by Tufail Ahmad
The Threats Of Lone Wolf Attacks Are Being Increasingly Neutralized... But The Growing Radicalization Among Indian Muslim Youths Can Also Be Ascertained From Symptoms Across The Country.
"Speaking about the risk of
a likely lone wolf attack in India, Maharashtra state police chief Sanjeev
Dayal told a newspaper in January: 'we had this case where this man wanted to
go to a school in Bandra [an area of Mumbai] and do something there, which he
was prevented from doing. So, yes, it is a challenge finding out who is getting
radicalized.' The threats of lone wolf attacks are being increasingly
neutralized by Indian security agencies, but the growing radicalization among
Indian Muslim youths can also be ascertained from symptoms across the country.
"From
information available in public domain, it appears that the police chief was
speaking about Anis Ansari, who wanted to launch an attack on the American
School in Bandra. A transcript of Facebook chat between Anis Ansari and a
Muslim youth based in the U.S. reveals worrying symptoms of radicalization.
Ansari, using the Facebook identity Logan, advised the American that just for
hundred dollars he could carry out an attack in the U.S. that would 'sink the
earth' under Barack Obama's feet. Ansari also justified his own plan to attack
the school: '[I want to target] the American School because in addition to
France and Italy, children from ten allies of America study there. We should
hit that part of the enemy which causes the most pain. I mean: the citizen.'
"Symptoms
of radicalization were noticed over the past year in all regions of India: from
Manipur to Maharashtra, from Kerala to Kashmir, from Bangalore and Hyderabad to
Jharkhand. However, it appears that the Maharashtra region may be particularly
volatile, in addition to the areas surrounding Hyderabad. In January, someone
acting on behalf of the jihadist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) twice wrote comments inside the bathrooms of Mumbai airport terminals.
The first comment warned of an attack on January 10, which passed off
peacefully. The second comment warned of an attack on January 26, when U.S.
President Barack Obama will grace the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.
Earlier, on December 26, Mumbai-based newspaper Urdu Times published an
essay in which it – citing the teachings of the Koran and Prophet Muhammad –
advocated the killing of Muslims who convert to Hinduism or other religions."
"Muslim Societies Are Undergoing Industrial-Scale Islamization... The Ideas Inculcated By Islamic Clerics Offer A Fertile Ground For ISIS-Like Groups."
"In an essay in the weekly
news magazine Open of January 21-27, this writer examined in detail how the
ideas that drove the jihadist-attackers of French satirical weekly magazine Charlie
Hebdo are very much shared by Muslim youths in almost every town across
India. Commenting on the January 7 attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris,
Muslim youths based in the Indian towns of Tinsukia, Kolkata, Patna, Chhapra,
Nawada, Tanda, Lucknow, Dehradun, Budaun, Aligarh, New Delhi, Srinagar,
Jalandhar, Bhilwara, Indore, Jabalpur, Kheda, Ratnagiri, Jawahar, Nagina,
Amravati, Pune and Bangalore justified the attackers. The argument is not that
all Indian Muslims are terrorists or will become terrorists, but the necessary
point of contention is this: Muslim societies are undergoing industrial-scale
Islamization engendered by Islamic clerics speaking in mosques, madrassas and
jalsas, the religious congregations which are held every week in every region
of the country. The ideas inculcated by Islamic clerics offer a fertile ground
for ISIS-like groups.
"Since the
radical ideas are rooted in basic Islamic teachings, a vital question needs to
be asked: Is it possible that an entire generation of youth can shed inimical
ideas inherited from their parents and Islamic clerics? Fortunately, history
does bear witness to examples when entire generations of people have shunned
nefarious and harmful ideas held by their parents. For example, in Germany,
today's generation has been courageous in accepting the historical fact of the
anti-Jew beliefs and support for Nazism and fascism held by their parents. Once
the Germans accepted this reality of their parents, they were able to eradicate
Nazism and fascism from their lives. Similarly, a generation of the Japanese
youths today has rejected the anti-Chinese beliefs of their parents. The
Italian youths have comprehensively rejected the fascism popularly accepted by
their parents.
"In India
itself, a generation of Hindus – starting from Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Jawaharlal
Nehru, Dr. B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi – has accepted that caste system
practiced by our parents was indeed a scourge that needed to be eliminated from
Indian society; and once they accepted the problem in our midst they were able
to initiate great social, political and legal reforms. Millions of Dalits who
lived on the margins of Indian society for centuries were catapulted into
corridors of power in the post-independence India. In initiating such
far-reaching reforms, entire generations of Indians have bravely tried to
banish the beliefs on caste taught by their parents for ages."
