The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India, has filed an affidavit in Delhi High Court, stating therein that it does not want individual Indians to fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria since that can “directly result in sectarian conflict in India”. As per a report published in Indian Express, the MHA said it wanted to restrain Indian citizens from travelling to Iraq and Syria to participate in the ongoing conflict there because they could get radicalised and, on their return, indulge in extremist activities in India.
This affidavit was filed in a PIL filed by Delhi-based lawyer Mehmood Pracha, who had challenged a decision to issue a look-out-circular against him and five other members of the Shia organisation Anjuman-e-Haideri (AeH).
“Allowing any sect to take part in the conflict in Iraq/Syria would have had repercussions on other sects in India. This could directly result in sectarian conflict within India, which is not in the interest of the nation,” the affidavit stated. The MHA also contended that joining the fight against the IS was tantamount to “terrorist activities” and this would “adversely impact friendly relations with the foreign countries”, as reported by Indian Express.
MHA has also said that organisations such as the Lucknow-based All India Shia Hussaini Fund and All India Shia Federation, had sought to register volunteers willing to fight against the IS in Iraq and Syria and, therefore, preemptive steps ought to be taken.
It is really turning out to be a sad situation since there are Muslim youth from India who want to go and fight for the Islamic State (ISIS) and now it is seen that there are Muslim youth who are interested to go to Iraq and Syria to fight against ISIS. If these early trends are not curbed, there is a real danger of a sectarian violence in India between such rival groups. Even other communities may not remain unaffected, going by the type of barbaric methods used by ISIS terrorists.
