The meeting will formalise a strategy for aiding the government's efforts to neutralise extremist ideologies such as that espoused by ISIS or ISIL. Ways to prevent Indian youth from coming under the sway of extremist doctrines are on the agenda of a high-level meeting.

“Attraction towards a radical ideology of any religion is a matter of concern. We will have to put in place a system, as there are inputs that the Indian youth are attracted to different extremist ideologies, including the 'Caliphate' promoted by ISIS," a Home Ministry official said.

"Counter-radicalisation efforts would include counseling of youth, convincing community elders to persuade the younger generation to not get influenced by any extremist ideology, monitoring of social media sites and taking preventive steps. The focus would also be on how to quickly respond to any report of the younger generation planning to join terror groups like ISIS,” the official said.

Efforts are also taken to include the community elders to help the young to dissuade from getting attracted towards the ideology of the terror group, the sources added. The Ministry of Home Affairs, after deliberations with the state government and agencies like Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis wing has formulated a strategy of not going for knee-jerk arrests in cases of Indian youth getting attracted by ISIS.

“Home Secretaries and police chiefs of states - Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Assam, Punjab, West Bengal and Delhi are to take part in the meeting,” the official added.

Around 25 youngsters have been identified across the country as having been attracted to the idea of IS and wanting to join the group. From Telangana, 17 youths have been prevented from travelling to Syria and four from Maharashtra were also being stopped from travelling to the Middle-East. None of the youths were arrested, instead they were kept under surveillance. They went through counselling and are living normal lives.

The meeting is convened in the backdrop of ISIS kidnapping four Indian teachers in Libya, who were returning to India from Tripoli on July 29. Two of those kidnapped were released. Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had briefed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the incident and also the steps being taken by the ministry to secure their release.

By Premji