REFERENCE POINTS
SRI LANKA BOMBINGS
On 21st April,2019 an IED was set off in Saint Anthony Church .Due to Easter Sunday large number of people had gathered in the church compound .In addition to this a famous hotel and The Kings bury were bombed leading to which 259 people were killed .The pattern of attack was similar to an LTTE style covert attack.In the aftermath of the attack ISIL released a statement claiming that a local ally National Thoweeth Jamaa’th was responsible for the attacks.The objective was to specifically target Catholics and to seek attention of the west to the fact that they were responsible for the so called oppression of Muslims in Palestine,Afghanistan,Bosnia etc.Another interesting analogy which was established was the fact that they wanted to create caliphate with non-Muslims having no place.The government of Sri Lanka carried out successive raids in different locations which thwarted future attacks.Yet the important highlight of all this was the fact that a week before the attacks Indian security agencies had warned of such bombings in public places specifically church.A memo too was issued regarding the same by police yet it was ignored by the government.An ISIL militant in custody of NIA described a single name Zehran Hashim the head of NTJ was responsible for planning and providing logistical support for the attacks. The militants had covertly been to Tamil Nadu and Kerala .The vacuum which was left after LTTE was defeated and with brainwashing happening on the basis of riots and other events has lead to youth becoming more aligned to covertly supporting such jihad networks.The essence of these attacks was to create fear among a larger target audience.Many considered it as a revenge of Christchurch attacks yet there was no proof to substantiate it.However what is extremely essential to understand is the fact that among south Asians joining ISIL Sri Lankan’s comprised an extremely significant number.All of this establishes the fact that fundamentalist threat is highly relevant in the region
ISJK- A REAL THREAT
The most comprehensive threat to any state in India is to Kashmir.In Kashmir Islamic universality holds prime importance and those were the foundations of influencing youth to join militancy .Understand this in Kashmir all organisations trace there names from Arabic roots like Dukhtarane Millat .The wave of terrorism in Kashmir was generated after the Iranian spring and Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Yet the threat was still suppressed till the expansion of ISIL across the region .The youth started aligning themselves with the ideology of religious violence as a tool of propagating Salafism.In 2016 there was a major split between Ultras and Hurriyat regarding Shariat leading to the establishment of Ansar Ul Ghazwahat Hind.This also provided space to ISIL to expand in kashmir. ISIL established a province ‘Waliyah ul Hind’ in Kashmir. Ishfaq Sofi a militant was the first to be killed by security forces .Even though logistically and in terms of network ISIL is not yet established in the region yet it remains a major threat for the security apparatus as there is growing wave of attraction of youth towards ISIL meaning that the challange is real
The establishment of a “province” in a region where it has nothing resembling actual governance is absurd, but it should not be written off…The world may roll its eyes at these developments (I sure have), but to jihadists in these vulnerable regions, [these] are significant gestures to help lay the groundwork in rebuilding the map of the ISIS’ “Caliphate.” Thus, these regions should be closely watched.
-RITA KITZ
ISIS IN INDIA.WHY IT IS HIGH TIME FOR NSC TO ACT.
Indian Muslims are the least radicalized individuals among the world this can specified in terms of ratio of individuals involved in such activities to the population of Muslims in our country.This is a great thing yet at the same time sustaining this is major challenge for the administration.It is important to understand our vulnerabilities,Because of the large population intelligence agencies like ISI are trying to create fault lines between Hindus and Muslims.It is trying to engineer riots to create a feeling among minorities that India is unsafe for them and to protect themselves they have to pick weapons against the state of India. ISIL has been trying to outsource Muslim youth from India to fight in Syria, However they have been unsuccessful.Hence attempts are being made to unify internal security threats propagating Wahhabi ideology like PFI,SDPI,SIMI and many others to brainwash youth and recruit them to carry out attacks in different parts of India.Attempts have been made in Uttar Pradesh,Dilkhushnagar and various other parts of the country
Southern States specifically Kerala are becoming hotbed of ISIL recruitment .Youth from these states are fleeing India to join ISIL this can be credited to massive radicalization happening there and government providing space for such anti state elements to exist in the state.The Central Home ministry has not banned groups promoting radicalization leading to a greater strain for the security agencies to track there movements and take any legal action .ISIL is looking to attract youth by creating rift between religious communities specifically using the vulnerables who might victims of riots etc .
THE KABUL CONNECT
Recently a terrorist attack was carried out on Gurudwara Har Rai Sahab a Sikh shrine in Kabul killing 25 Sikhs .The responsibility of the attacks was claimed by ISIL-Khorasan. What was peculiar about the attacks was the fact that a resident of Kerala specifically of padne district was also involved in these attacks. Mohammad Sajid had an arrest warrant issued by NIA in 2016 and an Interpol notice after he went missing. Analyzing the events we can say that the hasty Peace agreement has created a major vacuum and the radicals are now utilizing this .ISIL lost AL-BAGHDADI and lost to coalation forces in Syria yet it is still structurally strong and more relevant now. ISIL is eyeing south asia as a new hotspot for its ideology fulfillment. Kabul attacks are a small example of there capability .It is imperative for security agencies to prepare for a two front threat . A more regressive Taliban and expansion of ISIL. The involvement of an Indian is alarming hence it is important to act in stern manner.
Geopolitical Matrix 