Yasin Bhatkal’s conviction a big morale booster
The conviction of Indian Mujahideen's (IM) co-founder Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal, is a major victory for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the prosecution. Bhatkal, along with four others, was convicted by a NIA court for the twin blasts that hit the Dilsukhnagar region of Hyderabad in 2013. While this verdict (the quantum of sentence will follow on December 19) is not the last legal word on the case, since the convicts will approach the higher courts for a reversal of the order, it is a morale-booster for those working diligently to bring terrorists to book. This is not the first conviction of an IM operative; one had been earlier held guilty in the Germany bakery attack case in Pune, but he was a low-level functionary. Bhatkal is among the very top in the IM hierarchy, who had been arrested some six months ago in a rather dramatic fashion in Bihar.
The arrest had then sparked off a political slugfest too. The IM may not be a very potent force today, since over the years, its reach and influence have diminished following a crackdown by agencies across the country. Moreover, the lure of the Islamic State in certain sections of the minority community's youth has overtaken the charm of the IM. And yet, there is no denying that the IM still has its followers, with elements in Pakistan who, in the first place, had propped up the outfit, working overtime to ensure that the militants are kept busy. There are still sleeper cells. While many of the senior operatives of the organisation are either under intense scrutiny or have been arrested, there are others who have fled to Pakistan. The latter ones are not going to lie low for long. They'll be back in action sooner than later and India has to be prepared for that eventuality. Besides, there are various other terror-related cases which are in various stages of the legal process, involving IM operatives. This conviction should lift the spirits of the probe agencies and make them push harder.
The judgement is a long way from the earlier assumption by even people who should have known better, in the earlier Congress-led UPA regime, that the Indian Mujahideen was a figment of hyperactive imagination of certain people. They were simply unwilling to face the reality. There could be many reasons for this head-in-the-sand approach, and one of them can be attributed to vote-bank politics. Perhaps they believed that by speaking out against the IM, which came into being as a splinter group of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), they would alienate the minority community. In doing so, the mainstream politicians played into the hands of ultra-radical leaders of the community who have been long accusing Government authorities of deliberately targeting and persecuting members of the minority class. The IM's apologists must introspect on the damage they have done to the larger national cause.
Meanwhile, India's fight against terrorism can only grow more resolute with this conviction. There are many more anti-India elements out there that need to be hauled up before the justice process or neutralised — depending upon the circumstances. Unfortunately, there are still those who are grieving over the encounter killing of terrorist Burhan Wani in Jammu & Kashmir earlier this year.