Kerala: Extremist trends upset cops

KOZHIKODE: Complaints are pouring  in from alarmed parents over the behavioural deviation of children who  fall into the alleged Salafist religious school. But  the cops find it difficult to check the indoctrination by the propagator of the sect among the youngsters here due to the lack of stringent laws. A police official told DC that they could not act even after getting several complaints from the families that their children were getting addicted to Salafism.

“We cannot act on the complaint of a parent when the person is aged 18 or more or take action against the centres, since they claim that they are not forcing anybody to follow their teaching. When the addicted person also says that he is doing it  on his own will, we are helpless,” says the official. He added that since foreign funding to these centres has to be screened by the central government, the state police have little role to play even in case of strong evidence.

“Even the accused in the tube money cases are getting bail easily. Then how can we curb the flow of foreign funds?” he  asked. The presence of Salafi extremists and the addiction of youngsters to it came to the fore recently after a parent wrote to the chief minister seeking help to pull his son out of such a group.