Nearly 30 Muslim youths posing for a group photograph spotting black T-shirts with the emblem of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) and the picture going viral in social network sites have sent shockwaves across Ramanathapuram, a communally sensitive district in Tamil Nadu. Two youths, B Abdul Rehman (24) and Rilvan have been arrested by Ramanathapuram Police on Tuesday in this connection.
Ramanathapuram was in the news recently for the controversial billboards installed by the Jamaath committees at the entrance of villages banning the entry of outsiders to the villages without the permission of community leaders. Though local police officials had initially denied and underplayed the news, they were forced to remove such boards from vantage points.
The circulation of the group photo of the youths in ISIS T-shirts is seen as an open challenge to the law and order machinery in the State. D Kuppuramu, a lawyer practicing in the Madras High Court, said the picture was an indirect message to the police that the ISIS is active in the district.“No one will dare to spot the emblems of such dreaded organisations unless they have supporters in the corridors of power,” Kuppuramu told The Pioneer.
Though the local police had initially dismissed the significance of the photograph by terming it as an expression of gratitude to the ISIS for releasing the Indian nurses unharmed, Abdul Rehman is believed to have spilled the beans when he was questioned in this connection. It was Rehman who ordered the T-shirts with the ISIS emblem from a Tirupur knitwear company.
local police told reporters that they cannot take any action against the youth as the ISIS is not a banned organisation in India. The superintendent of police, Ramanathapuram, has been quoted by the local media as telling that the incident has deeper connotations as Rehman has been found to be an active supporter of the ISIS.
The incident comes at a time when it is widely believed that many youths from the region have made it to Iraq to fight for the ISIS. Tamil Nadu police has confirmed that Hamza Fakrudeen from Cuddalore district has joined the ISIS to fight for establishing a Caliphate.