***Thread on De-Radicalization***
Weeks before the 2019 Easter bombings, I realized Zahran Hashim was becoming a huge force in the world of radicals across South Asia and he was also well known to the political establishment of Srilanka.
#Coimbatore #CoimbatoreBlast
I say this in spite of many western media outlets calling him "little known" or an "unknown entity" back then. They just did not know the impact he was creating here.
But, little did the general public know that he will inflict one of the worst terror attacks & blow himself up.
Zahran Hashim was born in a middle-class Muslim family part of Kattankudy. He was a college dropout.
Soon, he got into radical philosophy and started picking fights with local Muslims in his area. The local mosque identified the problems & tried addressing it with his family.
He made multiple trips to South India and started spreading his wings by uploading radical and jihadi videos on social media. This is where he really wielded his influence and got 1000s of followers.
But the idea of my thread is to focus on de-radicalizing a radical person. The fact here is like in many other cases, the local Muslim community often try their best to control such characters.
Their approach may not be the best one at times, but they do make an effort.