Kerala: From God's own country to terror nation

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 23: From persons joining the ISIS, radical preaching, gold heists to fund terror and one bomb blast, the state has been a hub of anti national activities. Intelligence Bureau officials have termed Kerala as a ticking time bomb.

Police officials say that for several years now, terrorist activities in the state have been overshadowed by acts of political violence. While the state was witnessing a spate of incidents related to politics, on the other side grew a large number of silent modules which went about its business.

The silent modules of Kerala

The modules in Kerala have been relatively quiet when it comes to their own state. Most of the activities are directed at other states in South India.

It was a well known fact that modules of terror were mushrooming in various parts of the state. The intelligence bureau says that there are nearly 80 modules in the state of various sizes.

Kerala in fact played host to activities of terror and this was evident in the Vagamon camp case. In this case, several terrorists from across the nation met and decided to set up a major outfit which would strike across India.

This was the first step towards the creation of the deadly Indian Mujahideen.

While terrorists were being born, the other problem that the state faced was the fund flow from the Gulf. Incidentally the state repots the highest hawala remittance in the country. Not all remittances are suspicious

However, the magnitude is such that officers have found it hard to keep a tab on terror funding.

Today the silent modules of the state have moved into another direction. These modules are now producing terrorists for international outfits. Both the ISIS as well as the al-Qaeda are a major draw.

The recent case in which 20 people having allegedly joined the ISIS is a classic example of how radicalisation is spreading in the state.

A very soft approach

Central agencies say that Kerala is probably is one of the toughest states to work in. There are different dimensions to every case. The state has always taken a soft approach towards terrorist activities. It is only now that the state is seriously trying to wade away this threat.

There are many examples of the state adopting a soft approach. When special prayers were offered to Ajmal Kasab following his hanging, no serious action was taken. No visible action was taken when posters mourning the death of Osama Bin Laden came up.

The handling of Abdul Nasar Madani and letting him speak his mind out which eventually led to the creation of T Nasir, the Bengaluru bomber was not also not up to the mark.

Further the state also did not go into the depth of the matter when it was found that two Keralites were fighting for the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Jammu and Kashmir. Incidentally this was for the first time that non-Kashmiris were found fighting alongside a foreign terrorist outfit in J&K.

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