We have heard of online job recruitments. It is a growing and highly useful trend for new startups. However, the strange thing is the online recruitment going on right now is for the ISIS. On November 15, 2013, 19 year old Aqsa Mahmood bid her father farewell. It was a normal day for the family until they received a call from their daughter from the Turkey border that she will meet them on the judgment day and that she will hold their hands to heaven. It was not the starting and definitely not the end. She has been very active on social media and transformed herself into a violent jihadi, bride of an ISIS fighter and has been actively posting photos of AK-47s and executions carried on by ISIS fighters.
With the recruitments still in progress, ISIS has been recruiting young females online and motivating them to join ISIS. A very recent case brought into light is that 3 teenage girls who left for Syria after visible activities in Twitter. Ms. Mahmood, now working as an online recruiter for ISIS is one of the most important assets of ISIS. According to the New York Times, “The authorities are investigating possible links between Ms. Mahmood who goes by the name Umm Layth (meaning mother of the Lion), and the disappearance last week of three teenage from London. They too are believed to have travelled to Syria to join the terrorist group also known as ISIS or ISIL.”
The teenagers, 15 year old Amira Abase, 15 year old Ms. Begum and 16 year old Kadiza Sultana were acknowledged by their peers as intelligent and studious. It was seen that Ms. Sultana had been following many ISIS jihadist fighters. Also Ms. Begum had asked Ms. Mahmood through Twitter message “keep me in your duas.” (dua also referred as prayer). These girls left their home with a day leave but were found through camera at London airport that they were travelling to Turkey after which they are supposed to travel to Syria according to the investigation of London Police.
Women after joining ISIS lure other women to come and join ISIS and marry the jihadists so that they can form a new Islamic society. Ms. Mahmood has secured herself as one of the most established online recruiters according to SITE Intelligence Group, who are responsible for monitoring Jihadists activities. She also posted in her blog asking British Muslims to follow, “brothers from Woolwich, Texas and Boston”. She even tweeted, “Sisters please don’t forget to pack thermal clothing or you’ll regret later on.” Here she referred to the online recruits as sisters and asked them to bring warm clothing comparing the winters in Scotland with Syria.
She asked the interested girls to contact sisters rather than contacting the men of the group whom she referred to as brothers as the brothers might already be married and they wouldn’t want to be home wreckers. According to Soufan Group, security based consultancy group in New York, every 100 British women out of 550 have joined Islamist group in Syria and Iraq. Also, female recruits are younger than male recruits and the radicals believe a 15 year old makes a better wife and a 14 year old male is less useless as a combatant.
It is obviously very heart breaking to the parents of these children. With the children in such young age joining ISIS, one of the dangerous militant group, which declares its apportion of an Al Qaeda Backed militant group in Syria, Jabhat Al-Nusra also known as the Al-Nusra Front. Although the families have been blaming the government for not being able to bring back their children regardless of having all the information and details, the blame cannot be put fully on the government. We as a responsible person must be able to decide what is right and wrong and decide carefully looking at all the pros and cons.
Proper motivation and counselling should be provided to them. It has been question to whole humankind after events like this. It has been a challenge to everyone and with events like this it has been difficult on choosing between people. Incidents like this creates insecurity among the people and they cannot be free. For some it has been a way of living by choice where as for others it has been a matter of life where they need to choose it out of no option. Whatever the case such decision has negative impact not only them but the whole society and to reduce it is our responsibility too. It is still debatable on whom is it actually to be questioned and blamed as it is a very sensitive topic. Hence, the question arises: Who is it actually to be blamed?
By Pavani Chennamasetti
