How Telangana’s Madrasas of hate produced a radical jihadi in the Kashmir battle

A few years back major protests broke out in Bhadrachalam. The protests erupted owing to mass conversions of the Lambani tribe by Madrasas in this town at Telangana.

The Madrasas at Bhadrachalam are back in focus with a probe by the Telangana police revealing that Mohammad Taufeeq, the terrorist who died in Kashmir earlier this month was originally from Telangana.

It may be recalled that the terrorist outfit, Ansar Ghazwatul Hind had celebrated his martyrdom and said that Taufeeq hailed from Hyderabad. Following this, the Kashmir police wrote to their counterparts in Telangana to probe into the matter.

While the police are now ascertaining if he had any network in Telangana, it has come to light that the radicalisation process may have taken place at the Madrasa in Bhadrachalam. He was always a problematic person. He was involved in a couple of theft cases but got acquitted for want of evidence.

It was in 2008 that a change in him began to occur. He studied at the Atomic Energy School in Aswapuram at the Chandragonda village in Kothagudem between 1994 and 2007. After school, he joined a Madrasa and came in contact with two persons who had converted to Islam.

During this period he visited several religious conventions. It was during this period that a transition took place. Following this, he did a diploma course at Mahabubnagar and during this time, he stayed a Mosque.

While the radicalisation had begun, a lot more changed when he visited Kashmir with his parents in 2012. Out there he saw plenty of posters with anti-India inscriptions and this got him immediately attracted to the cause.

On his return, he opened a Facebook account and browsed through pages that were related to the Kashmir cause. He may have come in contact with some members from Kashmir following which he made the journey to the Valley, the police say. In 2015 he left for Kashmir on the pretext of getting some dry fruits. However out there he met up with Mubashir Islam, a Hizbul Mujahideen operative with whom he had been in touch on Facebook.

While he initially started out with the Hizbul Mujahideen, he appears to have switched over to the Ansar Ghazwatul Hind which is an affiliate of the Al-Qaeda.

Telangana, in particular, has had several operatives who are affiliated with the Al-Qaeda. The ideology of the outfit was seen in the form another group called the Base Movement. An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia there are several Madrasas in Telangana that must be brought under the scanner. In several cases that have been probed, it has found that radical elements have been produced. There are several Madrasas that indulge in full-fledged conversion and also preach hate. Taufeeq was one such product, the officer also adds.

OneIndia News