"The Contemporary Generation Of Muslims... Needs To Face The Fact That... We Are Taught That Jews Are Evil; It Is Essential That Various Countries Adopt A Long-Term Strategy To Counter Radicalization Among Muslims"
"These lessons should indeed
convince Muslim youths across the world today that at least some of the beliefs
they have inherited from their parents and clerics are not compatible with the
tenets of modern civilization, especially those that conflict with gender
equality and undermine peace with other religious groups. Especially, the
contemporary generation of Muslims, not just in India but across the world,
needs to face the fact that consciously and unconsciously we are taught that
Jews are evil. The time is now that Muslim leaders across the world admit this
reality of Antisemitism and thereby nurture the next generation of Muslim
children on the path of a bright future.
"Fortunately,
in its own limited ways India has an established tradition of intellectual and
practical work in favor of Islamic reform and need for modern education among
Muslims. In the aftermath of the 1857 War in which the Mughal rule was
decimated by the British, two responses arose from within the Muslim community:
one was led by Islamic cleric Muhammad Qasim Nanautwi (1832-1880) who thought
that the welfare of Muslims would emanate essentially from the revival of Islam
and went on to establish the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary. The Darul Uloom
Deoband today continues to lead Muslims on the path of orthodoxy, seeds the
ideology of Islamism and proactively undermines the welfare of Muslim women. It
must be rejected.
"A second
response emerged under the leadership of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-98) who
thought that Muslims in India must learn material sciences, adopt the ideas of
the European Enlightenment and inculcate a scientific temperament in order for
success in this world; he went on to establish the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental
College, now known as the Aligarh Muslim University. Sir Syed's educational
mission, especially with regard to the cause of Islamic reform as espoused by
his Urdu journal Tahzibul Akhlaq has been abandoned by the leaders and students
of the Aligarh Muslim University, whose only preoccupation in modern times is
to organize mushairas, Urdu poetry recitations for entertainment purposes. The
growth of burqa culture on the university campus in recent years is also a
worrying sign.
"In the
post-independence era, a Maharashtra-based Muslim social reformer Hamid Dalwai
was perhaps the most astute thinker to ponder over the future of Muslims in the
democratic age. He grasped the workings of democracy and argued for securing
the rights of citizens in democratic institutions and processes. Dalwai, who
has recently been rediscovered and popularized by Ramachandra Guha, argued that
secularism of Hindus who treat Muslims as a minority encourages the
anti-secularism of Muslims; and minorities in a democracy like India have equal
rights, not special privileges. Unfortunately, Dalwai died at the young age of
44 in 1977 and a great hope for Islamic reform in India was lost prematurely.
The paths shown by Sir Syed and Dalwai are worth emulating.
"Amid the
growing radicalization of Muslim youths in India under the influence of ISIS,
it is being realized that the cause of Islamic reform is urgent. Given the
nature of the problem India and other countries are facing from the jihadist
onslaught, it is essential that various countries adopt a long-term strategy to
counter radicalization among Muslims. On its part, India needs to ensure that
mosques and madrassas are regulated and their sources of funding audited by
government officials. While the role of the Koran and Hadiths in influencing
Muslims cannot be eliminated from Muslim societies, it is very much possible to
push ordinary Muslims onto a path in which they begin to question at least
those of their beliefs which are openly inimical to other communities.
Therefore, any reform must also aim at preparing a primer that teaches Muslim
children from elementary level about the great thinkers of India and the world,
thereby promoting liberal arts and free speech.
"However,
the Western governments, which are facing the threat of radicalization in their
societies, need to also realize that German fascism was military defeated
before it was abandoned by the next generation of German youths. Similar is the
case with communism, which had to be militarily defeated before policymakers in
India and elsewhere could shed their long-held beliefs on models of development
for our people. Thanks to the exemplary global leadership under Ronald Reagan
and Margaret Thatcher, the fall of Berlin Wall became a reality, thereby
unshackling the Indian mind from its six decades of Nehruvian framework.
Unfortunately, there is no global leader today that appears rising to meet the
challenge of radical Islamism across the world. Before the next generations of
Muslim youths across the world shed inherited exclusionary beliefs, the task is
this: the international community first must defeat the global jihadism
militarily."
Tufail Ahmad
Source: http://www.memri.org
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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