Heroism, money or plain ignorance; What motivates the lost Indian youths joining the IS?

No day goes by offlate without headlines across most news platforms talking about televangelist Dr Zakir Naik and his Islamic Research Foundation including one that suggested that the foundation paid Rs 4 crore to convert around 800 people.  The furore makes one curious about what actually goes on behind the scenes of these so called ‘conversions’ and ‘radicalizations’ and why it has kicked up a debate in secular country as ours that enjoys a good mix of pluralistic intelligentsia and media.

‘ Conversion’ or more rightly put ‘religious conversion’ is a ceremonial procedure through which one subscribes to a faith different from the one that he or she previously held.  Looking closely one can make out several nuances to the whole topic; varying across reason, belief and motive and reasons attributed to caste discrimination.

But the kind in the news now is one where the reported individuals have been moving from a change of belief and has accepted another religion and its doctrine in a more radical form. Following the conversion the individual attains a resurrected feeling and the new transformational change supersedes all of their old habits and lifestyle including dressing and opinion of what is right and wrong.

A key casualty of this of ‘conversion’ is the misinterpretation of the chosen religion and the risks are not few as can been seen through the recent headlines.

Closer to home is the story of the 19 people missing from Kerala and who the police suspect have joined the IS or the Islamic State. The two people who were arrested in connection with the case, one of who was a controversial preacher told investigators that they met atleast ten people from different parts of the country every day. Most of them came there with queries of Islam, conversions and marriages.

Stories abound of parents who have unsuspectingly watched their children change in demeanour and thinking. Hakeem, from Kasargod in Kerala, sits pensive in his house wondering where he went wrong. His son, 23-year-old Hafeesuddhin Theke Koleth sent him a message on Eid telling him that all was well with him and that he was now in the Sharia country.

Hakeem admits that his son was more radical than him. Hakeem’s neighbours Ijaz and Shihaz too have left their homes. Ijaz  and Shihaz, have along with their families left for Srilanka, stating they were going for an Islamic course but never returned.  Their families have said that they believe 29-year-old Abdul Rashid Abdulla, a teacher at the Peace International School and a sharp evangelist, to be behind the conversion and radicalization of the missing.

In the beginning it was believe that the radicalization was confined to a few Muslim families living in a single panchayat but soon enough it was clear that people from other religions were also in the net.

The kerala episode throws light on the modus operandi of the functioning of these groups. Arshid Qureshi, the accused who is now in custody for the alleged conversion of Merin Jacob alias Miriam. Miriam was forced her husband Bestin Vincent alias Yahya, himself a convert to Islam. Miriam’s conversion was facilitated through Arshid Qureshi, a guest relations officer with Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Organisation.

Revelations are coming out that seem to suggest large amounts of money and healthy good dose of forceful persuasion in coercing pliable minds to convert to Islam. The new converts are not from economically lower backgrounds or uneducated, they are instead well educated, youngsters modern in outlook who have taken the ‘alternate’ path.

Many muslim groups and clerics have denounced the terror outfits interpretation of Islam even calling it ‘UnIslamic’ to be engaging in such heinous and violent forms of killing in the name of religion.  Almost 70,000 Indian Muslim clerics have signed a fatwa against Isis and other terror groups saying they were “not Islamic organisations”.

Analyst and experts are still debating the reasons for the apparent popularity of the IS among these groups and explanations range from discrimination and prejudice at home, an aversion to Western culture, and the influence of certain imams, and perhaps a disturbing factor of engaging in warfare as an adventurous journey. For many, it also seems to be a platform to acquire hero status for themselves and their family despite the constant threat of death.

Analysis of propaganda videos have revealed that the recruitment program is subtle in its message; they claim to have a path for everyone. They appeal to doctors, engineers and all professionals from different walks of life to help them build a new world by contributing in their own ways to the Islamic state. It presents itself as an equal opportunity organization, the reality being it has everything from the sasadistic psychopath to the idealistic driven.

Psychologists say that the breed of men who join the IS fighers are often thrill seekers, ignorant about the basic tenets of religion. They want something meaningful for their lives, some are also seeking redemption.

This can be understood in the backdrop of American philosopher Jesse Glenn Gray’s book ‘The Warriors’ in which he says that many war veterans admitted that the experience of communal effort in battle was a high point of their lives. Despite the horror, the weariness, and the grim hatred, participation with others in the chances of battle had its unforgettable side which they would not want to have missed. ”