ISIS 'percolating' radical material in vernacular languages on social media, NIA warns

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Global terrorist group ISIS is learnt to have expedited its attempt to radicalise and recruit individuals by using radical propaganda on social media platforms in "vernacular languages" and hunting "translators" showing sympathy towards the banned outfit.

These alarming inputs have led the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to keep a special watch on such anti-India activities, and have warned people to avoid falling prey to such groups and to inform the NIA or any law enforcement agencies in their regions soon after getting such an approach from members affiliated to these outfits.

As such kind of approach by terrorist organisations like ISIS through social media is not a new phenomenon and has been a regular modus operandi since 2016 and 2017, a different approach has sounded alert as the ISIS operatives have started circulating radical materials in vernacular languages and have started choosing translators through social media sites, warns NIA.

Talking to ANI, a senior NIA officer said, "We are keeping a watch since it came to light that global terrorist groups, including ISIS, have expedited their attempt to radicalise and recruit individuals by using radical propaganda on social media platforms in vernacular languages."

"NIA appeals people, especially the youth, to avoid such propaganda and to not fall prey to such anti-India material being spread by the global terrorist groups."

The NIA has also warned people that they should not join such groups and that "if they have any such information, they can contact the agency or any law enforcement agencies in their respective areas".

Elaborating on the inputs received from some recently arrested ISIS sympathisers, the officer, requesting anonymity, told ANI that "they (the members of terror organisations) keep posting some radical content and they see individual's reaction".

"If anyone shows any violent reaction, they contact such people through direct message," said the officer.

If you send any message on common platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and it is liked by these global terrorist members, the officer said, they send you private messages.

"From these private messages, the engagement grows." So, if there is any information like that, people should contact the NIA, appealed the officer.

When asked if there is any particular time frame since such terror organisations started approaching people to radicalise them, the officer said that this modus operandi is being used since 2016-2017. "Now, it is percolating in vernacular languages."

Giving an example of the recently arrested ISIS sympathiser, Jufri Jawhar Damudi, in 'Voice of Hind case', the officer said that Jufri's work was to translate the radical materials coming to him from Afghanistan. "Jufri was translating radical materials into Malayalam."

For example, the officer said, Facebook is in all vernacular languages. "If you write in Bengali or Assamese or Hindi or any other language, they (members of terrorist group) would be contacting you."

"We have found in other cases also that the recruiters, who sit outside the country, send religious texts which are of their like and they expect it to be translated. They want to see how good you are in translation because they need translators in the local language. So, this is something that they are doing by and large," said the officer.

Further, on asking why these groups do not take help of Google translation, the officer said that the grammatical mistakes of the software are very glaring sometimes and the members of these terror organisations do not want to do such mistakes.

The officer further explained that material translated using Google translation loses some understanding also.

(With ANI inputs)

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