Before going ahead with the opinion of experts, one must make clear that radicalisation and indoctrination are not synonymous, although they can be stages of a process.
The former is the half-way house to the latter; radicalise people may have strong beliefs but still they can think and behave more rationally when they want to.
In the other case, the subjects lose their free will and become living puppets, programmed to eat, sleep, and live a particular ideology which is often defined by exclusivity and intense hatred it holds for others. Suicide bombers are the best examples of this category.
Dr Mohammad Shafiq, who teaches Psychology at Jamia Millia Islamia, said, "Radicalisation is a process by which people come to freely choose a dangerous and wickedly misguided path and accept it to be a virtuous calling." Then indoctrination begins. When they lose the fear of losing their lives for a cause they are easy to manipulate, he added.
"They (the extremists) are made to believe that their religion is threatened by a hostile world. Given that millions throughout history have died to defend their religions, we cannot dismiss those who do the same now as simply deranged," he said. Shafiq claims religious extremists are increasingly turning to the internet to find and indoctrinate and radicalise youths.
“They find vulnerable young men on internet and brainwash them with their propaganda which turns the former into potential terrorists…Many predators target those who are curious to learn more about religion and bombard them with vengeful rhetoric. They are tech savvy and have been launching websites, blogs and online forums to find young boys and indoctrinate them,” he says.
He claims these young men are at the vanguard of a new type of terrorism. “These days, internet is the best means to reach out to large number of people. It enables to people to learn the arts of guerrilla warfare and communicate the plots, he added.
A surrendered militant, without wishing to be named, told Firstpost terror groups largely recruits “illiterate boys who can easily be fed with anti-establishment propaganda until they are prepared to take arms and kill people”.
"The insurgents exploit the innocence of the young boys and brainwash the latter in such a way that they are willingly to become suicide bombers. They are not afraid of being killed as they are assured that they will miraculously survive the attack they are going to launch. Only infidels will be killed and you and your parents will go to heaven," he said.
He went on to reveal that new recruits are provided a long list of foods to avoid. "They (youth) are also asked not to use perfume and alcohol, listen to music and tear any curtains bearing pictures," he added.
Dismissing the conventional wisdom that bombers are religious fanatics and insane, a senior psychiatrist at AIIMS said altruism, revenge and humiliation appear to play a key role in driving an individual to become a suicide bomber.
"Most of the suicide bombers are psychologically normal, emotionally attached to their national communities and deeply integrated into social networks. Suicide bombings have high symbolic value because the willingness of the perpetrators to die signals high resolve and dedication to their cause. Revenge of personal loss can also be one of the reasons behind taking the extreme step. Such persons are reached out, hypnotised and brainwashed to join a rank. Slowly, they lose love for their lives and become terrorists," he added.
Manzar Hussain, former head of the Department of Psychology at Veer Kunwar Singh University, Arrah, Bihar, explained how brainwashing or thought reform is a scientific process.
“In psychology, thought reform is carried out using three methods: compliance, persuasion and education. The compliance method brings a change in the behaviour of a person. It is a ‘just do it’ approach and has nothing to do with the individual’s beliefs or attitudes. On the other hand, persuasion tends to change the attitude. In this approach, people are asked to do something because the act would give them happiness, a feeling of being fit etc. The education or propaganda method goes for the social-influence fold, trying to affect a change in the person's beliefs, along the lines of ‘Do it because you know it is the right thing to do’,” he said.
The person engaged in brainwashing must have complete control over the target so that the patterns of sleeping, eating and other basic human needs depend on the will of the brainwasher. “In this process, the brain washer systematically breaks down the target’s identity to the point that it does not work anymore. He then replaces it with another set of beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that work in the target’s current environment,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment