludes "that economic growth does not equate democratic maturity, especially when it comes to issues relating to human rights". Indonesian think tanks felt (June 2012) that "the country's level of tolerance is reaching its lowest point since Reformasi and democracy took place 14 years ago" even as the richer middle class "had grown exponentially". Their "burgeoning middle class comprises 56.5% of its 237 million populations, numbering 134 million people, a jump of 65 percent since 2003 ... consumer spending is an important driver of the Indonesian economy, which is 55% of GDP in 2011 compared to 35% consumer spending by China." The authors say that by May 2012, Indonesia was the fourth largest user of Facebook in the world and the number one Twitter user in Asia, generating 15% of the world's tweets. Tragically "this powerful social group appears unresponsive toward the rising wave of religious intolerance in Indonesia".
The paper quotes specific findings: In 2011, a civil society organisation, Setara Institute, reported 244 violations against freedom of religion, including restraining minorities, especially Ahmadias and Christians from practising their religion. The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy Elsam (Jakarta) reported eight cases of rights violations against Christians (January-April 2012). The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, Jakarta) found that nearly 70% of their respondents from 23 provinces would not want their neighbours of different faiths building places of worship around their locality. 80% of the 2,220 respondents also said that they objected to the idea of inter-religious marriage. More than 60% wanted all students to be fluent in Arabic.
The authors feel that attempts by activists like Andreas Harsono, journalist and Twitter user through a New York Times piece "No Model for Muslim Democracy" or efforts through Twitter and Facebook by "Indonesia Without Islamic Defender Front under #Indonesiatanpa FPI banner" against violent Islamic vigilantes would succeed only if the authorities do not dismiss such protests "out of hand". Instead, the authorities should "make good use of them while better engaging the middle class". This may be a lesson for Indian politicians, who approach the "minority problem" only with an eye on the next elections. This should also prevent them from killing our own "middle class" movement as they are now doing because of their own insecurity.
Source: http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/indian-mujahideen-is-symptom-of-deeper-rot
URL: https://newageislam.com/war-terror/indian-mujahideen-symptom-deeper-rot/d/7866