Rad and Derad: MHA launches project to examine radicalisation of youth

The project will give security forces insight on why youth get radicalised and devise counter-measures to minimise it

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a project to examine the causes behind radicalisation of youth in a bid to tackle the religious extremism in the country.

The programme, Rad and Derad, undertaken by National Police Mission programme (NPM) under the ambit of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) wing of MHA, will give the security forces an insight on why youth get radicalised and a counter-measure to minimise it. The project will not focus on one religious but as a whole.

Introduced in 2005, NPM was formed to modernise police forces for emerging challenges and to bring specialisation in fighting terrorism, insurgency, and cyber and economic crimes through research.

A BPRD official said that it is a 'rare endeavour' and the team comprises officials from central investigative agencies, state police forces, academicians, and domain experts, the Hindustan Times reported.

The main agenda was to provide a common platform for security agencies and society to work together to battle radicalisation, A P Maheshwari, director general, BPRD told HT.

The project will focus on finding basic causes behind youth adopting radical beliefs, common threads among the cases and influence of community.

According to official documents, emphasis is given on creating a strong national and state mechanism that includes creating of structures which include behavioural research units that would focus on data analysis, social mapping engaging with community leaders, transferring the appropriate and adequate knowledge, and finally creating a healthy environment.