As the year 2010 was coming to end terror threat loomed large over Europe, particularly in Berlin. German Interior Minister, Thomas de Maizière spoke of what he termed as a pan-European plot of Islamist groups to mount an attack similar to the mayhem perpetrated in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. Police had swung into action and rounded up suspects from areas mainly populated by the refugee and immigrant Muslim communities in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
The German media said the present plot might have its origin from the Indian sub-continent and could have been financed and facilitated by international underworld gangs.
For almost two months European media has been continuously highlighting the threats which sometimes have been denied by the authorities. But anti-terrorism measures taken in different member states as well as deliberations at the EU level are evident enough that concrete evidences does exist with the national authorities and that they are also sharing with other countries. Austria has been put on high alert as Germany provided specific information about some suspects.
The tactical nature of the threat required two-fold response. One cooperation amongst the national European criminal investigation, law-enforcement, intelligence and security agencies. Two close working with global security community as well. As the likely terrorist cell might consist of different nationalities recruited and trained in various places, the unearthing and subsequent information would demand closer international cooperation. It also shows that although the possible terrorists might have non-European background they maintain close contacts in the refugee and immigrant Muslim communities in Europe. Terrorist networks have so far used a small section of the Muslim diaspora for refuge, recuperation, recruitment and revival of sleeper cells.
The threat of quick radicalization and home-grown terrorism is also a grave concern for the European governments; London’s 7/7 showed that all the suicide bombers were born and brought up in Britain. It is not that only the 3/11 and 7/7 had awakened the Europeans with rude shock but scientific research projects have already been undertaken in the aftermath of 9/11 to comprehend the radicalization amongst the younger Muslim communities in Europe.
European think tanks on security and social studies have delved deeper to deconstruct the process from various angles. Multi-disciplinary research has been undertaken so that the governments may formulate policies based on solid foundations. These studies showed that there is a clear disconnect between the European governments and the immigrant communities especially Muslims. Even within the Muslim communities there is an obvious generation gap between the community elders and a section of the youth. This gap was quite evident in the pre- and post-9/11 days in the UK, which experienced the most violent form of Islamic radicalism; though a dialogue was initiated by the government with the Islamic community, ghastly suicide bombings have put the whole issue of multi-culturalism into question.
Moreover, the most discerning trend is that a part of the second and third generation Muslim youth in Europe have accepted a form of Islam which is not only an overarching way of their daily life but is also used to interpret the entire global affairs through a very narrow prism. This form of Islam is not only virulent in nature but also has transcended their national variants based on community values practiced by their older generation. Such radicalization, which can breed potential terrorist attacks or give a fillip to member or sympathizers of terror networks, has now taken a pan-European character. Various global hotspots like Sudan, Yemen or the Af-Pak region have been used as training ground for the Young Islamists.
Observers in Europe are not surprised therefore at the steady stream of young Islamists have found Waziristan as one of their most preferred regions for terror training. While it is extremely imperative at this juncture to tackle the imminent terror threat through closer cooperation and sharing of information amongst the global security agencies, the strategic threat of radicalization of European Muslim youth would require a comprehensive response.
The first step would be sympathetic consideration of the urge for Islamic identity and learning from the experience of other nations like India, which have faced, and, in fact, continue face similar problem. Unless this challenge is met squarely and substantially without much prevarication, the threat of terror networks tapping into the European Islamic diaspora would not diminish. It will indeed escalate. Too much is at stake not only for Europe but for the international community as well.
— By Alok Rashmi Mukhopadhyay
