Is 'Islamic terrorism' growing in India?

New Delhi: If you screen the last two-week newspapers, you will find prominent news headlines on Islamic militant acts and arrests in India. Some of the headlines are:

01.08.2022, Gujarat/Maharashtra: The NIA conducted searches at 13 locations in six states, including three districts of Gujarat, Navsari, Bharuch, and Surat. NIA sources said that the raids were related to a case registered by it in June over an online magazine called ‘Voice of Hind’, which allegedly incited Muslims against non-Muslims and exhorted them to rise against the government of India and join ISIS. Three persons were arrested. According to NIA sources, the main accused, a 26-year-old ISIS sympathiser from Hyderabad who is currently lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, was in contact with about 12 persons.

31.07.2022: KOCHI/AHMEDABAD/LUCKNOW/BHOPAL/BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday raided several locations in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and detained at least 14 people over alleged ties to terrorist organisations, including the notorious Islamic State of Iraq and Syria In Uttar Pradesh’s Deoband town, a madrasa student from Karnataka was arrested from a seminary. The student, Farukh, was allegedly in touch with a module of the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI via a social media app. On June 23, a Rohingya student was arrested from Deoband.

28.07.2022, Assam: Mufti arrested, 8 Maulvis detained for running a jihadi camp in madrasa and preaching hatred through Islamic texts. The mastermind of this module has been identified as Mufti Mustafa.

27.07.2022: Tamil Nādu/Karnataka: Arrests of IS, AQ-Linked Cadre in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Reveals Suicide Attack. The sources termed the arrests significant, given that the men had plans to carry out their nefarious activities ahead of Independence Day. They also said the accused were radicalised on social media. The Tamil Nadu Police arrested Erode-based Islamic State sympathisers Asif Mustheen and his associate Yasir Nawab John and recovered a knife, a black IS flag, incriminating documents, and digital media devices from their possession. They said Mustheen was in contact with IS-Core in Syria/Iraq and had expressed his willingness to carry out a suicide attack in India.

In another IB operation on July 24, Bengaluru Police arrested a city-based pro-Al Qaeda (AQ) subject Akhtar Hussain Laskar, who originally hails from Assam.

25.07.2022: Police claim Bihar terror module accused received crypto payments from Qatar-based organisation: Danish was the admin of the anti-India WhatsApp groups and was also in touch with several other overseas groups, the investigation has revealed. The probe has also revealed that Danish was connected with a Pakistan-based fundamentalist group, Tehriq-e-Labbaiq.

The ongoing probe in Bihar’s Phulwari Sharif terror module case has revealed that the accused used to receive payments in the form of cryptocurrencies from Qatar. Marguv Ahmad Danish (26), a resident of Phulwari Sharif, was arrested on July 15 for allegedly operating two WhatsApp groups — ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ and ‘Direct Jihad’ — to propagate anti-India views, police said on Sunday.

15.07.2022, Bihar: PFI trained local Muslims in arms to subjugate ‘coward Hindus’ by 2047, ex-police officer Md Jalaluddin and the ex-SIMI member involved. On July 6 and 7, Jalaluddin and Parvez trained a large group of locals on how to use swords and knives and instigated them with religiously violent statements.

These are worrying news items related to the rise of Islamic terrorism in India and the link of some local youth to global Jihadi organisations that define that Islamic terrorism is once again pulling out its neck in India. With so many, raids, arrests, and even cold-blooded murders by Jihadis in the name of Islam last month, one cannot rule out some militant-related violence by these terrorists if most of these “sleeper cells” are not identified or cadre arrested.

More so after the death of Ayman Al Zawahiri in a US drone attack in Kabul this weekend. Al Zawahiri time and again has given statements regarding Indian Muslims, Hijab, and Kashmir issue. At one time there was a group called AQIS (Al Qaida in the Indian Sub-continent) that was active in South Asia. The first chief of this group was also an Indian who was killed in a drone attack. So, any sleeper cell or sympathizer of Al Qaida in India, in the name of revenge, may attack some soft targets. It also depends that who is going to take over the reins of Al Qaida in the future and how militarily active that person could be. What could be the new equation between the Al Qaida and Islamic State- Khorasan?

Islamic State has 66 known Indian-origin fighters: U.S. report on terrorism. The report published in 2021 said that “The National Investigation Agency examined 34 terrorism-related cases related to ISIS and arrested 160 persons, including 10 alleged al-Qaeda operatives from Kerala and West Bengal, in September.”

