Source:-https:\/\/theprint.in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Delhi: For the first time, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has approved a study on the \u201cstatus of radicalisation\u201d in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study, which aims to provide a legal definition of radicalisation and suggest amendments to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), will be a year-long project led by Prof. G.S. Bajpai, Director of the Centre for Criminology and Victimology, at National Law University (NLU), Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to ThePrint, Prof. Bajpai sought to address concerns \u2014 voiced by some opposition leaders on prime-time debates and also raised by some analysts \u2014 that the study will focus on a certain religion. Bajpai said the study is a \u201cfaith-neutral\u201d exercise and dismissed the \u201cbaseless apprehensions\u201d surrounding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRadicalisation is not confined to any ideology, group or religion. It is a reality that can happen to anyone irrespective of their faith. Such instances across the board, what their drivers and their push-and-pull factors are is what we are researching,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study stems from a 2018 invitation sent by the home ministry\u2019s police think-tank, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), to academicians and legal experts, seeking research proposals. Of the subjects proposed, two were shortlisted in September \u2014 \u201cStatus of Radicalisation in India: An Exploratory Study of Prevention and Remedies\u201d and \u201cFunctioning and Impact of Open Prisons on Rehabilitation of Prisoners\u201d..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bajpai said he has been pursuing studies on radicalisation for the past year and a half, adding that it is his strong belief that this venture is not political commentary, but scientific research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur study has a decided format where such baseless apprehensions have no space. The idea is to bring the reality to the public. Discovering facts is the religion of a researcher,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bajpai \u2014 also a member-secretary of the Committee on Criminal Reforms constituted by the home ministry this year to review criminal laws and rid the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of problematic colonial-era elements \u2014 said such a study is the need of the hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe requirement emanates from the fact that we lack an empirical basis of radicalisation. Mostly, people have opinions or assumptions. There is definitely a need to discard wrong impressions and need to have more factual and hard data-based information,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study, he added, will focus on three states \u2014 Assam, Maharashtra and Kerala \u2014 and the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir. He said the four areas have been identified because they account for many radicalisation-related cases in data collected by police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which will serve as the primary information pool for the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having identified states that have the \u201clikelihood\u201d of instances of radicalisation, Bajpai said he aims to use the information gathered as sample data that can then be applied to other states across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some analysts in the field, however, are wary of the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe scope of the study is limited because it\u2019s only looking at four states (sic) and only looking at one kind of radicalism \u2014 Indians who have gone and joined ISIS and Jaish-e-Mohammed. In the past 5-6 years, only about 170 Indians have gone and joined such organisations,\u201d said Maya Mirchandani, senior fellow at the think-tank Observer Research Foundation, who is involved in research on \u2018Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGlobal conversations are looking at white supremacy and Right-wing radicalism \u2014 are we willing to look at that?\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mirchandani said she \u201cwould welcome a study of the drivers of radicalisation in India in an absolutely neutral manner\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis means that while you can look at jihad and ISIS-related radicalisation, you need to open up and look at Right-wing, majoritarian radical violent actors across the country irrespective of their religion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n