Introduction:

The occasional acts of terrorism outside of Jammu and Kashmir, which for historical reasons forms a special case, attributed to young Indian Muslims have appeared intermittently in the press. In addition, several recent reports suggest that global jihadi organisations such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) have recruited a few Indian Muslim youth primarily by exploiting the latter’s local grievances to serve their own global goals. Since 2014, only 75 Indians have so far joined ISIS despite India having world’s second largest Muslim population.

Body:

The Wahhabi – Salafi ideology:

• Wahhabism is a conservative movement within Islam’s Sunni branch.
• It’s named after its founder, theologian Mohamed ibn Abdul Wahhab, who was born in the 18th century in what is now Saudi Arabia.
• Wahhab advocated a return to a “purer” form of Islam, focusing on its origins and the absolute sovereignty of God.
• That means banning the cult of saints and forbidding tobacco, alcohol and shaving.
• Their mosques are plain and public prayer attendance is strictly enforced.
• Wahhabism is extensively practised in Saudi Arabia, but has since spread. However, the term Wahhabism is derogatory.
• Many therefore prefer to call themselves salafis, in reference to the salaf – the first, second and third generation of people who lived at the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
• Wahhabism has become known as an intolerant and aggressive form of Islam, both by Muslims and outsiders.
• The movement was associated with violence from the beginning: Wahhab himself was expelled from his home town for his attempts at puritanical reform and for attacking the tombs of early Muslims.
• Jihad was declared against Muslims who refused to adopt the ways of the salaf.
• After Wahhab’s death, his followers became more violent, murdering their way across the land and, in 1803, forcing Mecca to surrender.

Distinct nature of Islam practiced in the country:

• Traditionally Indian Islam has been greatly influenced by Sufi teachings and is, therefore, tolerant and accepting of religious diversity.
• Visitors to major Sufi shrines, such as those of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer and Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi, where people of all confessions come to pray and seek blessings, can testify to the syncretic spirit of Indian Islam.
• Consequently, it harbours natural defences against extremism in belief and practice.

Causes for rising threat to Internal Security:

• The ideological infiltration of Wahhabism/Salafism has eroded some of these defences and made a section of Muslims more insular and, therefore, open to extremist ideas.
• The spectacular rise of Hindutva or Hindu nationalism from the 1990s has had a major psychological impact on a section of Muslim youth, prompting their estrangement from the national mainstream.
• Inter-religious riots in which Muslims suffered disproportionately had been common in India since Independence. In some cases the police killed Muslim youth in fake encounters.
• The Hashimpura massacre in Uttar Pradesh by members of the Provincial Armed Constabulary in 1987 was the most macabre example of such incidents.
• The demolition in 1992 of the Babri mosque by a Hindu mob under the direction of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) luminaries and the riots that ensued, in which scores of Muslims lost their lives, shook the confidence of many Muslims in the secular character of the Indian state.
• The lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri, in western Uttar Pradesh, in 2015 on suspicion that he had stored beef in his house was the most chilling example of such incidents. It was followed by additional acts of mob violence carried out with relative impunity by the so-called gau rakshak (cow protector) vigilantes.
• This series of actions and reactions makes it evident that the growth of Hindu nationalism has acted as a major stimulus for the radicalisation of a section of Muslim society in India and that the two phenomena feed off each other.

Way forward:

• Opinion leaders and religious scholars from within the Muslim community have the primary duty to confront and defeat the malign Wahhabi-Salafi influence on Indian Muslims.
• The impact of the growth of Hindu nationalism on the Muslim psyche can be countered only by the policies and actions of the governing elites at the Centre and in the States.
• Quick and impartial action against those responsible for creating mayhem in the name of religion, to reassure Muslims that the state will not shirk its responsibility of providing them physical security and ensuring that they are treated with fairness and dignity.
• The social media platforms which are rampant and easily influencing the youths should be monitored and the youths to be inducted in the proper rehabilitation of the identified personnel.
• Improving Intelligence collection and information exchange between countries through bilateral agreements can help combat terrorism.
• Strong anti-money laundering acts and monitoring through Financial Intelligence Units to curb the flow of Black money.