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OPINION MARCH 12, 2021 | The Indian Eye 18

Jihadist radicalisation in tamil nadu

The Tamil-Muslim mistrust in Sri Lanka has spilled over into Tamil Nadu. About 72,000 Muslims from

Sri Lanka’s Northern Province were forcibly expelled by the LTTE in October 1990

for distributing jihadi literature
mathew sinu simOn and radicalising Usmal Ali, who
joined ISIS in Syria. The ISIS’
he incidence of jihadist
radicalisation in India, media wing, Al Isabah, had in
Tacross all its states, remains the past also released speeches
of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in the
remarkably low when com- Tamil language.
pared to West Asia, Africa and The Tamil-Muslim mistrust
even Europe. Of the 177 ISIS in Sri Lanka has spilled over into
sympathisers arrested by the
National Investigation Agency Tamil Nadu. About 72,000 Mus-
(NIA) since 2014, Tamil Nadu, lims from Sri Lanka’s Northern
at 34, accounted for the largest Province were forcibly expelled
by the LTTE in October 1990.
number of those arrested, as of This is suspected to have creat-
February 2020. The NIA arrests ed a sense of resentment among
have certainly highlighted pock- Of the 177 ISIS sympathisers arrested by the National Investigation some sections of Tamil Nadu’s
ets of growing jihadist radicali- Agency (NIA) since 2014, Tamil Nadu, at 34, accounted for the largest Muslims.
sation in Tamil Nadu. number of those arrested, as of February 2020
The state witnessed sporadic The Saudi–funded Tam-
incidents of violent extremism ing in front of a mosque. migrant populations exposed to il Nadu Thowheed Jamath
(TNTJ) came into the limelight
in the past, when groups like Al In April 2015, Subahani Haja radicalism in West Asia. A large during investigations into the
Umma carried out the infamous Moideen, a native of Tirunelveli Tamil diaspora reside in South- 2019 Easter bombings in Sri
Coimbatore blasts in February district, went to Iraq to join ISIS. east Asia as well. Radical Sala-
1998. The blasts were a criminal After undergoing religious and fi jihadist groups are active in Lanka. The main group behind
conspiracy to target L.K. Advani, arms training, he was deployed Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia the Easter bombings was the
leader of the BJP who escaped with an ISIS military forma- (particularly the restive Aceh National Thowheed Jamaath
unhurt during an election rally. tion, Umar Ibnu Khatab Khat- province), southern Philippines, (NTJ), termed an ‘ideological
offspring’ of TNTJ, by analysts.
iba, headed by French national and Malaysia. The focus of study for jihad-
s.a. basha, the founder Abu Suleiman, who was later Tamilians constitute a size- ist indoctrination and violence
killed. Haja Moideen returned able section of the local popula-
of al ummah, was among to India in September 2015 and tions in some of these countries. by Indian security experts has
largely been confined to the
the more than 180 arrest- attempted to procure explosive These people still have active Af-Pak front or limited to the
chemicals from Sivakasi, with links with the place of their ori-
country’s western coastal states.
ed and convicted by the the sole intention to carry out gin. It is reported that there are Equal attention needs to be giv-

courts. an accused, n.P. terrorist attacks in India.5 Af- almost 19 lakh Tamils in Malay- en to countering threats of rad-
ter his arrest in October 2016, sia, about 500,000 in Singapore icalisation affecting India from
noohu, evaded arrest for he was found guilty by the NIA and 75,000 in Indonesia. Southeast Asia as well.
This population is suscepti-
20 years but was eventually Special court and sentenced to ble to the propaganda of various Mathew Sinu Simon is Research
life imprisonment.
arrested in Kerala in 2018. According to the Intelli- Islamist groups in the region, Analyst at the Manohar Parrikar
gence Bureau (IB) dossier, the some of whom are affiliates of Institute for Defence Studies and
The early and late 2000s Al-Umma outfit, which subse- Al-Qaeda and ISIS, such as Je- Analyses, New Delhi
did not witness major extrem- quently changed its name to maah Al-Islamiyah and Lash- Views expressed are
ist activities. However, with the The Base Movement, carried kar Jundullah (Indonesia), Abu
advent of ISIS in India, there out several blasts in Mallapu- Sayyaf group (Southern Philip- of the author and do not nec-
were instances of youth getting ram court premises in Kerala pines), and Kumpulan Mujahi- essarily reflect the views of the
radicalised locally and through and outside the BJP’s office in din (Malaysia). Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of
the Government of India.
social media. In 2014, Tamil Malleshwaram in Bengaluru in Analysts flag instances of
Nadu police arrested two per- 2016.6 Affiliated to Al Qaeda, Tamilians getting radicalised This is the abridged version of
sons in Ramnathapuram dis- this outfit also sent out threat- in South East Asian countries. the article which appeared first
trict for printing and selling ening letters to the judiciary, In 2014, a Singaporean Tamil, in the Comment section of the
ISIS T-shirts. Later, a photo on prisons and senior government Haja Fakrudden, travelled to website (www.idsa.in) of Mano-
twitter was widely circulated officials. Syria and joined ISIS. Another har Parrikar Institute for Defense
showing 26 youths clad in black Tamil Nadu borders Kerala Singaporean, Gul Mohammed Studies and Analyses, New Delhi
T-shirts with ISIS emblem pos- and Karnataka, states with large Mariakar, was deported to India on March 2, 2021

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