The return of ISIS recruit Areeb Majeed from Turkey and the arrest of Bengaluru based ITC executive Mehdi Masroor Biswas who ran the pro-Twitter handle@ShamiWitness has raised questions about why youth are attracted towards joining the terror group. Security experts are worried that there may be several other youth who might be operating from India and are remaining untraceable by the investigation agencies. Such kind of anti-national activities pose serious security threats to the country. Already there have been several reports about ISIS expanding its operations across India. ISIS has been misusing social media to lure youth towards joining the terror outfit which is a huge cause of concern.
The Internet is an arena that allows undetected, at least for some time (that could be as long as a few years, as in this case) many clandestine interactions that may have national and international threat to security. Authorities all over the world are working on redeeming the “security” problem but yet a lot needs to be done in matters pertaining to technical and security related cooperation amongst nations.
Imtiaz Jaleel, former journalist and AIMIM MLA said, “We don’t stand or support these youth who indulge in such activities. A big advice to our Indian youth is to refrain from joining any terror groups or ISIS. If at all they want to do something for the community, they can take several initiatives like eradicating poverty, and educate the illiterate. We really don’t understand why these youths become fascinated by the ISIS?”
He refused to comment when asked about whether there any link exists between Areeb and Mehdi.
Veteran Criminal Lawyer Majeed Menon said, “There are several factors which have resulted into this state of affairs. Firstly, young Muslim youth who lack education are misguided by mischievous elements. Secondly, unemployment and disappointment drives them to adopt such dangerous ways. Steps must be taken to bring Muslim youth into the mainstream activities pertaining to nation-building.”
Muslim youth are conditioned day night in the name of Islam and service to Allah. There are many forums and cables on line doing this job uninterruptedly.
The Bengaluru Police will try to verify whether Mehdi had contacts with Areeb Majid. It is not immediately known if Mehdi used only one or multiple computers at different places. Police may request the Central agencies to get in touch with the British news channel to get more information.
Biswas tweets, written under the name Shami Witness, were seen two million times each month, making him perhaps the most influential Islamic State Twitter account, with over 17,700 followers. He was particularly close to English-speaking ISIS militants.
The accused has been arrested under several provisions of IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and IT Act. The accused has confessed that he was operating that account for many years. The account was shut down after the report surfaced.
Biswas, an engineer by education, is from West Bengal in the country’s east and had been working in Bangalore since 2012 at a multinational company for an annual salary of 530,000 rupees ($8,500). The NIA will investigate the ISIS’ indoctrination and motivation activities on the net.
