Come Back, Children…

… say mothers of four youth, who left Kerala allegedly to join the Islamic State two years ago

- Cithara Paul

Framed blotchy photos, a tattered album of photoshopped pictures and a mixed bag of memories— three mothers are clinging on to these, besides hope. Their lives remain frozen in time, centred around a moment when their children left home two years ago. Some say they left for Syria to lead the life of a “true Muslim”, others say they left to become jihadists in Afghanistan. The mothers—Bindu from Thiruvananthapuram, Gracey from Palakkad and Mini from Kochi— are bound by a tale of terror and a sense of loss.

Bindu’s daughter Nimisha, Gracey’s sons Bexon and Bestin, and Mini’s daughter Merrin are among the 21 people who went missing from Kerala between May and July 2016. Bexon, 34, is married to Nimisha, 28, and Bestin to Merrin (both 25). All four had converted to Islam a year or so before they went missing. The 21 individuals—17 are from Kasaragod—had planned their trip so meticulously that the local police is still clueless about the networks responsible for their disappearance. The only ‘proof’ are the messages some sent to their families on Telegram app, saying they had reached Dawlatul Islam (territories under the control of the Islamic State). And, if reports are to be believed, a few of them are dead.