“Historically, professionals including doctors have been involved in extremist networks,” said Aishwaria Sonavane, counter-terrorism researcher at the Takshashila Institution in Bengaluru. “We are not merely talking about sympathizers. We’ve got potentially trained individuals who are using their professional expertise in ways that directly support extremist activities.”
Sonavane was a guest on The Gist, speaking in the context of the Red Fort blast last week where doctors from Kashmir were involved. In her view, the role of doctors underscores the diverse range of talents they bring.
For instance, technical knowledge in their understanding of chemical elements or biological agents apart from of course providing medical care to fellow conspirators. Doctors carry a level of social legitimacy because of the trust they inspire. They have institutional access and do not easily excite suspicion.
“In India we have had professionals in the past with backgrounds in engineering,” she noted, “modules specifically targeting India involving doctors, seems a relatively novel phenomenon.”
The difficulty for police and counter-terrorism agencies is that highly educated and socially integrated individuals do not sort of fit the traditional profiling boxes. In terms of Islamist militancy, counter-terrorism operations would specifically target mosques and madrassas. Doctors do not fit these traditional profiling boxes. Also, recruitment has moved digitally, which makes it harder.
Externally, doctors are a dime a dozen in terrorist networks. Al Qaeda was headed by the Egyptian doctor Ayman Zawahiri.
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was the leader of Islamic State, was a Ph.D holder in in the UK. I remember this case, the 2007 Glasgow airport attack, which was carried out by Bilal Abdullah, also a doctor. So the idea that educated people are not radicalized is a big misconception,” she said.
Indians tend to see terrorists like Ajmal Kasab as stereotypical, from a poor family in Pakistan’s Punjab province, he was radicalised and reportedly, handsomely compensated or at least his family was.
It overlooks the fact that his handlers were sophisticated people, professionals for the most part, who trained people like Kasab and so many others to fight and die, uselessly, as it turned out, in some out-of-reach holy war.
Tune in for more in this conversation with Aishwaria Sonavane of the Takshashila Institution.
Thirty eight years in journalism, widely travelled, history buff with a preference for Old Monk Rum. Current interest/focus spans China, Technology and Trade. Recent reads: Steven Colls Directorate S and Alexander Frater's Chasing the Monsoon. Netflix/Prime video junkie. Loves animal videos on Facebook. Reluctant tweeter.
