[Assam] Debate: Educated Indians caught in web of terror

[Pradip Kumar Datta]

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/debate-educated-indians-caught-in-web-of-terror/44361-3.html

Debate: Educated Indians caught in web of terror 

CNN-IBN


Published on Monday , July 09, 2007 at 09:38 in Nation section 

Delhi: Documents and CDs containing jihadi propaganda material were seized from the Bangalore home of Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed, who are suspects in the failed British terror plot. 

>From the seizure, it seems the brothers had keen interest in jihadi literature and propaganda and now the probe is on to find out if they had indulged in pro-jihadi activities before they left for the UK.

An aeronautical engineer by profession, Kafeel Ahmed and his brother Sabeel Ahmed, a qualified doctor in UK — both were born and educated in Bangalore. They possessed top-notch degrees, joined the best professions in UK, and were the most qualified in their respective fields. 

After the Glasgow attack, police in Australia are questioning their cousin Haneef, who is also a doctor. 

And that brings us to the question that was discussed on a special show on CNN-IBN: How did the educated and qualified Indian Muslim youth get caught in the web of terror? 

On the panel of experts were Professor at the London School of Economics Lord Meghnad Desai and former joint director of the Information Bureau MK Dhar. 

In the name of the holy war
Both Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed had spent several years of their childhood in the Middle East, then how is it that their cultural fabric changed so drastically. 

"Indian doctors have been caught up in the propaganda and fanatic ideologies of the extremist groups in Iraq. However, this problem does not pertain to all Asians in Europe, or all Indians in Britain. Nor is it a problem of India. It is just a very small number of people getting involved in terrorist activities," said Lord Meghnad Desai. 

Sources told CNN-IBN that the cyber crime cell of Britain is now trying to decode and analyse the huge volume of computer data recovered from Kafeel's home, which contains provocative jihadi material. 

Meanwhile, the British media are exploring possible links between Kafeel and the al-Qaeda. 

The Observer quotes senior officials in a report as saying that Kafeel was an associate of Abbas, a known operative of al-Qaeda and a bomb maker in Europe. It is believed that Kafeel's association with the al-Qaeda operative dates back to 2002 in Belfast. 

Another British newspaper reported that the country's intelligence agency allegedly knew Kafeel's links with a terrorist in a previous plan to attack airliners. It is also being said that perhaps Kafeel was the one behind making the car bombs in London and Glasgow. 

"In the southern part of India, there are a dozen Islamic organisations who are influenced by jihad, Taliban and al-Qaeda philosophy. These are run under the guidance of SIMI and Tablighi jamaat. These groups have been active particularly in Karnataka. In February, 2007 National Muslim Front was formed, as an umbrella body of the Muslim Jihadi organisations of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It's unfortunate that the local police has been ignoring their existence all these days," said Dhar. 

Fanatic Islamism, the root cause of terrorism 
Investigations revealed that the two brothers were also involved in organising Islamic protest in Chechnya. So, is there a sense of alienation amongst Muslim groups that results in such activities? 

What is the motivational force that drives the highly educated youth to terrorist acts, particularly when those being questioned are not even directly related to the cause for which they are willing to sacrifice their lives. 

"Global Islamism is an ideological movement very much like Fascism, Nazism or Marxism," explained Desai.

"There is a very powerful propaganda about the nature of the Muslim's condition in the 20th century. Decline of the Ottoman Empire, what the Western people did — all that has been mixed with a variety of issues. Chechnya, Kashmir, so many issues have been all mixed up. And some Muslim young people are swayed by this propaganda. It's not really alienation or isolation. They are acutely aware and get into groups, which exploit their gullibility to spread that propaganda," Desai added. 

Educational qualifications of the biggest terrorists 

Educated Indian Muslims are now getting involved in terrorism. But how does the happenings in Iraq, Chechnya or Jordan affect Muslims in India? 

"Response of the educated Muslim youth towards problems in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria is a different issue. As far as India is concerned, the problem is a little different. The fountainhead of this problem is coming from Pakistan, ISI-sponsored jihadis and Bangladesh-backed terrorists. In both the case though, as applied to the West and as applied to India, educated minds are being infested with propaganda," Dhar said. 

Most Islamic countries are autocratic and despotic in nature and do not allow freedom of speech and expression. So, does that mean that a community must use terror as a method to express its disagreement? 

"There have been Communists, Fascists etc who have conspired against the country they have lived in. Now since there is a whole way of Islamism propagated by terrorist masterminds like Osama bin Laden, some Muslim boys have also got caught up in that. These people are a minority and we must see why they got into such destructive acts," Desai said. 

UK's multi-culture image gets a blow
UK, and particularly Britain is known for the diverse ethnicities and cultural backgrounds woven in its social and economic fabric. However, with growing number of Asians and this time Indians getting involved in terrorist plots, it is likely that Britain will tighten laws on immigration and work permits. 

After in fact the Glasgow incident, reportedly Indian parents are asking their children not to dress up like Muslims for it may invite the wrath of British citizens and groups who are almost up in arms against Muslim immigrants and Indians. 

Commenting on the issue Desai said, "Britain is an incredibly tolerant country where one's costume of ethnicity doesn't really matters. What we need is confidence and an urge to stand up against terrorism and not allow people of dubious character and background get access into Britain via India". 

It is for the first time that India and not Pakistan is being accused of exporting terror into Europe. 

Concluding the discussion, the experts felt that instead of continuing to be in denial that al-Qaeda as an organisation or its ideology can make an impact on the mind of Indian Muslims, the Government of India should take the wake up call from the UK seriously and strengthen the capability of Indian intelligence agencies and police to detect and neutralise extremism of the al-Qaeda brand.
       
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