New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS): A dangerous shift is taking place in South India, whereby terror groups are completely moving towards radicalisation only. This means that the focus is no longer on setting up terror modules to carry out attacks but just to radicalise people.
Over the past several years, South Indian states, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala have become laboratories for radicalisation.
While the issue of radicalisation in these states has persisted for long, the adaption of newer techniques by terror groups has become a major cause for concern for security agencies.
The Islamic State, in particular, is a big cause for concern and it has managed to spread like a virus in many parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
An official said that the Islamic State is deploying an entirely new method of spreading terror in South India.
The outfit, in all its communications made through its propaganda channels, is not insisting that its followers set up a terror module. The focus is purely on radicalisation, rather than carrying out attacks, the official said.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that this is an extremely difficult problem to counter.
Terror modules or for that matter even lone wolves have trails. An investigation is possible in such cases, but what does one do with a radicalised mind, the official asked.
The Islamic State wants the mindset of society to change rather than having persons carrying out acts of terror.
While the focus is on radicalisation, the agencies are not ruling out the threat of lone wolf strikes.
Attempts would be made by highly radicalised persons to carry out such attacks just like the one that took place in Coimbatore a few years back.
The idea of setting up only radicalisation modules came up after the weakening of the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ).
The NTJ was responsible for the deadly Eastern Bombings in Sri Lanka. Post that, there was a massive crackdown on the outfit, which weakened it significantly.
Prior to the attacks, the then NTJ chief, Mohammed Bahrain Hashim had visited Tamil Nadu on many occasions. He tried setting up terror modules, but post his death, the group fizzled out.
Currently in South India, the Islamic State continues to pose the biggest threat. The space left by the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the NTJ was quickly captured by the Islamic State.
Another official said that the Islamic State was able to capture that space quickly owing to similar ideology.
The NTJ and PFI both propagated jihad while promoting the setting up of an Islamic nation. The two groups also propagated for a Sharia law, which even the Islamic State believes in.
Many, who were followers of the NTJ and PFI moved towards the Islamic State and this benefited the group largely.
However, the Islamic State is not interested in investing in terror attacks or setting up modules. These are more likely to fail when compared to a module that only focusses on radicalisation and propaganda, the official said.
The Islamic State has advised its followers not to assemble in large groups and discuss ideology. It would be discussed between two persons normally at a restaurant, office, college or at an event.
Having large meetings catches the eye of the security agencies and these elements want to avoid that.
The Islamic State while pushing its propaganda through its mouthpieces and encrypted channels, also advises its followers to use a word of mouth tactic to spread the ideology of the outfit.
Having an entire society that is radicalised and is against the concept of an Indian state is far more dangerous than carrying out terror attacks, an official said.
