Kerala ISIS radicalisation: Minor groomed for jihad in madarsa by mother, stepfather and terror convict Siddhikul Aslam, SDPI link emerges

Kerala has a history of Islamic radicalisation. Islamic terror group ISIS has long been associated with attempts at luring the Muslim youth from the state into its Jihadist crimes. On 14^th November, a fresh case of ISIS recruitment emerged from Thiruvananthapuram, wherein 15-year-old boy was radicalised by his mother Fida Mohammad Ali and her second husband Ansar Aslam into joining the Islamic State terrorist organisation.

The minor boy was shown ISIS-related videos by the accused couple when he was in the United Kingdom. An FIR has been lodged at the Venjaramoodu Police Station in Kerala and the accused couple has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The matter came to light after the teen escaped the attempt to push him into ISIS’s Jihadi terrorism. The police have arrested Fida and her husband Ansar.

The police swung into action after, the boy’s relatives learnt from him about the attempts being made to make him join the ISIS and the relatives approached the police.

The police then questioned the boy, who directly accused his parents of attempting to push him to join ISIS by showing him propaganda videos, including the beheading videos. The boy told the police that his stepfather assaulted him brutally for not accepting ISIS’s ideology.

It has also emerged that the teenager was brought to a madarsa in Attingal by ex-terror convict Siddhikul Aslam (Some media reports say Siddiqui). NDTV reports that the madarsa staff said that Siddhikul Aslam had absolute control over the teen and the latter’s mother never visited. They said that Siddhikul Aslam was brainwashing the teen into hating others. Siddhikul Aslam is reported to hold Islamic Jihadist mindset.

The teenager did not like the Siddhikul Aslam extremist ideology and used to fear him. There were obvious behavioural changes in the teen’s behaviour. There were patterns that deviated from routine conduct and indicated distress. The institution informed the child’s relatives in Kerala and alerted them about the boy’s abnormal behaviour, suggesting he needed immediate attention. This communication became the turning point that eventually brought the matter before the police.

According to the police, the boy, who hails from the woman’s first marriage, travelled with her and her second husband, Ansar Aslam, to the United Kingdom in 2021. It was during that time the couple tried to push him to join ISIS. The boy told investigators that his mother and stepfather repeatedly showed him ISIS propaganda videos and pressured him to study the organisation’s ideology. They forced him to consider joining the terrorist outfit. The coercion attempts reportedly created friction within the household and the teenager resisted the extremist ideas being pushed on him.

The probe agencies have found an ISIS flag and it is emerging that the accused persons have taken oath of allegiance to the Islamic terror group.  The accused persons were planning to send the minor boy to Syria to join the ISIS. Ansar Aslam is also reported to have been in contact with his ISIS handlers.

At present, the Kerala Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) is probing the matter, although the NIA is expected to join or takeover the case.

After spending several years in the UK, the family returned to Kerala earlier this year. Soon after their arrival, the mother and stepfather admitted the child to a madarsa in Attingal. 

Reports say that accused Fida had converted from Christianity to Islam before marrying her first husband. It was during her stay in the UK along with her first husband that she came in contact with Ansar, who eventually became her second husband.

Accused Fida married Siddhikul Aslam and was in live-in relationship with his brother Ansar Aslam?

However, a TimesNow report reports citing an insider source linked to the victim teen’s biological father and Fida’s first husband Mohammad Ali, that Fida married Siddhikul Aslam without divorcing him and was also in a live-in relationship with Ansar in Leicester, who happens to be Siddhikul’s brother.

Born in a Christian family, Fida fell in love with Mohammad Ali during her college days. The couple had three children, including the 15-year-old victim. However, after 17 years of marriage with Mohammad Ali, Fida came in contact with Ansar Aslam’s brother Siddhikul Aslam. Much like what was happening with her son, Fida too was radicalised by showing videos glorifying the ISIS. Siddhikul Aslam succeeded in completely brainwashing Fida.

As per a Republic TV report, Fida has claimed that her husband is an active member of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which is a political front of the banned Islamic terror outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).

Earlier this year, the Enforcement Directorate disclosed that the SDPI, a political party, relied on the banned organization Popular Front of India (PFI) for its daily operations, policy decisions, and candidate selection for election campaigns. Several SDPI office bearers were booked under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

OpIndia reported earlier how the PFI was involved in various Islamic Jihadist activities, including terror conspiracies and was working on its ‘Vision 2047’ plan to turn a Hindu-majority India into an Islamic nation.

Siddhikul Aslam convicted in ISIS conspiracy case

Siddhikul Aslam was convicted in the 2016 Kanakamala ISIS conspiracy case, where 8 persons were chargesheeted for plotting terror attacks in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Ansar could not be charged because he was living in Ukraine at that time.

It must be recalled that in 2016, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) busted an ISIS terror module called Ansar-ul-Khilafah Kerala. This group was linked to ISIS from Kanakamala in Kannur district. Its members were holding meetings to chalk out plan to do terror attacks in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Back then, the security agencies arrested six people and Siddhikul Aslam was arrested from Delhi airport when he was deported from Saudi Arabia with Interpol’s assistance.

In 2022, a special NIA court found Siddhikul Aslam guilty under relevant sections of the UAPA. He was found to be a member of the ISIS and also supporting its terror activities. In addition to three years of rigorous punishment, Rs 60,000 fine was imposed on him.

Siddhikul was convicted under section 120B (Criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides offences under sections 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation) and 39 (offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) of the UAPA.

Interestingly, Siddhikul had pleaded guilty back then and also expressed ‘remorse’ over his Islamic terrorist activities. He had also told the court that he wants to give up terrorism and live a peaceful life with his family. Judge  Kamanees had also stressed that given Siddhikul’s supposed ‘remorse’ over his jihadist deeds, a reformist approach should prevail in deciding his sentence.

 However, Siddhikul’s emerging role in radicalising the minor boy in the present case makes it evident, his ‘remorse’ was a sham and tactic to secure lenient sentence. The episode also raises alarm over a radicalised individual who was planning terror attacks was given a lenient sentence despite posing a grave threat to national security, merely because he expressed remorse over his actions. It, however, is evident that Siddhikul Aslam never really abandoned his pro-ISIS ideology and was actively disseminating the same into the minor boy in the present case.