How India must fight against the ISIS without upsetting Muslims at home
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| The Islamic State |
Posted By Gurmeet
Kanwal @gurmeetkanwal in Daily O
A week is a long time
in strife torn West Asia. The militia of the so-called Islamic Caliphate (also
known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh) beheaded one Japanese hostage on Saturday,
January 24th, and are threatening to kill the second hostage. They have also captured
a Jordanian pilot and have demanded the release of Sajida Al-Rishawi, an ISIS
activist, without offering to release the two hostages. On Wednesday, two
Israeli soldiers were killed when the Hizbollah fired a missile on Israeli
forces along the Lebanese border; several others were injured. A Spanish
peacekeeper died in Israeli retaliatory fire. Hamas, the Palestinian militant
organisation, has threatened to join in and another short conflict may ensue.
Slightly further afield in Yemen, Houthi rebels owing allegiance to the al
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQIP) stormed the presidential palace in an
attempted coup that has led to a tenuous ceasefire, even as American
counterterrorism operations continue by way of drone strikes. And, in Tripoli,
gunmen claiming affiliation with the ISIS staged a deadly attack on a luxury
hotel and killed nine people, including four guards. All through the Cold War,
the state of the turmoil in West Asia was a fairly accurate barometer of the
world’s political climate. Despite two wars in Iraq in 1990-91 and 2003 and the
withdrawal of US-led NATO forces in 2011, volatility has continued to dominate
the strategic landscape.
The emergence of
the ISIS is only the latest manifestation of the continuing conflict in this
arc of instability. The triumphant march of the virulently radical Sunni
militants of the ISIS in 2014 was finally halted virtually on the gates of
Baghdad. The ISIS militia, numbering between 20,000 and 30,000, now control a
large area straddling the Syria-Iraq border and have seized key border
crossings on the Syrian border with Jordan. After capturing Faluja in January
2014, the ISIS fighters made rapid progress in advancing along the Euphrates
River in Anbar province of Iraq.
In Syria, the ISlS
has consolidated its hold over the eastern provinces bordering Anbar province
of Iraq. President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have managed to retain control over
Damascus and the area up to the Mediterranean Sea. The "Nusra Front",
the Syrian affiliate of the al Qaeda, controls most of north-west Syria and is
gradually gaining ground. Syrian rebels known as the "Southern Front"
are continuing to fight President Assad’s forces while avoiding clashes with
the Nusra Front. In the north, the "Free Syrian Army" has a tenuous
foothold over a small patch of territory.
Significant help
is being provided to the Shia-dominated government of Iraq by Iran and Russia.
And, in a move that might be a game changer in the long run, the Peshmerga,
forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) that had captured oil-rich
Kirkuk, regarded as the Kurd capital, have joined the fight against the ISIS in
the Syrian border town of Kobani. Known as tough fighters, they are expected to
drive the ISIS militia away from the areas claimed by the Kurds. So far,
500,000 to one million refugees have been added to the large number of
displaced persons already struggling to stay alive in the steaming hot cauldron
that is West Asia today.
After vacillating
for long and admitting that he had no strategy, US President Obama decided to
join the fight against ISIS by launching air strikes against ISIS forces. The
United States has been joined in this endeavour by Australia, Britain, Canada
and France and five Arab countries (Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates). In early November 2014, President Obama approved the
deployment of 1,500 additional troops to take the strength of ground troops to
3,100. For the time being, they will continue to have only a training and
advisory role.
The ideology of
the ISIS is primitive and barbaric. The video-taped beheading of innocent
hostages exemplifies its brutality. Osama bin Laden is reported to have
declined to have anything to do with them when they had approached him.
Al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Caliph, has openly declared the intention of
the ISIS to expand eastwards to establish the Islamic state of
"Khorasan" that will include Afghanistan, the Central Asian
Republics, eastern Iran and Pakistan. The final battle, "Ghazwa-e-Hind"
– a term from Islamic mythology – will be fought to extend the caliphate to
India.
An ISIS branch has
already been established in "Khorasan". Its "Amir" is
former Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesperson Hafiz Saeed Khan and is probably
based in Pakistan. Some factions of the TTP have already declared their
allegiance to Al-Baghdadi. Afghanistan's new national security adviser,
Mohammad Hanif Atmar, has said that the presence of Daesh or the ISIS is growing and that the
group poses a threat to Afghan security. And, some ISIS flags had appeared in
Srinagar a few months ago.
The ISIS militia
is slowly but surely gaining ground. It has proved itself adept at fighting
simultaneously on multiple fronts. Not surprisingly, the ISIS has carried the
war into cyberspace and is deftly exploiting the Internet as an effective
propaganda tool to spread its message. It is using Facebook and bulletin boards
to influence the minds of Muslim youth and gain recruits. The international
community has not yet found an answer to this potent threat. There is growing
realisation that air strikes alone cannot defeat the ISIS. In his State of the
Union address on January 20, 2015, Obama asked the US Congress to authorise the
use of force.
The US officials
have been dropping broad hints to the effect that India should join the US and
its allies in fighting the ISIS as it poses a long-term threat to India as
well. India has a large diaspora in West Asia, which includes female workers.
Some Indian nurses had been taken hostage by the ISIS fighters, but were
released unharmed. Approximately 40 Indian workers are still held hostage.
India has a large Muslim population that has remained detached from the
ultra-radical ISIS and its aims and objectives, except for a handful of
misguided youth who are reported to have signed up to fight. This may change if
India joins the US-led coalition to fight the ISIS. However, India should
cooperate closely by way of sharing information and intelligence.
A concerted international
effort is needed to first contain and then comprehensively defeat the ISIS,
failing which the consequences will be disastrous for the region. However, it
is for the Arabs to find the resources necessary to seek and destroy the ISIS
fighters on the ground. As an emerging power sharing a littoral with the
region, India has an important role to play in acting as a catalyst for the
West Asian stability through negotiations and dialogue rather than
confrontation.
About the Author
Gurmeet Kanwal is former
Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi. an He served in
the Army too .Reach Gurmeet Kanwal by @gurmeetkanwal
