President of Patriots Forum, D.C. Nath was superannuated in January, 1995, as the Special Director, Intelligence Bureau, D.C. Nath (IPS-1960) was associated with the International Institute of Security and Safety Management (IISSM), headquartered in New Delhi, for over 14 years, first as the Executive President & CEO and then as the President & Director General, between February, 1997 and March, 2011. The author of a highly acclaimed book, Intelligence Imperatives for India, Mr. Nath earned high plaudits from all around for two of his very significant presentations on: “Revisiting the Future of India” (2005, London) and “Lessons from India for the War On Terrorism” (2007, USA). He is the only one in the field, combining the experiences of a police officer with specialization in intelligence and strategic analysis and an industrial security expert par excellence. More Bio on D. C. Nath…

News Research & Analysis Files-

 Drawing Women Into Terrorism-The Statesman<< News analysis file 1

OPINION>>>>

April 9, 2015

Dear Friends,

 

Subject: Drawing Women Into Terrorism

 

Here is a piece by Rafiq Zakaria, lifted from the DAWN, “Drawing Women Into Terrorism”, reproduced in “The Statesman” of April 2, 2015.

The presentation has been made rather interesting by throwing up a competitive picture of Daesh and the Taliban in respect of the presence and utilisation of women in insurgency. It is for the first time we find an analysis of this type.

 

The author starts off:

 

· The theatre of brutality and barbarity enacted by Daesh — the Arabic acronym for the self-styled Islamic State — is not new to Pakistanis. For a country long embroiled in the seemingly endless fight against the Taliban, nearly all of Daesh’s acts are a repeat telecast. However, while the basics may be the same, the branding of Daesh is markedly different and far more astute.

· Unlike the Taliban, which has no women’s brigade, Daesh sports the social media-savvy, all-female Al-Khansaa Brigade. In its recently released manifesto, the Brigade reiterates the usual misogynistic drivel: women must stay home and be in charge of child-rearing and domestic affairs. At the same time, it also makes significant departures: the attack by the enemy and the insufficient number of men all cited as reasons that permit women into the battlefield. The sacrifices of women in Iraq who had to do just that are cited as a point of pride. Devout Muslim women, admittedly only those who ascribe to their very narrow idea of the function of a female, are not only welcome in Daesh, they are actually wanted.

 

Then, an assessment:

 

· The strategy seems to be working. A few days ago the German intelligence agency reported that 70 women, nine of whom were schoolgirls, had departed the country to join the Brigade’s ranks. These numbers will further add to the 550 western women who, according to news reports, are already serving in the Al-Khansaa Brigade. Daesh women are not silent: they sport a near constant social media presence, serving as advertisements for the romance in being married to a warrior and of life in the utopic Muslim state to which they have migrated.

 

The author ends up with an interesting projection—the possible emergence of a conflict between local and global extremism:

 

· The emergence of an extremist group that is more sophisticated in the way it sells itself, both as a formidable enemy and a haven for the disgruntled and desperate, could in its own way spell the end of the small local extremist group. In Pakistan, where the latter happily proliferates, with every flavour of religious distortion represented in its variety, this could produce a war between local and global extremisms. The hopeful could say that it is perhaps this exact sort of infighting that could, with the passage of enough time, spell an end to extremism itself. Since state and society have both failed in their extermination, perhaps they will simply eventually kill themselves.

 

Friends, we hope this has been no romanticising by the author. Time alone will tell.

 

Vandemataram,

Your sevak,
D.C. Nath

(Former Spl. Director, IB)

(President, Patriots’ Forum)

Source: Patriot Forum

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