New Delhi: The allure of the Islamic state was believed to be dim in India. However, according to a report in Indian Express, there have been at least 17 cases of missing young men who are believed to have joined the terrorist outfit or headed to its strongholds.
The report claims that Ministry of Home Affairs called a meeting earlier this month with the Directors General of Police and Home Secretaries from 12 states to discuss these cases. Ironically, it was only last November that government announced that the threat from Islamic State was “negligible”.
In addition to the 17 who are believed to be active with outfits like Islamic State or the rival Jabhat al-Nusra, Indian and foreign intelligence services report that up to a dozen Indian Mujahideen cadre have also joined ISIS.
Meanwhile, police have stopped at least 22 volunteers from travelling.
Most of these missing are understood to be educated, hailing from middle-class or affluent families with conventional aspirations, with very few links with Islamist political groups, and none to terrorism.
The propagandists for the terror organisation have been specifically calling for educated volunteers, especially engineers and doctors, to help build an Islamic utopia.
Government sources have said that Islamic State propaganda has found resonance among some young Muslims disenchanted with the community’s traditional religious and political leadership and angered by growing communal violence. Islamic State flags have come up at protests in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Jammu Kashmir; pro-Islamic State graffiti has been reported in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
Four youths from Thane had joined the Islamic State last year of which only one, Areeb Majid, has since returned home and has been booked under terrorism-related charges. The three others, not in the list of 17, are thought to have been killed.
