Fighting Terror...Way to go!!

New Delhi: Some of the most zealous members of Islamist extremist groups in India are young men who have been wrongfully arrested by Indian police as suspects, allegedly tortured and then released without any charges being filed.

Altaf Hassan, 24, was arrested in Hyderabad, south India, while coming out of Friday prayers last September. A second year medical student, he was eventually released by the police but the local university threw him out because of the "terrorist" tag.

Not only was Hassan unemployed, he was seething with rage at how the police action had shattered his life. "My landlord is a Muslim but he was so frightened of getting into trouble that he evicted my family. It's been hell. We've been living with relatives ever since," said Hassan.

Youths thrown into similar situations in Hyderabad (a city famous for its rich Muslim culture) have become radicalised, seeking revenge by joining local terrorist groups.

But Hassan did not stray into unlawful activities, thanks to the intervention of Muslim counsellors who, along with Muslim religious groups in the city, have launched a kind of neighbourhood watch campaign to "catch" aggrieved youths before they turn radical.

"We explained to Khan that he mustn't lose confidence in Indian democracy or the judiciary. We filed a petition in the courts for compensation, supported him emotionally and arranged a loan so that he could start his own small business," said Latif Mohammad Khan, head of the Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee.

Creating awareness

Khan is working with the All India Mujlis Tameer-e-Millat (AIMTM) to make Muslim families aware of how to identify youths who are in danger of turning to extremism. "We tell mothers, wives and sisters to watch out for changed behaviour, new attitudes, secretive behaviour, or sudden new friends. If they are worried about someone, they tell us and we arrange study groups to teach them that violence is un-Islamic," said Rahim Qureshi, president of AIMTM.

For Asaduddin Owaisi, a Muslim MP from Hyderabad, it is insufficient to urge young Muslims to refrain from violence.

"You can only be effective if you also give them justice. Right now, after the Delhi bombings, the police are again rounding up hundreds of innocent youths here," he said. The solution, Khan believes, is to tackle the problem on several fronts simultaneously by offering not only justice and democratic methods of protest but also help with employment so that Muslim youths remain in the mainstream.

Tools for extremists

"There are men - often breadwinners - who've lost jobs after being arrested. We help find them jobs again because if they're busy working and supporting their families, they can't be used as tools by extremists," said Khan. Some of the counsellors used in the neighbourhood watch campaign are Hindus - a deliberate decision to foster harmony between the communities.

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/09/19/10246148.html