Spread of Radicalisation in Rajasthan linked to the rise in foreign funded Mosques at Pakistan border

New Delhi, Jul 01: The horrific killing of a Hindu tailor by two Islamic radicals in Udaipur earlier this week only shows up to what extent radicalisation has spread in India.

The National Investigation Agency says that it will probe the role of local radical groups in Rajasthan.

In this context we must revisit the book Radicalisation in India, authored by Abhinav Pandya, a Cornell University graduate in public affairs, is a policy analyst specialising in counterterrorism, Indian foreign policy and Afghanistan-Pakistan geopolitics.

Pandya in the book spoke about the Wahhabi radicalisation in Udaipur and other parts of Rajasthan. He had said that sleepy and laid back towns like Udaipur have witnessed huge protests in favour of the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. This was not out of concerns of internationalism but out of the feeling of being an inalienable part of the Ummah, which is the global Islamic brotherhood.

He also says that the recruiters of the Islamic State have been caught in cities such as Jaipur and Ajmer and several youngsters from relatively prosperous states like Kerala, Karnataka and cities like Hyderabad have travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State.

Pandya says that in the border areas of Rajasthan several new foreign funded Mosques have sprung up and the hardline Deobandi preachers can be seen engaged in intense proselytisation. He also speaks about the violent clashes that have taken place between the Deobandi and Barelvi-Sunni Muslims.

Pandya points out that the Persian Khuda Hafiz and the holy Ramazan are gradually giving way to Arabic 'Allah Hafiz' and Ramadan as a wave of Wahhabi proselytisation.

Be it the killing of Rudresh in Bengaluru, Harsha in Shivamogga or Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, it could all be linked to one factor and that is radicalisation. Wahhabism, the Deobandi School of Islam have all contributed to this immense problem. Protests have turned violent over CAA and now the Hijab issue has dominated headlines.

In Kerala where successive governments have tripped over officers who have tried to flag the problem of Islamic radicalisation, the Islamic State has found immense success. At first the state allowed the Wahhabi preachers from Muslim nations to come in, in large numbers. All these have been factors that have contributed to the menace of radicalisation.

An official tells OneIndia that these preachers have not just travelled to Kerala, but to every part of the country to spread their ideology. They put in a lot of money to change the mindset of several Muslims. In addition to there was a major contribution by rabid Islamic preacher, Zakir Naik who through his NGO, Peace Foundation indulged in conversions and radicalisation.

NIA officials during the probe have learnt that the brainwashing tactics among a large number of youth is so strong that many who never subscribed to these views ended up getting convinced. They have targeted the younger working class and the educational institutions in particular for their radicalisation.

This is why one gets to witness such violent protests at the drop of a hat. The hatred towards the Indian state has been built up so strongly that they want to see it burn at every instance, another official explained.