An audio message in Bengali uploaded by the militant outfit Islamic State (IS) is keeping Intelligence agencies here on their toes, especially because there is a sizeable Bengali-speaking population in India.
Officials said the message titled “Caliphate is Back” appeared to have been made for Bangladesh. The 2.47-minute-long tape exhorts young men to join “jihad” and “attain martyrdom if not victory.”
Home Ministry issues advisory to States
The Islamic State’s tape of nashid (chants) in Bengali was posted on the terror outfit’s media platform Al Hayat Media Centre on October 27.
“A few Bangladeshi men of foreign origin have joined the IS ranks and are said to be in Syria and Iraq. This message was most probably uploaded by them to connect to the Bangladesh audience. We don’t think it can have any impact in India. But we are still keeping a watch,” said a senior Home Ministry official.
Bangladesh has denied the presence of IS on its soil, though the group itself has claimed responsibility for the recent killings of an Italian and a Japanese national in that country.
The official asserted again on Tuesday that the government had not so far come across any information that would suggest the IS was planning an attack on India. However, the Home Ministry has issued an advisory to all the States which stated that the IS intended to “expand the arc of high profile terror actions beyond the core area of Syria and Iraq.” This advisory comes in the wake of the Paris attacks engineered by the outfit which killed 129 people.
“Though the IS has not been able to establish any significant presence in India, its success in radicalising some youth, attracting certain sections of the local population or the Indian diaspora to physically participate in its activities, or the possibility of piggy-backing on terrorist groups operating in India, have opened up the possibility of IS-sponsored terrorist action on Indian territory,” said the advisory dated November 16. “In this regard, the security arrangements for the diplomatic interests of France, U.S., U.K., Germany, Russia, Australia, Turkey and Israel may be particularly reviewed and strengthened.”
A threat to the world
Speaking on the sidelines of a function here, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the IS was not merely a threat to a particular country, but the entire world.
