Terror flashback: Lanka crisis deepens jihad threats for southern India

New Delhi, July 21: The crisis in Sri Lanka is being closely watched by New Delhi. There appears to be no solution in sight as reports have already indicated that the election of Ranil Wickremasinghe an unpopular leader and a Rajapaksa loyalist risks a new turmoil in Sri Lanka.

The Indian agencies are keeping a close watch on the situation in the island nation and also along the borders. While the Intelligence Bureau had flagged a possible increase in smuggling activities, the agencies have also sounded an alert regarding a spillover by Jihadi elements into India especially in Tamil Nadu.

The Sri Lanka connection with Tamil Nadu where terror is concerned has cropped up more than once in the past. Back in 2014, the ISI had set up a module in Sri Lanka with the intention of targeting southern states. Ironically the module was set up in the Pakistan High Commission and was headed by a Pakistani official Amir Zubair Siddiqui.

The name cropped up following the arrest of one Zaheed Hussain, a resident of Kandy, in the aftermath of twin explosions on a train at Chennai's Central Railway station on May 1, 2014.

The second time the Sri Lanka-Tamil Nadu link cropped up was in the aftermath of the Colombo bombings. The module that carried this multiple blasts in 2019 had many links in Tamil Nadu.

An official who was part of the probe tells OneIndia that a Tamil Nadu module was in close contact with Zahran Hashim, the mastermind of the Sri Lanka bombings of the easter bombings.

With the island nation in crisis, the agencies are worried that such radical Islamist elements may take advantage of the situation and infiltrate their men into India. Over the years, Tamil Nadu has been exposed to widespread radicalisation. It may be recalled that the media wing of the Islamic State, Al Isabel, had released speeches of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in the Tamil language.

One must also look into the fact that around 72,000 Muslims from Sri Lanka's northern province were forcibly driven out by the LTTE in October 1990. This has created a sense of resentment among the Tamil Muslims.

In Tamil Nadu, an outfit called al-Ummah was born several years back. This outfit has primarily targeted Hindu leaders and was also responsible for the Coimbatore blasts. The outfit also recently carried out a blast outside the BJP's office in Malleshwaram, Bengaluru. Investigations have revealed that members of this group have close connections with the radical elements in Sri Lanka.

However, another official points out that the problem may not be restricted to South India alone. The issue could spiral out of control in Sri Lanka as well, as the security mechanism is in tatters.