Maha ATS releases video to check online radicalisation
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has created a video to spread awareness among parents about the dangers of online radicalisation. Warning parents that terror recruiters can target their children online, the video asks parents to be cautious when their children spend too much time on the internet and to keep a tab on their online activities.
In a first, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has created a video aimed at making parents aware about the dangers of online radicalisation. The video, which India Today has accesed, has is part of a campaign that the ATS plans to run with the help of celebrities. The video begins with a set of parents talking about the high hopes they have of their son and how they believe that the extended hours he spends on the internet will help him become an engineer. The parents express happiness that their son is always on his laptop, browsing the internet. Cutaways, however, show the boy coming across videos tutoring youth on how to make bombs. The video also shows the boy transferring funds to 'SYRIA', which viewers are presumably supposed to under to mean the Islamic State.An ATS team is then seen visiting the parents and telling them what their son has been actually up to online. The video ends with Sharad Kelkar, a Bollywood and television celebrity, asking parents and friends to be responsible and keep a tab on what their children/friends are doing online.Over the last few years, the Maharashtra ATS has dealt with a lot of cases where youngsters have been radicalised online and brought into the Islamic State fold. Dealing with such cases, the agency has concluded that online radicalisation is three times more effective and faster than physical indoctrination. However, keeping the complexity in mind the Maharashtra ATS has initiated a policy under which parents are requested to come forward and inform them if they see any changes in the behaviour of their children and if they find them suddenly spending a lot of time on the internet. Under the policy, ATS will not take any legal action against the children but will instead help with counseling to deradicalise them. The Maharashtra ATS has also gotten in touch with community leaders to bring the youths back into the mainstream society. Identity of youths who have been deradicalised is kept confidential. The video is another step by the agency to help expand its intelligence while stopping radicalised youths from taking any extreme steps.