A video of Ayesha surfaced last week, and she is heard stating, “I came to Khorasan in 2016. Once we reached here, many things we saw were not up to our expectations. We expected to live an Islamic life, under an Islamic law. That is not what the reality is. Now, I want to return to India, to my husband’s family,” reported by Hindu Post.

Two women Sonia Sebastian and Nimisha, who hail from Kerala and of Malayali background, were forced to convert to Islam. They voyaged to Afghanistan and joined the international terrorist organization ISIS (or Islamic State i.e. IS) a few years ago.

Sonia sebastian married to Abdul Rashid Abdulla after converting to Islam and Nimisha was called as Fathima after conversion of religion.

A video of Ayesha surfaced last week, and she is heard stating, “I came to Khorasan in 2016. Once we reached here, many things we saw were not up to our expectations. We expected to live an Islamic life, under an Islamic law. That is not what the reality is. Now, I want to return to India, to my husband’s family,”

Her husband, Abdulla, who hails from Kottayam in Kerala, was the ring leader of Kasargod IS module and the main conspirator who oversaw the IS recruitment in Kerala. Ayesha was one in the 21 men and women from the southern state who were led by Abdul Rashid Abdulla, to join the Islamic State, and went in batches to Khorasan (a historical region encompassing part of modern day Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia).

They were mostly new converts to Islam and hailed from upper-middle-class and well-to-do families. They reached Afghanistan on foot through Iran. Nimisha, who was a dentist before converting to Islam and getting inducted into ISIS, had first travelled to Sri Lanka in 2016 claiming to run a carpet business along with her husband Esa (Bexon), and later joined the terrorist group.

Both these women converted at the early college days, their husbands, Abdulla and Esa were killed in the war with Afghanistan after which they were rounded up by Afghan agencies. Ayesha is now lodged at a Kabul jail. In the video, she has expressed the wish to return to her husband’s family.

Ayesha’s account of the ‘caliphate’ suggests that she was disappointed by the way of life led there. The couple wanted to live an Islamic life, but as per her, the ‘caliphate’ was not ‘Islamic enough’. Men didn’t go to prey in the mosque routinely. Her husband, who was one of the chief recruiters who lured in youth from Kerala for the Islamic State, had made about 90 audio clips for terrorist prospects. These videos were recorded to give a detailed insight into the lives of ISIS terrorists and unraveled all aspects of the life in the Islamic State to his Malayali audience.

On the other hand, Fathima said she would like to visit her mother’s place, provided, she is not arrested by the state police, imprisoned or tortured. Interestingly though, while the Hindu-convert-to-Islam admits that Afghanistan is not her place, and Bharat is, she also expresses her desire to stay in a land that is ‘governed by the ideals of the Sharia’. Fathima, unlike Ayesha, found the ‘caliphate’ life comfortable. “I cannot say that the ‘caliphate’ was wrong because I was comfortable at that time, but things have changed,” she says.

However, back home, Fathima’s mother Bindhu Sampath has sought assistance from the external affairs ministry to aid these women’s Bharat return. Mrs. Sampath said, “After four years, I saw my daughter’s photo for the first time. I plead to the Union government to help them return. Let them face the law of the land. I hope the government will take some steps at the earliest.”

But will it be safe for all the Indians to accept the women who have worked with the terrorist organisation ISIS for four years?

Image source: Hindu Post