International terror group ISIS, which recruits through a serpentine online presence, has been in the news very often last year. Too often, some might say, for an organisation that carries out barbaric acts of terror in the name of religion.
Now, a group of Muslims in Mumbai are standing up against terror and violence — they have launched a “Muslims against ISIS” campaign.
Launched on Friday — both the day of prayer and the first day of the new year — the campaign is strongly denouncing the terror organisation and its brutalities.
Image for representation only. Source: Flickr
It will also involve taking preventative steps to prevent Muslim youths from becoming radicalised.
The campaign is a joint initiative of Mumbai-based NGO Sahas Foundation and think-tank Urdu Markaz.
Through the campaign, a volunteer task-force has been created; these volunteers will identify and counsel potential recruits of ISIS, or Islamic State (IS), who may have fallen for the terror group’s online propaganda and its “fake jihad”.
“IS recruits mainly through online propaganda. It targets educated youths who may be disillusioned or disaffected due to various reasons. We tell youths not to buy the reasons terrorist organisations cite to kill innocents in the name of Islam. In fact, the acts of ISIS are un-Islamic and inhuman,” said president of Urdu Markaz, Zubair Azmi to the Times of India.
Besides working with young Muslim men, volunteers in the campaign will also work with young girls — often lured by IS recruiters with the promise of an “adventure-filled” life — and parents. Parents who notice their children becoming suddenly and excessively religious, or spending too much unaccounted-for time on social networking sites have been asked to contact the campaign, where volunteers will work with the family to de-radicalise the children and bring them back to the mainstream.
Featured image credit: Times of India
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