ISI-Backed Modules Exploit Dalit Girls For Terror Recruitment Via Salafi Indoctrination: Sources
Recent arrests in Prayagraj show ISI-backed handlers using Salafi doctrine to sanctify terror training for operations in Kashmir and with the ISIS-Khorasan (ISKP). According to top intelligence sources, the conversion of Dalit girls to Islam is a strategic move by ISI and ISIS-K, executed through funds delivered by Gulf charities to Kerala-based modules. These Kerala groups exploit the Salafi-Wahhabi ideology to convert Dalit girls and recruit them for terrorism, taking advantage of their discrimination and economic deprivation.
These revelations come after two people were detained on charges of abducting a minor girl and forcing her to convert to Islam. The incident was reported from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. According to details, the girl, belonging to the Dalit community, was abducted and taken to Kerala, where she was being trained for terror activities.
Top intelligence sources highlight that groups such as the Popular Front of India (PFI) promote Salafi-Wahhabi Islam as a pathway to dignity and equality for these girls. PFI's educational wing, Satyasarini, claims over 3,000 conversions, using Salafi-Wahhabism's rigid interpretation of Islam to sever cultural ties through the rejection of un-Islamic practices like idol worship. Gulf remittances, estimated at around $26.9 billion annually, fund Salafi madrassas, NGOs, and mosques in Kerala that target Dalits. Sources indicate that PFI-linked entities receive donations disguised as charity, enabling recruitment drives.
Intelligence sources confirm that madrassas act as recruitment hubs, with many unregulated Salafi institutions offering free shelter, education, and stipends to Dalit girls. These centres preach Wahhabi exclusivity, label non-Salafi Muslims as apostates, and glorify jihad. Qatar-based clerics like Sheikh Abdul Razak run Malayalam propaganda channels like Muhajirun, amplifying Salafi-Wahhabi content, sources add. Dalit converts are groomed via encrypted apps, framing terrorism as defensive jihad against Hindu majoritarianism.
Significant damage stems from state governments, which often dismiss love jihad narratives as propaganda from Hindu groups, ignoring NIA evidence of forced conversions, sources suggest. This institutional blindness allows groups like PFI and SDPI to operate freely despite bans. Intelligence sources stress that Salafi-Wahhabism provides Kerala-based groups with an ideological weapon to exploit caste oppression, supported by Gulf-financed infrastructure and geopolitical alliances ranging from ISI to Al-Qaeda to globalise terror pipelines.
Over 70 per cent of terror cases languish in courts for more than five years, according to top intelligence sources. In 2024, the Kerala Police released PFI bomb-maker Shajeer Mangalassery due to a lack of evidence, despite NIA dossiers. This impunity enables recurring recruitment. Converts adopt Arabic names and are forced into Arab dress and language, severing ties with their past. This Arabisation fosters dependency on radical networks for belonging. Indoctrination frames terror involvement as 'istishhad" (martyrdom) with promises of heavenly rewards. The 2016 Kasaragod ISIS unit, led by Rashid Abdulla, cited Quranic verses on defending the ummah to justify joining ISKP.
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