South Asia, a fertile ground

South Asia, a fertile ground

Context

Expansion of ISIS

What makes ISIS different from other jihadist groups?

A proto-state

• It’s an insurgency as well as a proto-state at the same time.
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, established a proto-state that at one point of time was as big as the United Kingdom, ruling over about 2 million people
• ISIS used both asymmetric and conventional warfare tactics in the battlefield.

A global terrorist force

• Boko Haram in Nigeria

In Nigeria, Boko Haram, the jihadist group that controls parts of the country, has declared allegiance to ISIS.

• Sirte in Libya

In Libya, a branch of the Islamic State controlled Sirte, the assassinated former dictator Moammer Gaddafi’s home town, for months and has presence in other cities and the country’s deserts

• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Afghanistan: Centre of its South Asia operations
  • In Afghanistan, ISIS members and sympathisers have already set up a wilayat called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — Khorasan Province in the eastern Nangarhar province
  • The group has carried out several suicide attacks, mainly targeting Shias in the already troubled country
  • It’s from Khorasan that ISIS is handling its South Asia operations, including in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Why South Asia might be a fertile ground for ISIS?

The history of jihadist insurgency, high Muslim population and growing tensions between communities may all have prompted the group to focus on the region in its quest for expansion.

India on ISIS’s agenda

• India has also been high on the group’s agenda
• In the 13th issue of ISIS’s online English magazine Dabiq , Hafiz Saeed Khan, the Wali of Khorasan [who was later killed], said it won’t be long before Kashmir is run by the organisation.

Kerala affected the most

• Surprisingly, one of the most-affected States by this ISIS influence was India’s most socially advanced one
• In fact, ISIS’s India connect became national headlines when 21 people, including women and children, from the southern State of Kerala went missing in 2016

No link with illiteracy: As educated and well to do youth linked to ISIS

Most of the youth who went missing are educated professionals hailing from middle class or upper middle class families, nullifying the argument that lack of education and poverty drive extremist ideas among the youth

Conclusion

All these developments, from establishing wilayats in Afghanistan and Libya to attracting youth from India and Pakistan, suggest that ISIS may have been weakened at its core but it’s far from defeated.