As we have reported earlier, the NIA has busted another ISIS module in the country during raids at over 15 locations. A Maulvi, a civil engineering student from Amity University in Noida, third year BA student, an auto-rickshaw driver, welding shop owner and a garments business owner are among those arrested. A woman believed to be linked to the module was detained as well and is being interrogated.
The remarkable frequency at which Muslims across the country are joining ISIS should concern us all. We have constantly reported on the staggering numbers of ISIS recruits in the country. However, it appears certain people believe that the exemplary work carried out by the NIA is rather a political gimmick and instance of rising Islamophobia. Others believe that the entire thing was a sham.
The pic on left is the recovery from a local Meerut gang after a consignment was intercepted in Delhi earlier this year. The second pic (right) is recovery made during NIA raids at 16 locations in West UP from would be terrorists plotting country wide attacks. pic.twitter.com/5YdBti98Le
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) December 26, 2018
The last few years the NIA has really embarrassed itself…. https://t.co/7CEGT3ZVQb
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) December 26, 2018
It appears that Piyush Rai conveniently forgot to mention the country made rocket launcher that was recovered by the NIA as well. And as for Rohini Singh, whose exemplary work during the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections is quite well known, that she thinks the NIA has embarrassed itself during Narendra Modi’s reign as Prime Minister is no surprise at all.
This ISIS module story sounds very IFFY to me. But then, that’s just me!
— Aman Sharma (@AmanKayamHai_ET) December 26, 2018
Scroll published an article that can only be described as a cleverly veiled accusation of Islamophobia against the NIA. Throughout the article, the outlet constantly casts aspersions on the NIA raids and attempts to paint the arrested accused in a sympathetic light.
The article quoted relatives of the accused vehemently denying that they have anything to do with any terrorist module. One of them said, “He has always been a peaceful person and that is why he chose to be a teacher in the first place.” The article also reports, “Relatives of all six men arrested in Jaffrabad claimed that the accusations were untrue. At least four of the men sported beards, they said. These identity markers, the relatives claimed, were used by the security agencies to target their relatives.”
The claims made by the relatives are dubious, to say the least. If we look at the conduct of relatives of terrorists who have carried out deadly attacks in the past in various parts of the world, we could see that they all claim they had no idea what their kin was up to. And we can be pretty sure that had these people accused to be ISIS terrorists succeeded in carrying out an attack, the same people would have come forward and said that they had no knowledge of the activities of the perpetrators. It’s extremely unfortunate that relatives of those arrested are conjuring up mythical claims of Islamophobia against the NIA. From the material that has been recovered during the raids, it certainly appears that the accused were up to no good.
We have reached a point where liberals see political gimmicks behind NIA raids that “claim” to have busted an ISIS module. It is a shame that even national security is a matter of politics for them. But then, it has always been that way. None of them saw politics when the narrative of Saffron Terrorism was conjured out of thin air by the Congress party. In fact, they have swallowed that narrative completely and devote much of their time to prove the existence of ‘Hindu terrorism’.
Instead of appreciating the NIA for the stellar work it has been doing during the past few years, attempts are being made to tarnish their reputation by casting aspersions on their intentions. It’s fair to question government agencies, there have been many occasions when they have disgraced themselves in the past, but ISIS is not a matter of politicking. At a time when Islamic terrorism has ravaged the West and much of the world, India has remained largely untouched by any form of terrorism outside of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.
The fact of the matter is, the raids by NIA haven’t come out of the blue. ISIS has been targeting India for recruitment and in recent times, there have been plenty of Muslims from India who have been joining the terrorist outfit. If liberals see Islamophobia or doubt the motives of the intelligence agencies without any apparent reason, then there is much need for introspection. It is one thing to oppose someone politically but inadvertently furthering the Islamist narrative after NIA raids due to political inclinations is a step too far which could have very terrible consequences.
