Replied by Anurag Sharma
Thank you for your question, Deepthi. The term ‘Islamophobia’, that has often appeared in western media or articles, is nothing but a prejudiced notion of hate or racism against Islam religion and its followers due to its “unfortunate” linkages with the act of terrorism. The phenomenon of Islamophobia emerged after series of terrorist attacks and incidents, mainly September 11 attacks in the US, July 7 bombings in London, various attacks in Europe, and rise of the Islamic State terror organisation post-2014.
India has been condemning the acts of terrorism in Europe recently. The situation in Europe is majorly affected by the foreign (terrorist) fighters (FTFs) returnees and the radicalisation among the Muslim community. Due to several socio-economic factors, the migrated Muslim population in European countries experience the sense of alienation and turn towards Islamic extremist groups.
Despite being the third largest Muslim population in the world, after Indonesia and Pakistan, very few Muslim youth travelled to join Islamic State, unlike the FTFs from European countries and the US. As the counter-strategy, there is no official Indian policy on radicalisation and de-radicalisation, but India has community-based de-radicalisation programmes which works successfully in the vulnerable States such as Kerala, Maharashtra, and Jammu & Kashmir. On 20 November 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) approved a research study on the “status of radicalisation” which would “attempt to legally define radicalisation and suggest amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UA(P)A]”. For further studies related to your question, kindly refer to the following links. Thank you.
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/in-a-first-mha-approves-study-on-status-of-radicalisation/article33143472.ece
- “France & Austria Terror Attacks 2020: The Looming Shadow of Islamic Terrorism over Europe”: https://www.vifindia.org/article/2020/december/03/france-and-austria-terror-attacks-2020-the-looming-shadow-of-islamic-terrorism-over-europe
- “India’s Approach to Countering Violent Extremism: Issues and Prospects”: https://www.vifindia.org/article/2020/january/01/india-s-approach-to-countering-violent-extremism-issues-and-prospects
- “Counter-Terrorism Framework of the United Nations and India’s Approach of De-Radicalisation”: https://www.vifindia.org/article/2019/september/26/counter-terrorism-framework-of-the-united-nations-and-india-s-approach-of-de-radicalisation