Counter-radicalization strategy and its relevance

Pallab Bhattacharyya

(Pallab Bhattacharyya is a former director-general of police, Special Branch and erstwhile Chairman, APSC. Views expressed by him is personal. He can be reached at pallab1959@hotmail.com)

As discussed in the previous article, the situation prevailing in contemporary India in general and Assam, in particular, is fertile for the radicalization of youths of both hues-Hindus and Muslims. Radicalization is considered to be a process whereby a person increasingly accepts the use of violence including support for terrorism and other forms of extremism to achieve political, ideological or religious goals. Some counter-terrorism experts like Arun Kundnani and Alex P Schmidt feel that the very concept of radicalization has gained currency because it is viewed as being directed against Islamist extremism and therefore, it has 'become a political shibboleth despite its lack of precision.

According to Moorthy Muthuswamy, the nuclear physicist from Stony Brook University, New York who is also an expert on terrorism, 'our enemy is political Islam and a movement based upon it: the political Islamic movement'. Political Islam holds that Islam should have a dominant say in governing the affairs of government. There are good reasons for this outlook if one harks back to Islamic scriptures. The Islamic trilogy, consisting of the Quran, Hadith and Sira, is the basis of political Islam. In the past few years, a sophisticated scientific analysis of the trilogy has been carried out. The Centre for Study of Political Islam has published a series along these lines. Their analysis points to a very dominant political nature of the trilogy — i.e., domination of political deeds of Islam's founder Mohammed— as opposed to spirituality. Hence it is very reasonable to conclude that political Islam is as good as Islam.

It must however be mentioned that Quran (5:32) proclaims that terrorism has no place in Islam and Allah said in Quran "—Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all humankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he has saved the life of all mankind…"

However, the advent of radicalization has changed the DNA of Terrorism in India. In the late 1980s in Punjab, Assam and later in Jammu & Kashmir in the 1990s and the decade of 2000 the perceived threat in India was very transparent. The people involved in terrorist activities were identifiable by either the police or the local population and hardly anyone participated in conflicts abroad. This landscape has changed with the advent of Daesh, ABT and al-Qaeda-inspired radical ideology.

Causes and drivers of radicalization can be summed up in brief as ideological factors (Wahabi, Salafi, Ahle-hadith, Tabligh–e-Jamaat propaganda for Muslims and Hindutva ideology for the Hindus with its strict exclusivity), perceived or real racial and religious discrimination, economic and social exclusion, situational precipitant factors (like the war in Afghanistan, Iraq, desecration of Masjids/temples etc), individual factors, familial ties and criminal affiliations.

When a youth is habitually addicted to the drug, dependent on it and facing severe withdrawal syndrome, he is usually dispatched to a drug-deaddiction centre. Similarly, if a youth is radicalized, he should be sent to a camp equipped with necessary paraphernalia to be deradicalized. However, in the case of deradicalization, the drivers of radicalization, as enumerated above clearly indicate, the need for a multi-pronged strategy involving several stakeholders from the society, police and various government agencies.

Scrutiny of the situation provides two options to society for resolution of this menace (A) Counter the thought process before it spreads (B) Counter the threat only after it mutates into physical violence.

The first option can be termed counter-radicalization and it is undoubtedly more powerful than de-radicalization. Fighting radical elements and ideologies is as important as rehabilitating those who are misguided or exploited. But to do that a coherent distinction between ideological propagators, militarized elements, and fringes or foot-soldiers, must be made. A counter-radical action addresses the source of the radicalization or the process whereas de-radicalization, on the other hand, only addresses the individual. Thus a counter-radical programme would come out as a proactive action compared to the de-radicalization programme which would only be a reaction to external activity.

Recently, DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta entrusted four minority boards of the state, viz All Assam Tanjim Madrasis Quwmiya, Ali Sunnat, All Assam Nadwatul Ulama and the Assam State Jamiat Ulama, to bring unregistered madrassas into the state under the registered madrassa boards. He also urged the boards to upload details of madrassas working in the state in a portal that awaits launch. The boards have accepted the responsibility and this is a welcome step in the right direction.

To address the drivers of radicalism the immediate need is to identify the idealogues or tutors of radicalization. For countering the ideology Ijtihad is required to be promoted. In Islamic law the use of individual reasoning, in general, is called Ijtihad and Mujtahid is the qualified lawyer who uses it. Ijtihad, therefore, is the logical deduction of a legal or theological question by a Mujtahid or learned and enlightened doctor, as distinguished from Ijma, which is the collective opinion of a council of divines.

Other measures to create a counter-radicalization environment include empowering the local ulema, confronting the radical narrative, banning radical literature, taking the family into confidence, and empowering the intelligence agencies to keep a strict watch on the internet to prevent the use of darknet, telegram, Nasher and such other apps for communication by insurgents across the border, effective use of Humain Terrain Analysis in problematic areas etc. It is quite evident that for successful implementation of this program help from various sections of the society is a sine-qua-non.

The establishment of a 'Counter-radicalization Forum', within existing Police District Head Quarters or think tanks with the following mission, can be implemented by the Government:

(i) Monitor and analyse global, national and regional radicalization trends.

(ii) Study global counter-radicalization models and adopt best practices.

(iii) Train Counter Radical Teams consisting of Imams, Maulvis and Hindu Priests.

(iv)Promote 'Ijtihad' in all forms.

(v) Build and maintain a radical database fusion centre.

(vi) Promote counter-narratives through all relevant media channels (online, print, TV/Radio).

The Counter-Radicalization Forum must create networks to include researchers, clerics, prominent citizens, policymakers, police, media, and religious and community leaders to aid and advise counter-radical narratives and perception management. There are already groups and individuals working toward countering the radical ideology in India and these groups should be encouraged.

The Government of India should also engage with its neighbourhoods, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives, UAE etc., to fight this menace. Proper training of security forces engaged in law and order, on the basic tenets of Hindu, Muslim and Christian religions is also the need of the hour. The prophetic word of Albert Einstein should guide our society in this critical situation: "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." ( Concluded)