NIA officials in the state are on a mission. They will reportedly learn Arabic and Urdu languages to counter terrorism.
The agency has approached Ernakulam Maharaja college’s Arabic department to learn the language.
The move was prompted after many cases being dealt with by NIA, had documents in Urdu and Arabic.
As per an Asianet News report, Maharajas academic council has approved the request from NIA that Professors from the department would visit the NIA office in Kochi to take classes after Onam vacations.
The report also says that the first batch to learn the languages will have 20 NIA officials.
In 2015 also, there were discussions over NIA learning these languages from Maharajas, but it did not materialize then.
“We are planning to offer certificate courses in Arabic and Urdu to the NIA officials in evening batches from the beginning of 2016. The academic council has entrusted the Arabic Department to hold discussions with the NIA authorities here to finalise the modalities,” Dr. Liyaqat Ali, academic coordinator and faculty member of Arabic Department, had told The Hindu in 2015.
Recently, there were reports that NIA officials from Kolkata also would start training in these languages. The necessity of learning these languages there was first recognised during Khagragh Blast incident in West Bengal's Birbhum district in 2014. After the blast, a large number of pamphlets and literature in Urdu and Arabic was recovered.
Photo : NIA website