NIA confirms presence of ISIS in India, files charge sheet on J & K terror recruitment
Srinagar, May 25: Against the background of clashes in Kashmir that lasted for several months in the past, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has confirmed the ISJK’s link with ISIS and filed a charge sheet against four members of the Islamic State of Jammu & Kashmir (ISJK) in connection with attack on tourist reception center in Srinagar on November 24, last year.
On the day of the incident, police had arrested three suspected members of the terror group — Tahir Ahmad Khan, Haris Mushtaq Khan and Asif Suhail Nadaf. The NIA said, “Investigation unearthed a larger conspiracy of these terrorist elements propagating the pan-Islamic ideology of ISIS by recruiting and radicalizing Kashmiri youth towards Jihad and targeting security forces.”
The alarm was buzzed for NIA after 12th may 19, when the Amaq News Agency had published the news that, “The Islamic State terror group has claimed to have established a new "province" in India, the first of its kind announcement that came after clashes between militants and security forces in Kashmir on May 10. The Arabic name of the new branch is "Wilayah of Hind" (India Province)”.
According to research paper published on July 2018 on Observer Research Foundation by Kabir Taneja, an associate fellow with strategic studies program, the number of pro-ISIS cases attributed to both the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the media stand at 112 for all over India. Kerala, the most literate state in India, led the number of pro-ISIS cases with 37 out of 112 and may be the next establishment of ISIS in India after the Kashmir.
About Sirajuddin case (Employee of Indian oil corporation Bangalore)
Sirajuddin who collected ISIS propaganda like issues of Dabiq, had largely spread online reach in order to lure potential recruit and had built the online discussion group. He often wrote “ISIS welcome in Kashmir” on Indian currency notes and circulated pictures across social media. Sirajuddin was also obsessed with TIME magazine’s annual listing of ‘Person of the Year’, and advocated in his social media outreach that people hack TIME magazine’s website to declare al-Baghdadi winner of the said title. His affinity for ISIS had nothing to do with Kashmir, and was purely based on his outlook of Islam and where the religion stood in the global narrative.
Canada’s country’s security intelligence service’s analysis found that young adults (under the age of 21) and minors mobilize more quickly than adults. The mobilization process for youth, especially young travelers, is a relatively minimalistic endeavor.
After the NIA’s confirmation, the threat ISIS poses to India. The ecosystem has been created that allows open source access to ISIS’s appeal for establishment of Islam, sharia law over the world. India’s biggest challenge is to build the capacity to tackle this issue by committing the safety of non-Muslims in India in today’s highly technological era.