WASHINGTON: Indians and Central Asians are the new face of and are increasingly linked to the Islamic State terror group and the trend is already having repercussions beyond the region.
According to a renowned foreign policy magazine, the world’s focus on terrorism has been shifted towards the far-right but this ignores the dynamism the Islamic State injected into the international terrorism movement which is seeing an increase in recruits from India and Central Asia.
It said the presence of Central Asians and Indians in transnational attacks is a relatively new phenomenon, reflecting a shifting pattern in terrorism linked to the Islamic State.
“Jihadist ideas are not new to Central Asia or India,” it said, adding the history of extremism in India goes back even further. The Kashmir conflict is also cited as a rallying cry by extremists who point to it as one of the many places where Muslims are being abused.
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The report said India or Central Asia has not historically produced many figures in the international terrorism movement but the situation is changing. A major attraction drawing young men terrorism has always been the idea of participating in a transnational religious movement and an epic global struggle. The Islamic State has identified and filled the gap, the report said.
A major turning point in Indian and Central Asian involvement in the global terror movement was Syria. The conflict included Indians and Central Asians but their experiences were different as they were discriminated by other terror groups. This racism led to a large number of Indians being drawn to the Islamic State and there is a thriving community of Indian fighters in Afghanistan.
The international role of Indians has limited and they involved in attacks in Afghanistan and Syria. An attack on a prison in Jalalabad and a Sikh gurdwara in Kabul was conducted by an Indian fighter.
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The Islamic State officially announced the creation of an affiliate in India last year and has been hinting about involvement in Kashmir for years. Both Central Asia and India are home to a large community of young men who go and work abroad. It is often among this diaspora where radicalization takes place.
The report said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advanced a series of policies promoting a Hindu nationalist narrative openly hostile toward Muslims and there has since been a notable uptick in insurgency. India has seen less terrorist activity although Indians were linked to the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter attacks.
The report said violent Islamic threats have not gone away and are transforming while the involvement of Central Asians and Indians in terrorism is one that has historically received too little attention and may slip under the radar until it is too late.
