ISI eyes Indian Mujahideen return as ‘homegrown’ cover for terror in India

New Delhi, Aug 18 The Indian Mujahideen recently released a statement criticising the Assam government’s ongoing eviction drive aimed at clearing illegally occupied land. The Indian Mujahideen which was once upon a time a lethal outfit in India called on its supporters to resist the drive calling it an attack on specific communities.

Between 2008 and 2014, the Indian Mujahideen had carried out a series of blasts. In fact it was one of the most audacious terror groups in the country, which would even send out a mail hours before an attack would take place. However with the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal and the other top leaders, the outfit died a natural death in the country.

Amid this, a seven-minute long statement on the ongoing eviction drive in Assam comes as quite a surprise. The off shoot of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was presumed dead. However with this message, the Indian agencies are sensing a possible revival plan.

While the top leadership in India is behind bars, the founders Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal are very much around and live in Pakistan under the patronage of the ISI. It was rumoured a few years back that they were trying to revive the outfit, but the plan never took off.

If one goes through the latest message of the Indian Mujahideen, it becomes clear that they are attempting a comeback by using their old tactics. The outfit has always thrived on exploiting regional tensions. When it was active, it spoke only about the Babri Masjid demolition to garner the support of the local Muslims. Today, it is trying the same tactic by exploiting regional tensions in Assam.

Such statements could pose a huge security risk as the Indian Mujahideen is attempting to radicalise and also mobilise its perceived followers. The statement also comes at a time when the Bangladesh border remains vulnerable due to the new regime and its anti-India stance.

The Assam government has clarified that the eviction drives are absolutely necessary to restore legal land ownership. It said that this is in the interest of national security, given the fact that illegal migration from Bangladesh has been growing multi-fold.

Pakistan would be more than willing to revive the Indian Mujahideen and claim that it is a home grown terror group in India. When this group was active, it gave the Pakistanis the deniability factor every time a terror attack took place in India.

If the Indian Mujahideen has remained quiet for so long, it is an intentional ploy by the ISI.

The ISI was in fact waiting for a right opportunity to re-launch the outfit and ensure that it carries out attacks across India, like it had done in the past. The message for Assam was just a test case and in the near future, the Indian agencies say one could get to see more such statements.

Basically they are testing the waters as of now, the agencies say.

The worry is that the founders are very much in Pakistan and are capable of activating their modules in India. There are still a good number of sympathisers for the outfit in states such as Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Most of them have either gone underground, while the others have pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State. For the Bhatkal brothers, the job would not be too hard to revive their modules whenever the ISI gives them the go ahead.

Looking at the recent message, it is clear that the ISI has in fact given the Indian Mujahideen the go ahead and rely on modules based in the bordering states with Bangladesh to carry forward their mission.

The ISI has been re-writing its strategy following Operation Sindoor. With India making clear that any act of terror would be treated as an act of war, Pakistan has been on the back foot.

In such a changed scenario, it would like to have more home grown outfits in India to carry out strikes and then deny any involvement in the same.

To further this plan, it would like to revive the Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Mujahideen to handle the rest of the country.

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