A social media debate over a provocative article by Popular Front of India (PFI) leader and writer P Koya has raised doubts about the presence of Islamic State (IS) supporters in Kerala.
The article titled `How many caliphs', questioned the legitimacy of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his ‘caliphate’. Koya reportedly wrote in the article that such fake caliphates had appeared and later vanished subsequently over time.
The Times of India reports that some of the IS supporters were irked over Koya’s opinion and had responded on Facebook. Some of the profiles that criticised Koya and tried to establish that the caliphate was genuine were Akbar K Puram, Abu Muiad, Saifulla KI and Omer Al Hindi. Though most of these profiles claim that they are based in Syria and Afghanistan, the report says that these are fake profiles of persons operating from Kerala itself.
ToI further reports that intelligence agencies have little idea about these IS supporters in Kerala. As per the agencies, these are the same group of people who issued death threats to some liberal thinkers through a blog earlier.
The leader of the group was a person who was earlier a liberal and an atheist but who later became a radical. The report says that it is quite unlikely that this group has any organisational links with the Islamic State.
“These are only a handful of people who deliberately conceal their identity. I don't think they pose any serious threat as in a liberal country like India they are unlikely to get support,“ Koya told TOI.