The issuance of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and the formation of Anti-Radicalisation Cells (ARCs), with the declared aim of monitoring anti-national activism, particularly involving Muslim activism, have drawn criticism from rights activists, who shared concerns over the likely criminalisation of routine Muslim practices, including keeping a beard, wearing a niqab and using common Arabic greetings.
Activists also termed the SOP a tool for institutionalised communal profiling and weaponising the State machinery to criminalise ordinary expressions of religious and cultural identity, which amounts to a violation of the constitutional rights to equality, liberty and freedom of religion.
Nearly two months after the State Intelligence Bureau circulated the confidential directive, the Jamnagar Police have become the first district force publicly known to have operationalised the mechanism, according to Maktoob Media.
Police Sub-Inspector M.V. Modhwadia has been appointed to head the district's Anti-Radicalisation Cell under the supervision of Superintendent of Police Dr Ravi Mohan Saini, thereby providing the first tangible indication that the State-wide framework has entered the stage of implementation.
Civil rights activist Shabnam Hashmi has described the SOP as an exercise in institutionalised communal profiling, alleging that it transforms ordinary manifestations of Muslim faith and culture into grounds for official suspicion.
She argued that the surveillance of individuals on account of personal religious observance, cultural identity or expressions of concern regarding events affecting Muslims abroad represents an unwarranted intrusion upon constitutionally protected freedoms.
Speaking to Maktoob, Hashmi said, “Under the guise of ‘national security’, the Gujarat government is institutionalising communal profiling and weaponising the state machinery to criminalise ordinary expressions of religious and cultural identity. This SOP represents a direct assault on the constitutional guarantees of equality, liberty and freedom of religion.”
She said, “One of the most disturbing aspects of the SOP is that it treats routine Muslim religious practices and cultural markers with suspicion. Practices such as keeping a beard, wearing a niqab, using common Arabic greetings or performing Itikaf during Ramadan are effectively transformed into indicators of ‘radicalisation’. This amounts to state-sponsored profiling of an entire community.”
Minority Coordination Committee convener Mujahid Nafees likewise maintained that representations seeking withdrawal of the SOP had already been submitted to the Gujarat Government and observed that, should no satisfactory response be forthcoming, the organisation would seek appropriate relief before the Gujarat High Court.
The document, drafted in Gujarati, marked "Secret" and dated 19 June 2026, directs every district and police commissionerate to constitute an Anti-Radicalisation Cell and to forward monthly reports to the State Intelligence Bureau by the fifth day of each month.
Radicalisation is described therein as the process whereby an individual adopts ideas deemed to be anti-national, prejudicial to the unity and integrity of the country, seeks to influence others to embrace similar views, or propagates the belief that only one religion is true whilst all others are false.
The SOP further provides that such ideas may be disseminated through social media platforms, newspapers, television, radio broadcasts, periodicals, public meetings and speeches.
It accordingly instructs the police to maintain vigilance over social media, online forums, encrypted messaging services and other digital platforms, whilst strengthening local intelligence networks and monitoring organisations and individuals believed to be disseminating radical ideas.
Digital indicators include the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), encrypted messaging applications such as Signal and Element, participation in Telegram groups regarded as radical, following accounts associated with ISIS or Al-Qaeda, circulation of extremist publications including Dabiq and Rumiyah, dissemination of extremist nasheeds, and the use of cryptocurrency without any apparent legitimate source of income.
The document also directs attention to activities such as procuring chemicals, including potassium nitrate, sulphur and ammonium nitrate, arranging LPG cylinders, making repeated visits to forested areas, communicating with individuals in Afghanistan through encrypted applications and producing videos in substantial numbers.