The recent arrest of Mehdi Biswas, the face behind the famous twitter handle @Shamiwitness last week points at the dangerous trend of India's emergence as an outsourcing hub of terrorism. With an annual package of around Rs 6 lakh, the 24 year old wanted to be strategist for the dreaded Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The year 2014 might be remembered as the year when India emerged as the global outsourcing hub of terrorism.
Terrorism found its roots in India post Mumbai Bomb blast of 1993, when 13 bombs exploded in Mumbai. Coincidentally this was also the time when friendly Government policies, English speaking youth, strong technical skills and weaker India currency lead the evolution of outsourcing in India.
Terrorism seems to have caught up with the BPO industry in 2014. The country of 1 billion plus population, having around 14% Muslim, seems to be the new outsourcing hub for terrorist outfits.
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) seems to be actively recruiting from India. What further points to the grave situation is the fact that they are not just recruiting foot soldiers but also digital strategists, which is a key to reach out to the educated youngsters.
India's emergence as outsourcing hub of terrorists is further evident from the recent news of a few youngsters travelling all the way to Iraq from Mumbai.
The interrogation of Arib Majeed, the ISIS recruit from Mumbai who was recently deported from Turkey, has revealed that a significant percentage of youth is getting influenced by their policies on social media. The tool is also being successfully used to recruit new breed of terrorists who are well educated and might be employed in the corporate sector.
Unfortunately, Mehdi and Majeed, represents the educated, English speaking, tech savvy youth of India, whose aspirations have once helped the country to become one of the largest outsourcing hubs in the world.
If the trend continues, India, sadly, will have a new identity as an outsourcing hub of terrorism.
