West concerned justice systems may not hold returning ISIS fighters accountable: Syed Ata Hasnain
It is understandable that the governments in the West are reluctant to get their nationals back who had gone to join the Islamic State as there are concerns about their justice systems that may not be able to hold these individuals accountable for their actions, says Lieutenant General (Retired) Syed Ata Hasnain in an interview with The Dispatch’s Madhur Sharma, and adds that the experience of European countries with migrant populations in recent years is also to be a contributing factor.
Speaking in light of a court ruling in the United Kingdom that said Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to the country to contest the government’s decision to strip her of her citizenship, Gen. Hasnain, a former General Officer Commanding of the Indian Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps, suggests apprehensions remain as one cannot be certain whether those returning or wanting to return after joining terrorist organisations like the Islamic State have left their extremist world-view.
He says, “No scientific method has yet been developed that can ensure deradicalisation of a deeply-set extremist. The Islamic State has a system of networked existence with sleeper terrorists embedded in different areas of interest for a long-term investment. These individuals act as surrogates and can be activated any time.”
The liberal ecosystem in the West may also be a reason.
“Countries in the West don’t wish to risk having them back because they are aware that there will be all kinds of rights issues involving their handling once they step back on their shores,” says Gen. Hasnain.
Contrary to the governments in the West, the Indian government has got Indian nationals back who went abroad to join ISIS and has put them up for trials.
Highlighting the differences between ISIS recruits from the West and India, Gen. Hasnain says, “The quantum of people who left the Western countries to fight for ISIS as fighters and supporters has been far higher than India’s. Moreover, ISIS’ Indian cadre that did go across ended up mostly as logistics people and not as fighters.
“Around 40,000 fighters have reached Syria and Iraq by different routes and almost 60–70 per cent of them have been from Western countries. Many of them had not long ago converted to Islam and a lot of them have been from immigrant families.”
“The experience the Western countries had in 2014–17 with terror that was usually perpetrated by those with linkages to immigrant families makes them extremely hesitant to give any leeway on this front,” added Gen. Hasnain about the immigrants to the West from conflict-torn regions.
Since 2014, a Heritage Foundation backgrounder has noted, there have been at least 1,000 casualties in terrorist attacks involving asylum-seekers or refugees.
“ISIS has direct connections to the majority of plots, with Germany targeted most often, and Syrians more frequently involved than any other nationality,” concluded the Heritage backgrounder’s author Robin Simcox.
India has the world’s second-largest Muslim population and yet the ISIS footprint has been low. Gen. Hasnain credits this to the pluralism of the Indian Islam but says it does not mean one can be at ease.
He says, “ISIS does not have the appeal in India like the West primarily because India’s Islam is far more diluted in extremist content. However, there always remains a threat because of the existence of few elements that have not always revealed a plural mindset. This is the reason why India cannot ignore the threat.”
The UK court ruling has brought the attention to Shamima Begum yet again. Begum, now 20, is from a group of three girls that left London in 2015 to join the Islamic State in Syria. Even as she now wants to return, she has said she feels no remorse about her actions.
Contrary to their popular branding as “ISIS brides”, women who have joined the group are known to have been active participants in ISIS activities — particularly in violence against non-Muslim women captured by ISIS.
Writing for the Aspen Institute, Liya Khan has noted: “In reality, women in ISIS hold a variety of roles, from assisting in the captivity of other women belonging to religious minorities, to controlling a local police brigade aimed at enforcing adherence to ISIS’ harsh interpretation of Shariah law.”
Gen. Hasnain says, “It’s true that there is virtually no remorse there. The ideology of ISIS is virtually nihilistic. The Swedish series “Caliphate” gives a good idea of it.”
Some lines of thought believe in reforming a convict through punishment. The ISIS cadre has shown they are extremely resilient to such attempts. From Begum who wants to return to UK with no remorse to the recent London attacker to another suspect recently arrested by India’s National Investigation Agency — there are plenty of cases where reformation has not been seen.
Gen. Hasnain, who has served in Kashmir extensively and has studied the conflict, elaborates on this in the Indian context.
He says, “Kashmir’s deradicalisation programs are not yet as scientific or professional as desired. I am not even sure about the presence of psychological or sociological experts in these efforts. There are thousands of surrendered terrorists in Kashmir who are unmonitored and there is no surety that they no longer have radical tendencies.
“The Kashmiri society has not displayed a very high propensity towards radical philosophy but there yet remains a percentage that has. Pakistan’s psy-war [psychological war] efforts have been insufficiently countered towards this end.”
About the need of the hour, Gen. Hasnain says, “Intelligence agencies therefore need to stay focused. More scientific and deliberate counter-radicalisation programs need to be developed with the assistance of the moderate Islamic clergy.”
Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain retired as the Indian Army’s Military Secretary. Prior to that, he commanded the Srinagar-based 15 Corps that looks after the restive Kashmir Valley.
Madhur Sharma tweets at @madhur_mrt. The Dispatch is his personal newsblog.
