Exposing the Caliphate Threat
Islamic State's poster propaganda and conspiracy against India
The Islamic State (IS) and its regional affiliates, such as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Islamic State Hind Province (ISHP) and their local units, have been persistently threatening India through ideological propagation, online recruitment, and localized terror conspiracies for over a decade now. This brief provides an overview of Islamic State-related activities in India in 2025, assessing the evolving nature of IS operations in the region. The analysis also examines the propaganda tactics (e.g., posters) used by Islamic State-linked groups to radicalize and recruit individuals.
Unearthing IS Activities in India
Tamil Nadu Radicalization hotspots: On January 28, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at 16 locations in Tamil Nadu in connection with the ongoing Islamic State radicalization and recruitment case linked to the 2022 Coimbatore temple car bomb blast. Intelligence inputs highlighted that IS sympathizers made multiple attempts to radicalize youth in Tamil Nadu, particularly in the Coimbatore and Tirupur areas. Secret meetings were organized to discuss IS ideology, and online platforms were used extensively to spread extremist propaganda. Law enforcement agencies closely monitor these activities, leading to several preventive detentions.
Earlier, in Mid 2024, the NIA had charged four individuals—Jameel Basha, Mohammed Hussain, Irshath, and Syed Abdur Rahman, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The investigation revealed that IS follower Jamesha Mubeen drove a car carrying an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which exploded near the Kottai Sangameshwarar Temple on Eswaran Kovil Street, Ukkadam, Coimbatore, on October 23, 2022. For this case, NIA and State intelligence agencies conducted multiple raids and sweep operations earlier across several IS hotspots in Tamil Nadu and Telangana. The NIA found earlier during investigations that the arrested operatives, including Jameel Basha, had expressed admiration for Zahran Hashim as an inspirational figure, the Sri Lankan Islamic State (IS) jihadist who orchestrated the April 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed over 250 civilians.
In a parallel development, in January 2025, the arrest of Abdul Basith, an IS sympathizer from Chennai (Tamil Nadu), highlights the expansion of IS's digital recruitment ecosystem in India. Basith, who was employed in an ambulance service, was found to be running multiple social media accounts and WhatsApp groups with restricted access, specifically targeting teenagers and young adults for radicalization. His use of encrypted communication platforms and targeted digital propaganda exemplifies the modern recruitment strategies employed by IS to bypass traditional counterterrorism surveillance. The seizure of electronic evidence, including mobile devices, pen drives, and Islamist extremist literature, suggests a well-coordinated online effort to indoctrinate vulnerable individuals into IS's jihadist ideology. This case, in particular, has been significant recently as it demonstrates how individual IS recruiters, operating under the radar, can exploit social media to build sleeper cells and funding networks. The arrest of Basith is a critical success in India's counterterrorism strategy. Still, it also underscores the urgent need for enhanced digital intelligence gathering and community engagement programs to counter extremist narratives before they take root among susceptible youth. Agencies should now investigate Basith's chequered past and ongoing activities in places where he traveled, stayed, or interacted with numerous Muslim youths. Mapping his local network in those cities could expose his radicalization efforts and actual reach in Tamil Nadu and neighboring States.
Interestingly, the NIA probe further revealed that Basith was mentored by Mohammed Sadiq Basha (also Sathik Batcha), also known as ICAMA Sadiq, an active member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and Islamic State sympathizer. Sadiq Basha was arrested in February 2024 by the NIA for plotting terrorist activities and attempting to incite communal hatred. He was involved in founding several extremist fronts, such as the Khilafah Party of India, Khilafah Front of India, and Intellectual Students of India (ISI), all of which were reportedly aligned with global jihadist organizations like the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. These fronts aimed to undermine India's sovereignty and territorial integrity by spreading extremist ideologies under the guise of socio-religious activism.
Poster Propaganda and Threat Messaging:
Pro-Islamic State (IS) Al-Isabah Media has continued its threat messaging campaign through a series of provocative propaganda posters (see, earlier analysis of the campaign):
Pro-Islamic State Al-Isabah Media's Dangerous Propaganda Targeting India and Hindus
The seeming resurgence of the Pro-Islamic State jihadist unit Ansar-ut Tawheed fi Bilad Al-Hind (hereafter AuT) through its media arm, Al-Isabah Media, represents a heightened threat to India's internal security and communal harmony. Al-Isabah's recent propaganda campaigns using AI tools and social media leverage sophisticated messaging, historical nar…
The regular release of these materials reveals a calculated strategy targeting Indian audiences, particularly young Muslims, in English, Hindi, and regional languages while reinforcing IS's broader global jihadist narrative. These continued poster campaigns always aimed at exploiting communal incidents in the region to inflame tensions, deepen sectarian divides, and attract vulnerable or angry Muslims into extremist networks.
