Online recruitment of Muslims: Why the radicalisation scenario in Bengal is worrisome
New Delhi, Nov 05: The National Investigation Agency earlier this week arrested a suspected terrorist of the of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh from West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district.
The NIA personnel conducted a search operation while acting on a tip-off. The search was conducted in the Subhasgram area following which the JMB terrorist hailing from Bangladesh was arrested. The arrested persons has been identified as Abdul Mannan Bachu.
The NIA found on him a fake voter and Aadhaar card. The arrested person is currently being interrogated and the NIA is trying to ascertain why he had entered into India. The agency said that several other documents relating to the terror group were also seized from his possession.
Further investigation revealed that the JMB operative was involved in a conspiracy relating to online radicalisation and recruitment of Muslim youth by the JMB and AQIS in India and Bangladesh. So far 5 persons have been arrested in connection with the case.
Recently the NIA arrested nine persons from West Bengal and Kerala. These persons were part of a chat group called the Ghazwa-e-Hind. Ghazwa-e-Hind, when loosely translated means destruction of India. It had been propagated several years back by Ilyas Kashmiri, the head of the Al-Qaeda's 313 Brigade.
Raids were conducted at several locations in Ernakulam (Kerala) and Murshidabad (West Bengal) following which the terrorists of the Pakistan sponsored module of the Al-Qaeda were arrested. The NIA had information of an inter-state module of the terror group, whose operatives were active in various locations in India, including Kerala and West Bengal.
The NIA said that the group was planning on carrying out attacks in various parts of the country. They had planned on killing people and also targeting vital installations. NIA has arrested 6 terrorists from West-Bengal and 3 terrorists from Kerala in the early morning raids conducted today, the agency had said in a statement.
Back in 2012, the Intelligence Bureau had reported that the issue was catching up like wildfire in the states of West Bengal, Kerala, Telangana (then AP) and Karnataka. The report stated that there are all sorts of people. Many are here in search of a livelihood, but then there are many who indulge in illegal activities such as smuggling as drugs and sometimes arms.
They come into the country through West Bengal and gradually move into other parts of the country. While touts and middlemen help them with documents, there are others who take advantage of their poor living conditions and lure them with money in order to carry out illegal activities.
In this context, we must take a look at what former Pakistan prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had said in his book. He had said, "it would be wrong to think that Kashmir is the only dispute that divides India and Pakistan, though undoubtedly the most significant.
One at least is nearly as important as the Kashmir dispute, that of Assam and some districts of India adjacent to East Pakistan. To these Pakistan has very good claims."
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his book, Eastern Pakistan: Its Population and Economics, said, "because Eastern Pakistan must have sufficient land for its expansion and because Assam has abundant forests and mineral resources, coal, petroleum etc., Eastern Pakistan must include Assam to be financially and economically strong".
A former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing, Amar Bhushan had pointed out to OneIndia that this is a dangerous issue. He says that in the early 1990s, the Research and Analysis Wing carried out a daredevil operation in Bangladesh against the activities of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The intention behind the operation was a larger one and India was clearly worried about the rise of illegal immigration which the Jamaat was carrying out at the behest of the ISI.
The
agenda
was
a
larger
one
and
after
losing
out
on
Bangladesh,
the
ISI
wanted
to
infiltrate
as
many
Muslims
as
possible
in
a
bid
to
either
merge
a
portion
of
India
with
Bangladesh
or
divide
the
nation.
Bhushan
who
has
written
about
this
mission
in
his
latest
book-
The
Zero
Cost
Mission/The
Wily
Agent
says
that
they
were
alarmed
by
the
spurt
in
illegal
immigration
into
India.
Militancy was not exactly the problem and the Jamaat was not too big an outfit back then. The problem was that they were helping the ISI's larger design of increasing illegal immigration into India, Bhushan tells OneIndia.
The illegal immigration that takes place assumes worrying propositions. An intelligence file clearly suggests that illegal immigration from Bangladesh are part of a devious agenda to set up a Greater East Pakistan/Bangladesh.