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COIMBATORE: Ulemas of 60 jamaats in urban and rural parts of Coimbatore on Tuesday participated in an interaction with the collector, city police commissioner, district superintendent of police and senior officials to include the religious leaders in an exercise to identify potentially radicalised youths, sensitise them and wean them away from terror activities.
Days after the car explosion near a temple in Coimbatore, ulema of 60 Jamaats in urban and rural parts of Coimbatore took part in an interaction with collector G S Sameeran, city police commissioner V Balakrishnan and district superintendent of police V Badrinarayanan besides senior officials in a first such initiative. The objective was to induct the religious leaders in a state exercise to identify potential radicalised youths in the community, sensitise them and wean them away from terror activities.
Several ulema offered their views and suggestions for communal harmony and better monitoring of vulnerable youths. “We believe such an initiative with ulema will help us get more information about the youths, who may be soft targets of radicalisation and participants in terror modules,” Balakrishnan told TOI.
Addressing the ulema, Balakrishnan said Islam did not support terrorism. “It supports brotherhood,” he said. “If any Muslim youth is found to be aloof during prayers in mosques, the ulemas should identify them and the reasons for such behaviour. If they are trying to self radicalise, the ulema should work to de-radicalise them,” said Balakrishnan.
Collector Sameeran said one bad incident was enough to damage the credibility and reputation of an entire community. One person is enough to earn a bad name for a community. “If any youth shows signs of depression or misunderstand religious teachings, the ulemas should identify such people,” said the collector. Balakrishnan said if any person is radicalised or posts messages on social media indicating so, their details should be shared with the police. The police would work with the jamaats in an effort to de-radicalise them, he said. Badrinarayanan said one person’s wrong doings could impact the entire community and their businesses, advising jamaats to work with the police.
Abdul Rahim, who is the district president of the Hilal committee, pointed out that Islam did not preach wrong things. Another participant requested the police to prepare a documentary, explaining to youths how they could be affected and how their families would suffer if they succumbed to terror groups.



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