Yogi Adityanath govt gears up to fight radicalisation - here's how it plans 'Ghar Wapsi' for misguided youths

Lucknow: After taking several steps aimed at plugging the gaps in the state's law and order situation, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has now unveiled a project aimed at dissuading the radicalised youths from becoming terrorists. 

According to a report by NDTV, under the UP government's 'Ghar Wapsi' plan, the Anti-Terror Squad will arrange counselling for radicalised youth before they take the first big step towards terrorism.

The UP ATS' public outreach project was announced on Wednesday.

The project is grounded in the hope that the family of the distracted and misguided youth will come forward and sound an alarm to police before the situation turn worse.

In most of the cases, people don't know what is to be done, the Uttar Pradesh Police said in a statement yesterday.

The de-radicalisation process would be considered complete once the youth settle down; either after getting a job or marriage. It would be treated as the person's Ghar Wapsi, the statement said.

The state's police led by its new chief Sulkhan Singh also outlined how it would proceed.

The UP ATS launched the project with a promise that no such misguided youth would be forced to become their informers or help in catching other terrorists.

The UP ATS officials also launched helpline numbers for the families of such radicalised youths.

The police also plans to would rope in religious leaders, friends and family to motivate them. 

The counselling sessions and interactions with the police are expected to last for about 12 months; initially the contact with the police would be very frequent but it would be tapered off over time.

The move comes against the backdrop of reports that said radicalised youth inspired by the ideology of ISIS had tried to carry out terror attacks or travelled abroad to join them. 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had told Parliament this month that about 50 radicalised youth had crossed over to the other side. The Union Home Ministry estimates a total of 80 youth have been radicalised by the ISIS propaganda through social media and Internet.

The attempt to reach out to radicalised youth is being made on the directions of the state government led by the 44-year-old Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who long before his surprise elevation to Uttar Pradesh's top chair, had built a reputation for himself as the mascot of the party's Hindutva hardliner.