New Age Islam Special Correspondent
24 August 2020
The ulema have to play an important role in preventing Muslim youth from being influenced by the extremist and destructive ideology. A counter campaign against the ISIS propaganda and the extremist magazine Voice of Hind should be launched by the ulema. But they should understand that mere rhetoric and platitudes of the kind they have been spouting for so long will not work. It’s obvious from our experience of the last decades that their fatwas have failed to act as counter-terrorism tools. Preventing radicalization is a serious business and ulema should go deep into the reasons why their platitudinous and hackneyed fatwas do not work.
ISIS Operative Abu Yusuf
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The arrest of alleged ISIS operative Abu Yusuf from Delhi - Haryana border two days ago is a grim reminder that the influence of the ISIS in India cannot be ignored. According to newspaper reports, he was planning lone wolf attacks in New Delhi. Improvised devices and explosives have reportedly been recovered from him. The details are yet to come but the Muslims should also keep in mind that the ISIS is trying to make a dent into the Indian Muslim society by exploiting their social insecurity and their sense of victimhood in the country in the backdrop of some recent developments that bear religious and political significance for them.
The ISIS has launched an online magazine named Voice of Hind in which the Muslim youth are cajoled and incited to conduct lone wolf attacks. It has been an strategy of the terrorist organisations including Al Qaida to incite Muslim youth to conduct lone wolf attacks with whatever tools they can afford. In this way, they have tried to create unrest and social strife in Muslim minority societies. This cannot benefit Muslims in the least. On the contrary, it will turn Muslims into criminals and terrorists without any positive or creative goal in life. These extremist organisations only cause civil strife because through civil strife only they can achieve their goals.
Wife of suspected ISIS operative Abu Yusuf. (ANI Photo)
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The arrest of Abu Yusuf should be seen from that perspective. The ISIS may inspire Indian Muslim youth to conduct lone wolf attack through its magazine Voice of Hind.
The modus operandi of the ISIS is to first cause social strife in the name of seemingly just causes and then take advantage of the chaotic situation to control the mob. This happened in Iraq and Syria during the Arab Spring when they turned public protests against corruption and government apathy towards the common people into a civil and sectarian war and then established their so-called Caliphate. In India people have been protesting against government's policies that they consider unjust and harmful for them.
The ISIS sees an opportunity in this situation to turn these protests into a civil strife and help the enemies of India to cause damage to it through internal strife because they have not been able to harm it militarily. The ISIS has a firm footing in Afghanistan where the Taliban has been harbouring and sheltering them.
Alleged ISIS operative 'Abu Yusuf' (in green shirt).
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And Pakistan supports Taliban as its policy of strategic depth. It's a known fact that Pakistan has been using terrorist organisations in Pakistan and Afghanistan to conduct terrorist attacks in India. Indian government and Indian Muslims need to remain vigilant against the ISIS so that it cannot radicalise Indian Muslims and destroy the peace and harmony of the country.
The ulema have to play an important role in preventing the Muslim youth from being influenced by the extremist and destructive ideology. A counter campaign against the ISIS propaganda and the extremist magazine Voice of Hind should be launched by the ulema. But they should understand that mere rhetoric and platitudes of the kind they have been spouting will not work. It’s obvious from our experience of the last decades that their fatwas have failed to act as counter-terrorism tools. Preventing radicalization is a serious business and ulema should go deep into the reasons why their platitudinous and hackneyed fatwas do not work.
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8:21 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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