Mumbai: As a New Year resolution, a group of city Muslims launched “Muslims against ISIS” campaign on Friday, denouncing the jihadist terror organization’s brutalities and chalking out steps to stop Muslim youths from becoming IS recruits.
A joint initiative of city-based NGO Sahas Foundation and think-tank Urdu Markaz, the campaign has created a taskforce of volunteers to identify and counsel radicalized or potential recruits of ISIS or Islamic State (IS) who have been or are about to be trapped in the “fake jihad” through online propaganda.
Launching the campaign at Imamwada Municipal Urdu School ground in Bhendi Bazaar, activists said there could not have been a nobler cause than initiating an ideological war on IS on New Year’s Eve.
“When we thought about what to do on New Year, a suggestion came that why not start creating awareness among youths about how to keep away from the virus of ISIS and other terrorist outfits. Now, we have resolved to reach out to a maximum number of Muslim youths with the message of not falling prey to the propaganda of any terrorist organizations,” said Syed Furqan, Sahas Foundation’s president and the main force behind the campaign.
Furqan added that on the night of December 31, his group created “awareness” against vices from drunk driving to terrorism and intolerance through a human chain at Nariman Point, The Times of India reported.
Apart from spreading the anti-ISIS message through posters, banners and pamphlets, the volunteers are also telling Muslim youths to be alert while using social networking sites. “IS recruits mainly through online propaganda. It targets educated youths who may be disillusioned or disaffected due to various reasons. We tell youths not to buy the reasons terrorist organisations cite to kill innocents in the name of Islam. In fact, the acts of ISIS are un-Islamic and inhuman,” said Urdu Markaz’s president Zubair Azmi.
Since terror outfits also recruit young women and often use them as “honey-trap” to induce youths, women volunteers are being roped in to counsel students.
“A number of Muslim college girls are first-generation learners who have reached graduation level. They are vulnerable and easy targets for terrorist outfits looking for women recruits. Many young women may fall for offers of money and promise of marriage and an adventure-filled life,” said Shabana Khan who teaches Urdu at S N D T College, Wadala, and also heads the women’s wing of ‘Muslims against ISIS’.
Activist Farid Khan said volunteers would work among parents too. “If parents see any behavioural change among their sons like they have suddenly become very religious or spend a lot of time on networking sites, they should approach us. We will ensure they are de-radicalised and brought back into the mainstream.”