The members of ISIS-Pune module wanted to radicalise children with ISIS ideologies and had circulated a book prepared by one of the witnesses, whose statement is part of the chargesheet recently submitted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The NIA chargesheet contains the statement of a man whom the accused had attempted to radicalise and had forced him to join ISIS since 2015.
The witness, whose identity has been protected, was part of group created by the accused Pune resident, Zubair Shaikh, and Padgha resident Zulfikar Ali Barodawala. The witness had met Shaikh during a street programme organised by Shaikh in Pune. The witness attended the programme four to five times and was later invited to join the group created by Shaikh.
The witness claimed that Barodawala and another wanted accused, Talha Liyakat Khan, had approached him in 2021 to prepare a book for children. “In November 2021, Talha and Zulfikar approached me and handed over 25-30 pages of handwritten notes and requested me to design a book on ISIS ideology for children,” the witness said, adding that the notes covered the basic tenets of Islam and the six pillars of Iman. The book was titled ‘Little Muwahideen- Islam ki Buniyadi Baten'.
Book Promoting Jihad Was Circulated Among Children
The witness said, “The content supported jihad, broadly meaning a struggle against the enemies of Islam.” The witness said that it took him a few months to prepare the book, which was circulated by Zubair to the group in March or April 2022.
The witness claimed that the accused used to force him to join ISIS but he refused. However. he claimed that Shaikh, Abdul Kadir Pathan and wanted accused Abdullah Shaikh were ready to join ISIS.
The witness claimed that he had attended the preachings carried out at the house of the accused, Abdul Kadir, wherein the accused Seemab Kazi spoke about ISIS ideology. He said during these lectures Kazi used to talk about shirk (worshipping anyone other than Allah).
The witness claimed that Kazi had a different idea of shirk. “He used to interpret it in his own way. He used to relate it with actions such as saluting the Indian national flag, standing for the national anthem, approaching courts in property disputes, all acts related to nationalism. He used to explain jihad as fighting for Allah,” the witness said.
