Context: A UN report, released last month on terrorism has warned that there are “significant numbers” of ISIS terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka, noting that the al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent terror group, which reportedly has between 150 and 200 militants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, is planning attacks in the region. The 26th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIS, al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities said that the al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operates under the Taliban umbrella from Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces of Afghanistan. Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, The UN report on ISIS terrorist activities in Karnataka is based on the arrests made by the state police and National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the past year. On July 13, the NIA had filed a chargesheet against 17 ISIS suspects who had allegedly formed a terror group named Al-Hind to carry out terrorist attacks in South India, especially in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. More recently on August 18 the NIA arrested a doctor, Abdur Rahman for his alleged links with the banned terrorist outfit Islamic State Khorasan Province, an offshoot of ISIS. 
About the report

• According to the report, “One member state reported that the ISIL Indian affiliate (Hind Wilayah), which was announced on May 10, 2019, has between 180 and 200 members”.
• It said that there are “significant numbers of ISIL operatives in Kerala and Karnataka states.”
• In May last year, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) terror group 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.
• Previously, ISIS attacks in Kashmir were linked to its so-called Khorasan Province branch, which was set up in 2015 to cover “Afghanistan, Pakistan and nearby lands”.

About ISIS

• The Islamic State is also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or Daesh. 
• It is Sunni Jihadist group that seized large swathes of territory in eastern Syria since 2014. 
• In 2019, the group claimed to have established a new province in India called the IS Indian affiliate (Hind Wilayah).
• The countries where the local groups have pledged allegiance with IS include Niger, Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh. The countries where IS holds territory include Libya, Iraq and Syria.

Counter Measures by India

• India has taken several measures to counter terrorism in the Indian Sub-continent, especially after the abrogation of Article 370. Operation Pigeon was launched in Kerala. The operation saved 350 youths from ISIS. The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has been proposed and also National Investigation Agency is deployed extensively to counter terrorism.

Types of Radicalisation

• Right-Wing Extremism: It is characterized by the violent defence of a racial, ethnic or pseudo-national identity, and is also associated with radical hostility towards state authorities, minorities, immigrants and/or left-wing political groups.
• Politico-Religious Extremism: It results from political interpretation of religion and the defence, by violent means, of a religious identity perceived to be under attack (via international conflicts, foreign policy, social debates, etc.). Any religion may spawn this type of violent radicalization.
• Left-Wing Extremism: It focuses primarily on anti-capitalist demands and calls for the transformation of political systems considered responsible for producing social inequalities, and that may ultimately employ violent means to further its cause. It includes anarchist, maoist, Trotskyist and marxist–leninist groups that use violence to advocate for their cause.

Factors behind Radicalisation

• Individual socio-psychological factors, which include grievances and emotions such as alienation and exclusion, anger and frustration and a strong sense of injustice.
• Socio-Economic Factors, which include social exclusion, marginalisation and discrimination (real or perceived), limited education or employment etc.
• Political Factors, which include weak and non-participatory political systems lacking good governance and regard for civil society.
• Social media, which provide connectivity, virtual participation and an echo-chamber for like-minded extremist views, accelerates the process of radicalisation.

Instances of radicalisation in India

• Cases have revealed instances of internet-facilitated indoctrination and active radicalisation in multiple states.
• Instances of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) have grown despite the continued government intervention. Encounters, ambushes and arrests still occur with regular frequency in the red corridor districts.
• On the other end of the spectrum increased incidents of mob lynching, cow vigilantism and the string of assassinations of rationalists such as Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and Gauri Lankesh point towards rising extremism in the right wing cadres.
• These instances signify the stark reality of the threats to internal security that stare India in the face, from both the right wing as well as the left.

Tackling Extremism

• The threat from radicalisation remains highly underestimated and understudied in India. In the absence of official Indian policy on radicalisation and de-radicalisation situation has turned even worse, aggravating the problem.
• In order to face and counter such threats effectively and conclusively, policy addressing and trying to reverse the process of radicalisation that forces an individual or a group to idealise and act upon extremist ideas is needed.
• The programme should focus upon the four aspects of the individual, family, religion and psychology and seeks to bring about a lasting change in the individual’s belief system.
• However, instead of seeing it as a rehabilitative, reformative and preventive approach it is looked with a security centric perspective severely undermining the gravity of the problem.

Steps to Tackle Radicalism

• A consistent counter radical strategy is required to tackle radicalism.
• Institutions have to be strengthened: Educational and political institutions should be strengthened at ground level so that people of any state feel empowered. Also, enough number of job opportunities should be provided to people to decrease their chances of joining any radicalist organization.
• There should be sufficient evidence behind banning any organization. This is necessary to avoid court cases. Also, Intelligence Agencies, Law Enforcement Agencies and Judicial Courts need to act in unison on this matter.
• Once government identifies any radicalist organization, it needs to take hold of their physical and financial resources.
• Countering activities of radicalists. If hate can be taught, then love and social responsibilities toward people and the nation can also be taught. This is necessary to de-radicalize people.
• It needs to be ensured that people who been de-radicalized feel safe and secure in the country.

Challenges in Formulating a Policy

Initiatives have been taken to counter the menace of growing radicalisation by state governments through their respective De-radicalisation programs; however the programs have turned out to be weak in many ways:

• Firstly, they aim only at those individuals who under goes radicalisation and does not deal with people who have not crossed the boundaries of law under the influence of the radical doctrine.
• People or communities affected by radicalisation often belongs to marginalised and neglected section having little or no trust on law enforcement agencies, blocking any attempt at constructive dialogues with minority communities.
• Any policy in isolation without a comprehensive policy or legal framework from the Centre makes policy weak and results in delays in intelligence gathering and swift action.
• In the absence of a central policy or legal framework, any efforts at countering radicalisation will only be dealing with superficial aspects as radical content is primarily disseminated through the internet which requires greater cooperation from centre given the pan-Indian nature of the problem.

Road Ahead

• Programme with respect to radicalisation must be based upon objectively researched conclusions based on strong evidence and not merely the subjective experience of an officer.
• India’s federal structure requires the Centre to develop an umbrella of legal framework aimed at facilitating, guiding and coordinating efforts of individual states to combat radicalisation therefore any such framework should not be limited to any one community or source of radicalisation.
• The problem of radicalisation has seen an uptrend and in absence of any clear policy will continue to spread. It is important therefore to conduct meaningful research to aid the development of a framework that not only deals with de-radicalisation but also rehabilitate the misguided youth of the nation.