Let's curb extremist groups this Ramadan

The holy month of Ramadan is likely to begin from June 18. Let's vow to stick to 'alms-giving' and say no to 'arms-giving' in this holy month of Islam whose message of peace and tolerance has been camouflaged by some religious bigots across the world.

Today the whole world is affected by the irremediable cataclysm by the violent extremist groups, including the Islamic State of the Levant (ISIL), Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), to list a few whose concomitant announcement to safeguard Islamic ideologies under the veneer of religious rhetoric has already proven pernicious to the global peace.

There should be a positive vision for the future of mankind that is reeling under deep threats of these forces.

According to the United Nations, more than 25,000 foreign terrorists fighting from over 100 member states have travelled to Syria and Iraq, as well as to Afghanistan, Yemen, and Libya between mid-2014 and March 2015. There was an estimated 70 percent increase in foreign terrorist fighters worldwide.

The forces attracted youngsters like Mehdi Masroor Biswas and Arif Majeed among others by spreading their manipulative messages of violent extremists via social media like twitter, Facebook, etc. only to misconstrue the Islamic tradition with vested interest.

There are many factors, which have helped the extremist groups to bolster their army camp. One among several factors is 'low literacy rate'. The world needs to increase the share of its GDP to spend on education considering it as compelling requirement of time to combat militancy.

The religious leaders could also play a major role to curb global terrorism.

Keeping a brighter and positive vision for the future of mankind in mind, the need of the hour is to oppose the extremist groups in the holy month of Ramadan.

(The views expressed in the above article are that of Mr. Diwakar Sharma.