A. Harikumar
A video of an emotional Taliban terroristweeping with joy as his legion enters Afghanistan capital Kabul going viral on social media in the South Indian state Kerala is no wonder, as geopolitical developments anywhere on the globe including those in back of beyond nations are deeply discussed here.Even before the advent of social media the common man on the streets used to debate at length about international politics like cold war or disintegration of Soviet Union.
But the unusual interest in the current video, posted by a journalist Ramiz on twitter on August 15, is not just concernover political developments in Afghanistan.. As one plays the video, along with Pashto – spoken by the Taliban – words that sound like Malayalam are also heard. Somebody is heard asking someone else “Parayatte, Parayatee,” which means in Malayalam, ‘let him speak, let him speak.’ It could be concluded that at least two native speakers of Malayalam were there, and possibly one of them was influential as to command others. The tone and pronunciationsounds similar to South Kerala dialect of Malayalam.
The tweet of Ramiz wasn’t widely noticed yesterday, but gained traction today and sparked speculations about the presence of fighters from Kerala in the Taliban. Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor who commented on the video on August 16 speculated that at least 2 Malayalis could be there; one who says the word ‘Samsarikkatte,” and another who understands it. After Tharoor posted his comments, Ramiz clarified in another tweet that there are no Kerala origin fighters in the Taliban. But there are fighters from Zabul province who speak Brahvi language, which is considered to be a Dravidian language.
Ramiz who introduces himself as someone interested in conflict journalism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Pakistan seems to be well informed about South Asia too Ramiz could be saying obliquely that the words that sounded Malayalam to Tharoor and others could be Brahvi actually.
Notwithstanding Ramiz’s comment, sources pointed out that terrorists from Kerala are there in Afghanistan, but majority of them are with Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Al Qaeda of Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). That could raise the question if the words were said by AQIS fighters who were present at the scene when the video was shot. However, there is no authentic answer to it.
Meanwhile the Taliban is claiming that the current offensive against Afghanistan government forces was carried out by their own fighters and the Islamic State or the AQIS were not part of their offensive. According to them, they have enough local Pashtun fighters to carry out the offensive of any scale.
Taliban may not release Islamic State prisoners
As news from Afghanistan are hitting headlines and evoke much interest in Kerala, Malayalam media have reported that the Taliban has released the Islamic State prisoners in Afghanistan Jails among whom there are women terrorists from Kerala. A leading Malayalam daily Malayala Manorama reported thatthey have gotten information about the release of woman terrorists from Kerala Fathima Isa aka Nimisha, Mariyam aka Merin Jacob, Ayisha aka Sonia Jacob, etc. have been released from Afghanistan jail.
However, Afghanistan sources point out that Taliban releasing Islamic State prisoners is unlikely as there is a history of bitter rivalry among both the groups. While the Taliban is inspired by Deobandi movement which originated in Uttar Pradesh in India, the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) bean by recruiting detractors of the Taliban. Following that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour wrote to Islamic State leader Abu Backer Al Bagdhadi to stop recruitment, but that didn’t happen. Fighting broke out between the two groups in Zabul Province in 2015. In 2017 fighting again broke out between the two groups and eventually ISKP is reported to have suffered huge setbacks. However somemedia say ISKP is still active in parts of Afghanistan. When the Taliban signed an agreement with the US President Donald Trump in Doha in 2020, one of their promises was to keep out groups like the ISKP.
Sources pointed out that the ISKP chief Zia Ul Haq aka Abu Umar Khurasani has been killed by the Taliban in Pul-e-Charkhi prison after the Taliban besieged and took over the prison on August 15. The Islamic State prisoners will have to face Taliban courts and any decision about the future of the prisoners will be taken by the court, said sources.