All it takes is an unrestricted flow of funds, a vast open coastline and a communally-charged population for the Students Islamic Movement of India to re-group and target South India sitting in Kerala. Vicky Nanjappa analyses the dangers that lurk ahead.
Kerala is fast emerging as a favourite destination for subversive activities.
Very recently, an intelligence brief highlighted the manner in which the Students Islamic Movement of India had re-grouped in Kerala, utilising the strong roots that the outfit has in the state.
Intelligence Bureau sources point out that any terror group would find it easy to set up base in the state. Security agencies say that the vast coastline, the Malabar coast in particular, is well connected to the international waters. Poor vigil has ensured that terrorists manage to push in their arms and ammunition with much ease.
The police go on to add that the headache zones in the state are Binanipuram, Malapuram and Kozhikode. These are the primary hubs for groups like SIMI and the Islamic Sevak Sangh, which have by now set up over 100 modules in these areas.
Though banned, these organisations continue to flourish under different names. Among the three places mentioned, Kozhikode continues to be the major centre for the SIMI. It has even gone up to the extent of starting a women's wing in the area.
Sources say that these areas have always been communally sensitive, which has prompted Pakistani intelligence agency Inter Services Intelligence to nurture its forces in these belts.
There have been various incidents in these belts since the 1990s, which indicate the sensitive nature of these areas. In 1993, a scholar by the name Maulavi Abul Hassan was abducted, which sparked communal clashes in the region. This incident sparked off a major reaction from the Muslim community. This was more or less a turning point in the social fabric in Kerala. Following the incident a section of the Muslim youth decided to hit back.
The IB says that several youth went missing following this incident, and believes that they had left the country to participate in a programme which eventually led to the setting up of terror modules in Kerala.
After 1993, the police did make many seizures in the Malapuram area and found material used to prepare bombs. It was around this time that the ISS, whose specific purpose was to resist Hindu forces, was formed.
The Coimbatore blasts, engineered by modules from Kerala, made all security agencies stand up and take notice. During the investigations, it was found that PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani had links with the Al-Umma
from Tamil Nadu which carried out the attacks.
Further, the probe also found that most of the cadres used for this attack were from Kerala. The IB has many dossiers on terror activities in the state. There is a constant probe on, both by the state and the central intelligence, on these issues.
However, the problem they face is that these groups are in some way or the other connected politically and eventually manage to get away. The ISI was quick to take advantage of this situation and began funding operations as though there was no tomorrow.
For the ISI, it was about setting up a very strong launching pad and it believed that once Kerala was taken care of, all operations in South India would continue unabated. Earlier, they tried to tap Andhra Pradesh, but eventually realised that the political and social fabric in that state would not take them too far. They, however, did not face this problem in Kerala.
The association between the ISI and the Kerala module was so good that for the first time cadres from this state were used to fight the Kashmir battle.
Police officials say that the problem only intensifies when elections are round the corner.
It is a known fact that every political group uses these forces to further their political cause.
When this is the case, groups such as the SIMI go on the offensive. As a result of this, today, the SIMI has managed to re-group well and little does everyone realise that this will turn into a full-fledged problem.
SIMI today has an upper hand. Though it may not operate under the banner of SIMI, it has several front organisations to carry out its task.
Funding, which had become a bit of a concern for them, is back on track and there are several groups in Kuwait and Riyadh who help SIMI with funds. The outfit further has managed to activate the Jamayyat ul Ansar (formerly Harkat-ul Ansar) in Saudi Arabia, which has started pumping in funds into Kerala.
Security agencies also point out that they have witnessed a lot of activity in Kozhikode in particular.
The women's wing of the outfit, comprising 30 members, has been working undercover to further the cause of terrorism. They have set up centres -- which they call counselling centres as well as social service centres -- through which they try to rope in youth into the outfit.
Besides, the education system in Kerala is also under the scanner. Security agencies have noticed that certain distance education centres were being set up only for the Muslim youth in Kerala, aimed at luring the youth into terrorism. Although this trend is not that full-fledged, the police believe it may be flourishing in certain pockets of the state.