ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh as they call themselves, was formed in 1999 under the name of “Jamat al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad”. In those times, their terror factory was trivial and forthcoming. Iraq and Syria became the devils advocate and under tremendous pressure exiled their land for an antagonist group who would cultivate it for their deleterious purposes. Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) models its ideologies with adherence to other terrorist groups by distorting the real meaning of ‘Jihad’ and infiltrating the evil of genocide in its constituents. The great breakthrough they received was in October 2004 when they were able to make an alliance with the world’s largest terrorist organization ‘Al-Qaeda’. From there on, ISIS apparently received a visa to counter the Middle Eastern countries and they shared their part in Iraq war (2003-2011). The uprising of IS could be associated as and when the declaration of an Islamic State came in Iraq on 13th October 2006. It was the commencement of a horrific and terrifying Jihadi experience for the militants which was fuelled by arms, ammunitions, hatred and sins. Their foremost accomplishment came in April 2013 when they claimed to have conquered the territory of Levant. A major apocalypse was on its way. But ISIS was on the verge of creating history when it disassociated itself from Al-Qaeda in February 2014. The apostles of IS have been expanding their base, making the organization a global entity for terrorism. In June 2014, they promulgated Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi as their supreme leader and Caliphate. A Caliphate is an important Muslim political and religious leader who is the successor of Muhammad and acts as the temporal and spiritual head of Islam. Post their declaration, the activities of ISIS surged and the term suicide bomber became synonymous with newspapers.
They enlarged their boundaries and claimed the territory of Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In December 2014, the gunman of IS held 17 people in Sydney(Australia) Café as hostages. Then came Europe’s turn and France came under fire when initially the cartoon magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’s office was attacked in January 2015 and 11 journalists, including the Editor-in-Chief, was shot dead. In February 2015, ISIS soldiers killed around 12 people in an attack on an oil field in Libya. In March 2015, a suicide bomber struck on Zaydi Shiite mosques in Yemen killing more than 130 people. In June 2015, a gunman at a Mediterranean resort in Tunisia killed 40 people most of whom were British tourists. In July 2015, a Turkish citizen with ties to ISIS killed 32 people at a cultural center in Turkey. In October 2015, a Russian passenger jet was blown up over Egypt killing all 224 people on board. IS claimed the responsibility. In November 2015, on 13th The Friday, Paris had their deadly 13/11, killing 129 people and injuring more than 500. Now, ISIS is also emerging at e-level by running its own channels, videos, Facebook and Twitter accounts etc. They are recruiting youths through these mediums and endangering the freedom of virtual life as well.
According to 2016 Global Terrorism Index , the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been involved in 6141 deaths in 953 incidents causing 6208 injuries. As per Jason Burke, a journalist, “ISIS’s goal is to terrorize, mobilize, and polarize”.
The State of Terror
The anti-religious group which asserts to be a religious outfit has been rebuffed by the Muslim communities, stating that their deeds are anti-Muslim. ISIS has also reportedly made an appearance in some parts of India, mainly Jammu & Kashmir, where the recent exercise of hoisting the IS flags have made the news. Also, intelligence agencies have lately issued a high alert in some states of India due to possible threats of terror attacks as claimed by IS in their letters.
By condemning their ideologies, policies and showing disregard is merely a political way to tackle such highly sensitive issue rather a coalition must be formed by the influential nations to dismantle their activities, primarily discontinuing their major source of income, i.e. oil. Thereby, steps must be taken to control collateral damage and weaken the Islamic State from its seedbed. There is an urgency of restructuring the Middle East where terrorist institutions like Boko Haram, ISIS etc. are reigning over the puppet regimes.
