IS module or IS inspired: The danger is ideology

Is it an Islamic State module or an IS inspired module. The war of words on this technical aspect has taken centre stage since the Lucknow encounter took place in which one persons was shot dead. Saifullah was killed following an 11 hour encounter with the Uttar Pradesh ATS at Thakurganj near Lucknow.

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It was said that he was part of an IS module and was involved in the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast. The centre is miffed with the UP police for jumping the gun and calling it an IS module. Javed Ahmed, the DGP of UP said that this was a module sympathetic to the IS.

While officials may fight over this technicality, what one needs to bear in mind is that the IS does not function like other terror groups. The IS does not function on the module theory. It is an outfit that works like an army in Iraq and Syria. The function it gives its recruits in Iraq and Syria is very different to that it expects from its men in other parts of the world.

When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the boss of the IS delivered a message a year back, he made it amply clear that the outfit needed people who were inspired by it. He wanted to spread the ideology of the IS across the world and directed all to set up the Caliphate in their respective countries.

Top Intelligence Bureau officials say that the IS functions on inspiration. There is no set pattern that it works on. It has thrown a lot of material online about ideology and how it expects its men to function. It does not call for an attack that would require a great deal of planning. Do not follow the rules is the message that it delivers. For instance, if a 'non-believer' is pushed down a building, the IS would call it an attack. The Nice attack in which a lorry mowed down several people was also called an attack. That attack was carried out by an IS inspired man who was not part of any module.

The centre and the states in India must bear in mind that the fight should be against the ideology of the IS. These are not cases that can be treated as normal ones. There needs to be a shift in the way these cases are investigated. It is not just about recovering weapons or speaking about the modules. It is about how the ideology has spread. The key point to remember that not just in India, but in other parts of the world, IS modules do not strike. Strikes are carried out in the name of the IS.

OneIndia News