Rivalry among Mangaluru Salafi groups quenches media’s thirst for ISIS story

Mangaluru, Oct 4: A controversial voice message by the leader of one of the coastal Karnataka-based Salafi groups has sent shockwaves in the region after local media gave massive coverage to the 11-minute clip in which the speaker apparently discouraged his followers from joining another Salafi splinter group and claimed that its members dress like ‘ISIS’ terrorists.

The audio clip, which contains some advices and warnings by Ismail Shafi, vice-president of South Kanara Salafi Movement (SKSM), to the members of his organisation, unexpectedly went viral as people began to share it on social media platforms.

The Beary language clip also grabbed the attention of the local police officers who heard the word ‘ISIS’ but couldn’t immediately understand anything else. “The Beary audio clip contains the word ISIS. We got it translated to Kannada. Now we are verifying the authenticity of the speaker’s claims and allegations. We will take necessary action based on the probe report,” said Sudhir Kumar Reddy, superintendent of the police of Dakshina Kannada.

The speaker in the audio clip has levelled a series of allegations on so called Dammaj Salafi group, a by-product of the ongoing churning process within the Salafi movement in Kerala and Coastal Karnataka, and warned Salafis against joining that group.

According to the speaker, the clerics of Dammaj group brainwash the youths and college students of Muslim community, persuade them to discontinue the studies, leave the country and die in so called jihad. He says that the new group, which has built a mosque at BC Road in Dakshina Kannada with the help of funds provided by a man from Al-Khobar, identifies itself as Salafi group but indulge in extremism.

He says that Dammaj group members are present in Mangaluru, BC Road, Ullal, Kalladka, Maripalla areas of the coastal district and they are financially supported by a Moodbidri-based man. “They wear black or brown gowns... Their intention is to cause damage to Salafi movement and put an end to its da’wa activities,” he says adding that they are backed by Jews.

He also cautions the Salafi parents against forging matrimonial alliance with the members of Dammaj group claiming that they take their better halves to countries like Yemen and Afghanistan. “In Kerala, they are facing the charge of supplying men to ISIS,” the voice said.

Some of the other attention-grabbing allegations levelled by the speaker against the Dammaj group members are: “They don’t mingle with people; they don’t interact with non Muslims such as Hindus and Christians; they believe that India is not suitable for them and they prefer to leave the country; they don’t send their children to the schools here; they don’t travel by buses here; they don’t do any job; they keep their women in house arrest after forcing them to cover all their fingers with ‘black bandage’; their ultimate goal is to wage so called jihad and die...”