The threat of local jihadis
Government must work towards better integration of the madarsa system with mainstream education, says Pramod Kumar Singh

Terrorism has struck deep roots in India and Nizam-e-Mustafa is the cry now. Terrorist groups sponsored by Pakistan are always there to bleed India through a thousand cuts but now they have managed to penetrate deep into the urban areas. People of a particular community who hold high offices in banks, teach in schools, colleges, lawyers, doctors, computer experts and science graduates have got ensnared in the terrorist network. Terrorist groups have now white-collared individuals among them as recruits.

Trends indicate that persons with no previous criminal background are being motivated purely on ideological grounds. Terrorism is now an internal phenomenon with urban and rural belts churning out radicals, internal security experts say.

Indian Muslims are being recruited in terrorist networks that have spawned a surge of deadly attacks across the country, forcing us to acknowledge the grim reality of homegrown Islamist terror. Investigations into 7/11 Mumbai bombings and Malegaon blasts have found that terrorist modules and sleeper cells exist in some of our urban areas, which highlight the seriousness of the threat in Mumbra, Bhiwandi and Padgha localities in Mumbai's suburbs linked with gangster terrorism. It was amply manifested when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing the Chief Ministers conference in the Capital, warned of "a further intensification" of terrorism.

Investigations in the 7/11 Mumbai blasts have thrown up startling revelations of how people are being motivated on the pretext of perceived wrongdoings against a particular community. "We must realise that the response to this upgraded version of terrorism has to be redefined. Terrorism cannot be neutralised merely by police action. It is no more a law and order problem but a political challenge.

"Terrorism is a war that begins in the minds of the people. It is directly borne out of economic and social grievances of the minorities. No political party is prepared to take the bull by its horn as they are more concerned with their vote-bank than the national security," said a senior Maharashtra official.

Locally bred terrorists pose a new and more difficult challenge to India's internal security. They can carry out their hidden agenda with greater facility than foreigners and melt more easily into the general population. The focus of Indian security agencies, however, has long been on Pakistan-trained terrorists who carry out subversive strikes on Indian soil. Now, after a series of terror attacks in the past few months, Indian authorities are waking up to the threat of home grown Islamist terrorists.

Security agencies have been demanding action against local modules but it is anticipated that any punitive action now would further alienate the minorities.

Madarsas in Maharashtra are the new breeding grounds of "home-grown" terrorists. Pernicious propaganda is being unleashed on young minds. They are not being taught subjects like science and technology but hatred. There is an urgent need to regulate these madarsas. None of the so-called secular political parties is ready to accept this biggest challenge to the national security. Madarsas are churning out Indian version of the Taliban, says the official. This is not just rhetoric but based on studies conducted by Maharashtra and Central Government, he added.

There is a move to constitute Madarsas Board to regulate the madarsas. Once this takes place, all madarsas could be brought within its ambit and the teachers will be on pay scale. It will also give leverage to the Government in managing the affairs smoothly and new subjects could be taught to the young impressionable minds that are otherwise taught to join "jihad against the infidels". There is no dearth of funds for this and it is being felt in Government that as long as madarsas are kept away from mainstream education, Muslim community's integration will remain a dream.

There is a need to mount sustained action and the political leadership accepts the fact that terrorism is a far bigger challenge than perceived. It cannot be countered without political will, which is why all political parties have joined hands to fight this scourge. If it is not addressed with a sense of urgency or immediacy, the country will have to pay a very heavy price.