Events & Issues
New
Delhi, 29 September 2014
Radicalisation Of Youth
NEED FOR CLARITY, INCLUSIVENESS
By Dr S Saraswathi
(Former Director, ICSSR, New
Delhi)
A recent report on the aborted
attempt of four youth from Hyderabad to cross
over to Bangladesh with the
intention of joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) raises concern
about the options available today to the youth in India. Investigations suggest that
more youngsters may follow suit, as the ISIS is
recruiting young members of both sexes worldwide.
India is believed to be a soft and easy
target that has a considerable size of disgruntled youth population, ready to
be mobilized for good or bad. Rumours
circulate that school kids are kidnapped for indoctrination and recruitment by
terror groups.
The need to check radicalisation of
youth is often mentioned in recent discussions on terrorism, communalism,
national security and integrity and so on. Threat perception being rather high
in India,
some urgency is felt in insulating the youth from being drawn to terror
outfits.
Security and intelligence experts
have recently called for inclusive schemes to wean away youth population from
extremist ideology. This suggestion comes as a strategy to prevent radicalisation
of youth.
Since the beginning of this century,
the concept of “radicalisation” has become central in studies on terrorism and
in policy making by official authorities to counter terrorism.
The epithet “radical” is applied
generally to denote one who advocates fundamental or revolutionary changes in
the existing policies, practices, conditions, norms and institutions. The word
means “root” and in botany means proceeding from near the root. In politics, a
radical is one who advocates total changes from top to bottom of anything. As
such, there seems to be nothing intrinsically dangerous or even undesirable in
being a radical.
It follows, therefore, that the
process of making or becoming a “radical”, i.e. radicalisation is not by itself an anti-social
development by just being non-conformist in aims, goals, or methods. The
problem is the mixing up of “radicalism” with “extremism”. The two are
different. All radicals are not extremists while all extremists are radicals.
Extremists think and act without a
sense of belonging to a given society. They are on the edge of either side of a
spectrum like right wing and left wing extremists. As such, they are far
removed from mainstream politics. They
are enemies of moderates and centrists. They have no belief in consensus,
conciliation, understanding, adjustment and similar methods based on “give and
take”. Extremism is known and identified by the perception of others and not by
extremists themselves. Currently, the terms “extremism” and extremists” are
used in connection with “terrorism”.
A radical, on the contrary, wants to
change the society from within. He is conscious of his radical ideas to change
the status quo. Radicalism substantially refers to ideology. Extremism is
mainly the quality of the method. We need not fear radical ideas that are
needed to purge the society of many outmoded and irrelevant beliefs and
practices. But, we have to guard against conversion of these ideas into violent
extremist form of actions.
Radical thinking is by no means
problematic in a liberal society. It has a right to exist. It becomes a threat
to national security and the safety of citizens when it influences people to propagate
or engage in violence or direct action as a means of promoting political,
ideological or religious extremism.
The chances of radicalism joining
hands with extremism or turning into extremism are high wherever ideologies
permit. This is the reason for denouncing the increasing trend of
radicalisation of youth. Groups of young men and women brainwashed with radical
doctrines for establishing a new world order are said to be spreading a deadly
virus across the globe that has the power to engulf the thought process of
young minds.
This trend spreading among youth is
not a worry of India
alone. It is talked about in several western countries and may or may not be linked
with violence. Many European countries
are taking steps to prevent radicalisation of youth as a preventive to
withstand terrorist incursions. For, in many instances, radicalisation is en
route to extremism or terrorism.
Danish intelligence service, defines
“radicalism” as “a process by which a person, to an increasing extent, accepts
the use of undemocratic or violent means including terrorism in an attempt to
reach a specific political/ideological objective”. In Canada, the
Mounted Police defines “radicalism” as the process by which usually young
people are introduced to an overtly ideological message and belief system that
encourages movement from moderate mainstream beliefs towards extreme views.
To the British government,
radicalisation is the process by which people come to support terrorism and
violent extremism and sometimes join terrorist groups.
However, we cannot overlook the fact
that many radical thinkers have contributed a great deal for reforming our
society. Periyar EVR was a radical thinker who wanted to abolish all vestiges
of the caste system. The movement he founded – the Self-Respect Movement – has
made a lasting impact on the politics of Tamil Nadu. He was not an extremist,
but a non-violent rebel. Kanshi Ram was a radical politician who was
instrumental in building a strong political party that has succeeded remarkably
in empowering the backward classes.
Feminist movement all over the world
in certain stages was a radical movement, but not extremist. It has achieved
recognition of equal rights for women along with men in several fields. It has
introduced radical changes in the patriarchal notions of gender differences.
Anti-superstition movement is
considered a radical movement in a traditional society. But, it is needed to rid the society of many
blind beliefs that go against democratic principles and human rights.
Rationalist schools do not indulge in violence as a policy, but traditionalists
often resort to violence to curb rationalism.
As a contrast, Naxalites constitute
extremists who believe in violent methods to bring about the changes they want.
Several extremist groups thrive all over the country.
There is a lurking fear in many
countries that radicalisation of young people is a prelude to extremism in
various forms. Self-identification and indoctrination are considered to be the
processes of radicalisation that lead to terrorist thinking and violence-prone
actions.
Indoctrination of youth with
extremist thinking requires certain favourable conditions as in cases of mass
religious conversions which do not just happen without provocation.
In the case of the youth arrested in
Hyderabad, it
is reported that they were from middle class background and were motivated by
extremist propaganda on social network sites. Following this arrest, it is
reported that the processes to monitor the activities of fringe radical groups
are being watched closely.
The theory that poverty, lack of
education, unemployment, and inequalities within a society are some major
causes behind grievances with the status quo may not be false. At the same
time, affluence, higher education, luxurious life, and knowledge of high
technology also breed extremism through the route of radicalisation of mostly
the young. Internet plays an important role in this global problem. The
presence or absence of a feeling of alienation is a vital factor in the
presence or absence of terrorist-oriented radicalism which is what we are
afraid of. The grievances may widely vary between localities and between
groups.
Radicalisation, in essence, is a
complex phenomenon. Counter-radicalisation, therefore, has to adopt expensive,
advanced and sophisticated methods to prevent degeneration of radicalism into
violent forms. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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