Giving details of the terrorists’ arrests made by the NIA, the report said that the premier investigation agency arrested 10 alleged al-Qaeda-affiliated operatives from Kerala and West Bengal on September 19 and 26.

“Through the end of September, the NIA had investigated 34 terrorism cases it indicated were related to ISIS and arrested 160 persons,” it said. The Kolkata Police counter-terrorism Special Task Force on May 29 arrested Abdul Karim, the second-in-command of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, on suspicion of involvement in a 2013 bombing in Bodh Gaya, it said.

Fresh attempts to bring ISIS into J&K

Meanwhile, the global jihadist outfit Islamic State (ISIS) has made a fresh attempt to make its presence felt in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and has claimed responsibility for the murder of an assistant sub-inspector of police. As per reports, ISIS released a purported video of the attack to claim responsibility. The video was released by the propaganda arm of the terror group, Amaq, which showed grainy video filmed using a body camera. So jihadists have started using body cameras to film their attacks for glamourizing their actions and use it as propaganda to recruit teenagers towards jihad. ISIS and Al Qaeda have tried to make inroads in J&K using their local affiliates Wilayat-e-Hind and Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind but failed to make any impact.

The Global reach of the Islamist group

One should also not feel relaxed when news about the decline of Islamic terrorism in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, or any other country is in the news. Many foreign fighters change their locations. In some analyses, it is believed that IS -K is more focusing on East Asia countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indo-Pacific Ocean countries. We have seen how many Maldivian and Sri Lankan Muslim youths had joined the Global Jihadi groups. The images of a series of Easter bombings in Sri Lanka in 2019 are still fresh in our minds. Islamic extremist groups are trying to reach into the conflict zones as already there is disgruntled youth that becomes easy for the recruiters of the Jihadi to win them.

The threat in India is under control

So far Islamic terrorism, despite its reach in several countries as well as in the neighbourhood, was kept under check in India. But if numbers are to be believed then around 100 suspects have been already arrested for a year on the charges of either being sympathizers, supporters, or active workers of the Jihadi organisation.

Speaking at the Security Council briefing on 'Threat to International Peace & Security Caused by Terrorist Acts' that took up the UNSG report on February 9, 2022, India's former Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti said that India has been reiterating close links between proscribed terrorist entities such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other terror groups, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). We mustn't lose sight of the ease with which the proscribed Haqqani Network, with support from their patron state, have worked along with prominent terrorist organisations like al-Qaeda, and ISIS-K in South Asia."

National Investigative Agency (NIA) is doing an admirable job in counter-terrorism. NIA in their several press releases says that most of the detained persons are being questioned over an alleged connection with an ISIS terror module. Investigation into the case of the murder of Kanhaiya Lal, conducted by the NIA and Anti-Terrorist Squad in India, it was revealed that Pakistan-based jihadist outfit Dawat-e-Islami with the help of other militancy outfits had formed a 40-member team in Rajasthan with the agenda of targeting Nupur Sharma, former Spokesperson of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and those who are defending her voice. According to information, these jihadist nexuses had prepared a hit-list, which was supposed to be executed by its members. The details were known after the arrest of Riyaz Attari and Mohammad Goas, for killing tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur for a social media post supporting Nupur Sharma.

Terrorists use technology, social media, and the internet

Officials in India remain concerned about social media and internet use for terrorist recruitment and radicalisation to violence, as well as for fomenting interreligious tensions as technology has advanced so has its use by terrorist groups. This includes missiles and drones, which extend the reach of their attacks without reaching the spot. Smartphones, social media, and encryption are other technologies that also extend their networks, making the spread of propaganda and recruitment easier. Jihadis are using their propaganda newsletters through encrypted Telegram or Signal applications and also extensively use audio-visuals that they usually collect from body cameras or spots of violence.

Conclusions

It is necessary for the authorities to remain vigilant as well as keep an eye on all those suspected to have links or sympathy with the global radical groups. It is also necessary to focus on individual incidents of violence but not ignore the global patterns in such violence. Massive research is needed to understand the footprint and organisational capacity of ISIS, its movement, and its cadre. In addition, information regarding emerging new Islamic militant organisations globally and within the country needs to be researched and monitored. Reliable data collection and understanding of future trends are key to any challenges.

The government also needs to use sophisticated technology in counter-terrorism actions like countering terrorist propaganda and its use of it. With the rapid rise in digitization, the use of new and emerging technologies to counter-terrorism should be a policy adopted and more power given to the investigative agencies to scrutinise the digital equipment, particularly in the context of the increasing role played by technology in terrorism.