Understanding radicalisation in Kerala and how seeds were sown 30 years back

The Kerala Story, a movie slated for release on May 5 has already created a controversy with many leaders demanding a ban on the same.

The movie says that nearly 32,000 girls were converted to Islam and sold off as sex slaves. While there is no official count on the numbers, there are documented cases of several women joining the Islamic State in Afghanistan after being converted.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing a case which relates to 24 from Kerala joining the Islamic State in Afghanistan, which is also known as the Islamic State Afghanistan Khorsan Province.

In recent years, radicalisation has been an often debated matter, especially in Kerala. The probe that was conducted into the now banned Popular Front of India and also the activities of radical Islamic preacher, Zakir Naik by the central agencies showed the extent of radicalisation that had crept into the society.

The problem of radicalisation began when the Gulf-funded Wahhabi preachers began visiting Kerala. With them came a change in the mindset of many in the state. It would be completely wrong to say that the problem of radicalisation is spread across Kerala, but yes there are pockets where it is immense, a counter-terror and counter-radicalisation expert explains to OneIndia.

To understand how old the problem is, one has to visit the Lal Singh vs State of Gujarat case of 1991.

The case relates to one Basheer a resident of Kerala, who was part of the extremist faction of the Students Islamic Movement of India. He had organised a convention in Mumbai and later on it was found that the same was done to create a liaison between the Khalistan forces and SIMI.

V Balachandran, former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing explains that Lal Singh was brought in by Pakistan, who was part of the Khalistan movement. Pakistan had wanted the SIMI to grow with a particular target on South India. Basheer had even surveyed several targets in South India, including the Madras Stock Exchange with the intention of bombing it. That however did not work out.

Balachandran said that when it comes to Kerala, the two main concerns that the agencies had found was the issue of radicalisation.

Going by the Lal Singh case, it appears as though the phenomenon is not new and the seeds of radicalisation had been sown over 30 years back.

The National Investigation Agency is probing the Kerala Islamic State case. The agency noted that all those who had left for Afghanistan are educated. During the probe the agency learnt that the brainwashing was so strong that many who did not subscribe to the view of the Islamic State finally were convinced.