Will families of Islamic State fighters from Kerala be able to return from Afghanistan?
The families in Kerala of four Indian women who had shifted to Afghanistan along with their husbands, who joined the IS (Islamic State) terror group, are worried about their well-being and are hoping for their return back home. The four women and their children had surrendered to Afghan forces in December 2019 after their husbands died in fighting. All fourNimisha alias Fathima Isa, 31; Merin Jacob P. alias Mariyam, 28; Sonia Sebastian alias Ayesha, 33; and Rafala Ijas, 30are from Kasargod district in northern Kerala. Their spouses were from Kasargod or Palakkad. The Union government has reportedly taken a stand against bringing back the four women, who are lodged in Kabuls Pul-e-Charkhi prison for the past 17 months. The government believes Indian nationals who joined the IS are highly radicalised and their return could pose a security threat. The decision has sealed the fate of Indian nationals who had moved to Afghanistan between 2016 and 2018, along with their families. The families of the four Kerala women who had accompanied their husbands have been trying to secure assistance for them. They have made representations to the Union government for their safe return on humanitarian grounds. Bindu Sampath, the 54-year-old mother of Fathima Isa, has been at the forefront of the campaign. Ive been trying for their return since they surrendered to the Afghan police. I have met several BJP leaders, including MoS external affairs (V. Muraleedharan), and also written to the prime minister.  Bindu has also been coordinating with other distraught families to give direction to their representations to the Centre. I had lodged a complaint (in 2013) when I daughter went missing. But the Kerala police never acted. Later, I kept the police informed whenever I received communication from my daughter and her family. While they were in India, they werent involved in any criminal activity, she says. In May-June 2016, 21 youths17 from Kasargod and four from Palakkadhad moved to Afghanistan with their families to join the IS, causing ripples in Kerala. Police investigation revealed that IS sleeper cells were active in the state. The cells, according to the police, were led by Rashid Abdul Abdullah and Sajeer Mangalassery and were radicalising the states youth. Later, the Kerala police identified 100 people from the state and the Gulf region who had migrated to IS-controlled territories in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Between 2017 and 2020, four people, who were members of the IS and deported from the Gulf and Turkey, were arrested on arrival (in Kerala and New Delhi) and jailed. Dr Sebastian Paul, a former Lok Sabha MP from Kerala and Supreme Court lawyer, terms the governments stand on Indian nationals who had joined the IS as a violation of the basic human rights of a citizen. Under the Citizenship Amendment Act, the central government is ready to offer citizenship to Afghans who came to India illegally, taking at face value their claims of religious persecution. Whereas in the case of Indians who joined the IS, the government has refused to welcome them back home, says Dr Paul. According to him, the government should get these people home and prosecute them for the crimes committed on foreign soil. The case of mothers and children should be dealt with on humanitarian grounds. Men who joined the IS should be treated separately. I appeal to the government of Kerala to take up the issue of mothers and children lodged in the Kabul prison, Dr Paul said. Former Indian diplomat K.P. Fabian, too, is critical of the Union government. Its morally and ethically wrong as the government is violating the basic human rights of its citizens. No democratic country would have done it, he said. Read India Today magazine by downloading the latest issue: https://www.indiatoday.com/emag