“Jihadi Sid”: Siddhartha Dhar, from London Radical to ISIS Propagandist

One of the more unusual British recruits to ISIS was Siddhartha Dhar, nicknamed “Jihadi Sid” by the media. Dhar’s story stands out because of his background. He was born in London to a Hindu family of Indian origin and even worked as a seller of inflatable bouncy castles for children’s parties.

In his teens, he converted to Islam and became involved with the UK’s most notorious extremist network, Al-Muhajiroun led by hate preacher Anjem Choudary. By his early 30s, Dhar now going by the name Abu Rumaysah was a prominent Islamist agitator in London.

He was frequently seen at rallies demanding Sharia and was once filmed by the BBC calmly advocating a caliphate in Britain. In September 2014, Dhar was arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism. Authorities believed he was recruiting for Al-Muhajiroun, which by then was banned.

In a grave lapse by the UK authorities, Dhar was released on bail without having his passport confiscated. Seizing the opportunity, he skipped bail and fled the country. Astonishingly, he managed to take his wife who was pregnant and their four young children through ferry ports to France and then on to Syria.

By early 2015, Siddhartha Dhar had successfully joined the Islamic State. British officials were deeply embarrassed that a known extremist under watch had so easily absconded. The Home Secretary at the time, Theresa May, had to answer in Parliament for how a high-risk suspect “waltzed off” to ISIS territory.

In Syria, Abu Rumaysah (Dhar) quickly became a propagandist for ISIS. Fluent in English and social-media savvy, he appeared in online videos extolling life under the caliphate.

Then, in January 2016, ISIS released a gruesome execution video that grabbed headlines worldwide and Dhar is believed to be the masked gunman at the centre of it.

In that film, a man with a British accent and his face covered addresses the UK directly and then apparently shoots dead several prisoners accused of spying. The video also disturbingly featured a young child a British boy taken to Syria by his radicalised mother declaring into the camera: “We will kill the kuffar [unbelievers] over there.”

The media immediately speculated that the masked militant was Siddhartha Dhar “Jihadi Sid” replacing Jihadi John as ISIS’s English voice of terror.

Dhar’s own sister said the voice and mannerisms resembled her brother, though it was not 100% certain. The UK government did not officially confirm the identification at the time, but the Home Secretary called the video “barbaric and appalling” and a stark example of ISIS’s depravity. Western intelligence put Dhar on their “kill list” as a significant ISIS figure.

What happened next remains somewhat murky. In 2017, as ISIS’s territory crumbled under assault, reports emerged that Siddhartha Dhar had been killed. In fact, an ISIS-linked Telegram channel in mid-2017 posted a tribute suggesting “Abu Rumaysah al-Britani” had been martyred.

By early 2019, news stories citing coalition sources and Dhar’s family stated that he may have died in an airstrike, along with his wife and children, during the final battles of the caliphate.

Dhar’s mother in London said they had not heard from him since mid-2017. However, to this day, no definitive evidence of his death such as remains or confirmation by authorities has surfaced. Some terrorism experts caution it could be a ruse. Jihadists have faked death online before to slip away unnoticed.

The U.S. State Department, interestingly, designated Dhar as a global terrorist in 2018, implying they still considered him active then. Whether Siddhartha Dhar is alive or not, his case underscores several troubling issues. The ability of UK extremists to join ISIS. He was one of about 900 Britons who did so, the challenges in tracking and verifying militants’ fates in war zones, and the ongoing propaganda value such figures had for ISIS.

Abu Rumaysah went from a London street preacher to an apparent ISIS executioner a trajectory that shows how extremist ideology can radically reshape an individual’s identity. If he is indeed dead, one British official remarked, “good riddance.” If somehow he survived, he would almost certainly face terrorism charges and a lengthy prison term if he ever returned to the UK.