Has ISIS infiltrated the schools in Kerala and Maharashtra?

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 9: A teacher in Maharashtra and a school in Kerala are under the scanner of the police for allegedly driving youth into the ISIS. The arrest of Raeesuddin Siddiqui and Yasmeen Mohammad show how educational institutions and teachers have become part of this dreaded network that indulges in large scale radicalisation.

Siddiqui (38) was a teacher at a Hingoli (Maharashtra) school run by the Zilla Parishad. Yasmin, on the other hand, was teaching at a school in Kerala where a huge process of radicalisation had taken place.

Yasmin was recently arrested at the Delhi airport while attempting to fly into Kabul.

Schools-a new ISIS front

The ISIS runs its own schools in Iraq and Syria. In these schools the students are taught about the ISIS interpreted Jihad. Children in the age group of 5 and 7 are taught about automatic guns, grenades and pistols. The radicalisation process here begins at a very young age.

Now the Indian module of the ISIS too is attempting something very similar. In Kerala, there are a host of unrecognised schools which survive on foreign funds. One such school was the one Yasim was teaching at. This school is under the radar of the Kerala police after investigations revealed that nearly 40 people had been indoctrinated.

It was one Rashid who would frequently visit the school and preach about the ISIS ideology. This has in fact sent panic signals since many suspect that even children at the school may have been imparted with similar knowledge.

In the Maharashtra case, the police are questioning Siddiqui. He is alleged to have had close ties with two other operatives. Siddiqui an English literature graduate was working at the Urdu Primary school in Hingoli.

While his association with the rest of the operatives is under the scanner, the police are also trying to find out if he had tried to impose his ideology on the children at the school

OneIndia News