International radical outfit Street Daawah has opened offices in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai to recruit non-Muslims, including those from the IT hubs in these cities, for enlisting them into suicide missions.
The outfit had begun its operations in the UK and Australia in 2012 following which a number of youths were radicalised with presentation of concocted forms of Islam. In the wake of the outfit’s activities, a few Indians, including Indian- origin British national Siddarth Dhar who is a Kashmiri Brahmin, joined the Islamic State.
Dhar is also believed to be the new Jihadi John, a masked executioner for the IS whose videos relating to mass executions have been released by the Caliphate-seeking terror outfit after the liquidation of the original Jihadi John whose real name was Mohammad Emwazi, a British origin IS executioner.
Many of the Street Daawah cadres have been known to have either joined the IS ranks or emerged as suicide bombers for them. As many as 25 suicide bombings have been committed globally by the Street Daawah cadres during the last few years.
Top intelligence sources said the outfit has not registered itself as a voluntary organisation in India so far but has started functioning from these cities. According to the Street Daawah concept, only non-Muslims are targeted and subsequently influenced to accept radical form of Islam. Upon radicalisation, the cadres continue to retain their non-Muslim names in their passport so as to evade any suspicion by the law enforcement agencies.
Apart from recruiting non-Muslims for suicide bombing missions, the outfit also targets maulanas for preaching their version of the misinterpreted Islamic concepts and further increase the recruitment base of the outfit. The concept of Street Daawah derives its origin from its movement in UK and Australia after which a number of its cadres had joined the terror group Islamic State and carried out suicide bombings in different parts of Europe. Recruits are randomly selected by Street Daawah operators who collect data like mobile/phone numbers, residential and e-mail addresses of the targeted youth. The outfit’s recruiters then radicalise them through their concocted Islamic literature and psychological brainwashing over a period of time.
A senior Intelligence official said the addresses of the Street Daawah offices in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai have been ascertained and their activities are being watched. Their networking with other radical organisations like the ones relating to the Salafist preacher Zakir Naik is also under the scanner.
When contacted by The Sunday Standard, a number of Maulanas and Muftis especially from Deoband said while Islam does not approve violence, a minuscule number of the youths are attracted due to the communication gap between the Government and the citizens. The Maulanas and the Muftis said foreign elements are behind radicalisation in India who just cannot accept the inter-community harmony in the country. They also said there is a global trend to create Islamophobia.
Maulana Arshad Madani, President of the Jamiat-Ulama-e-Hind, said, “It is true that a few youths from both the Hindu and Muslim community may get radicalised but it is equally true that many a times there is propaganda to malign the Muslims. Violence is unacceptable in Islam but the religion is often perceived to be violent.”
Maulana Mufti Arshad Farooqui of the Darool Uloom Zakaria said lack of proper education is responsible for radicalisation amongst the youth. The Government as well as the Muslim community should together work to eradicate the emerging threat from radicalisation, he added.
By Rakesh K Singh
Courtesy: The New Indian Express