The poster titled 'Unmasking the Tawaghit,' released in late January 2025, sets the ideological tone of the campaign. It labels India and Pakistan as tyrannical regimes (Tawaghit), using Quranic references and terms like "Shirk" and "apostate rule" to radicalize and encourage the rejection of nationalism in favor of a global caliphate. The poster accuses both states of betraying Islam and manipulating their Muslim populations in Kashmir with the clear aim of delegitimizing state authority and portraying IS as the sole authentic Islamic alternative in the region. About a week later, in early February, another poster titled 'O Muslim Youth (from Kashmir to Kerala)' surfaced, directly appealing to young Indian Muslims to rise against alleged religious persecution, portraying them as defenders of faith. The inclusion of children, the so-called "cubs of the caliphate," highlights IS's intention to promote child indoctrination. This incitement cited the December 2024 demolition of a centuries-old Noori Jamma Masjid (Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh) for encroachment. This type of messaging marks a shift from abstract ideology to active recruitment messaging, seeking to foster self-radicalization and lone-wolf mobilization. Shortly thereafter, the 'Bay'ah' poster called on supporters to pledge allegiance to Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the current IS caliph. This piece reinforces loyalty and organizational unity within IS's supporter base.
Two subsequent posters escalated the campaign's provocative tone by directly targeting religious and cultural landmarks in India. The 'Wait For Us' (February 08) poster features the Jatayu Earth Center in Kerala, a symbolic Hindu site, framed as a potential IS target. The implied message is clear: even cultural and recreational spaces are within IS's reach. Such messaging is intended to instill fear, provoke communal tensions, and potentially trigger retaliatory sentiments. Following this, the 'What is Coming From Us is More Terror' poster (February 10) targets the 'Our Lady of Lourdes Church' in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, a prominent Christian landmark. Like the earlier posters, this one, too, is designed to intimidate and provoke Christian communities in southern India.
The final poster examined in this brief is released by al-Tazkirah media, affiliated with the Islamic State Hind Province, and focuses on an incident in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in mid-March 2025. It serves as a textbook example of inflammatory propaganda, exploiting a real-world incident to stir outrage and incite radicalization. The poster falsely claims that a 50-year-old Muslim man, Mohammad Sharif, was beaten to death by a Hindutva mob for refusing Holi colors while on his way to a mosque. In reality, police investigations and post-mortem reports, supported by eyewitness testimony, confirmed that the individual died of a heart attack near his residence, and there was no evidence of assault. However, the government assured Shariif's family that police action would take place against any culprits found involved in the assault and death.
Despite the facts, the poster misrepresents the incident by featuring images of the deceased, alongside Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is labeled a "Pharaoh" (Fir'awn), a Quranic symbol of tyranny and opposition to the divine will. Through this imagery and emotionally charged rhetoric, the poster accuses Indian Muslims of complacency and submission, urging them to abandon comfort and rise for jihad. "Do you (Muslims) sit here eating, drinking, and reveling in the blessings of life while your (fellow Muslim) brothers are surrounded by fire and flames, sleeping upon embers and coals?" The poster frames inaction as cowardice and betrayal of the faith, implicitly promoting violent resistance. The messaging also criticizes Muslim men (O, women with turban and beard!) to make way for Muslim women to come forward. This message was reproduced verbatim from an earlier published pro-IS Voice of Hind (Ansar u Khalifa, Issue 27, May 2022) magazine article inciting Indian Muslims to join the jihad bandwagon.
Obviously, this poster deliberately fosters sectarian polarization, portraying Hindus as aggressors and Muslims as perpetual victims. It references Surah At-Tawbah (9:41), a frequent IS citation, to justify and encourage retaliatory violence in the name of religion. The lower section of the poster shows a militant facing a Holi celebration, symbolizing armed defiance and coming threats against Hindu cultural practices.
The core objective of these pro-Islamic state poster campaigns is to radicalize and mobilize Muslim youth, delegitimize the Indian state, and position IS as the sole protector of Muslim identity and dignity. This could be part of the Islamic State's broader strategy of disinformation, psychological warfare, and narrative manipulation aimed at fueling communal discord and sustaining the jihadist cause in India and South Asia. Government agencies (e.g., NIA) monitor these online activities to fathom the extent of reach and influence. While the actual traction of such material in India remains under surveillance, its online circulation among radical echo chambers poses a persistent threat.
Conclusion
The Islamic State, along with regional affiliates and local units, continues to push threat posters and pose a persistent threat to India's internal security. The transnational jihadist group is exploiting socio-political grievances and targeting vulnerable populations through both direct and digital means. While its operational capacity for large-scale attacks within India remains limited, the group's focus on lone-wolf actors and micro-cell conspiracies underscores a dangerous shift toward decentralized, harder-to-detect threats. The Islamic State's cross-border connections, mainly through its base in Afghanistan and Pakistan (ISKP/ISPP), necessitate sustained and enhanced regional and global intelligence collaboration. The major hurdle for the security establishment is Islamic States’ increasing reliance on cyber radicalization and communications through encrypted digital platforms in India.
Animesh Roul is the executive director of the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, a policy research group based in New Delhi. Email: animeshroul@gmail.com.