FEBRUARY 24 ― The terrorist activities launched around the world by Islamic State (IS) militants in recent years have sounded a wake-up call for the world. While the people of all countries are taking precautions steps, four masked men claimed to be Malaysian IS members threatened to attack courthouses throughout Malaysia on Chinese New Year Eve to express dissatisfaction with the Malaysian judiciary system.
Although no courthouse was attacked on the Chinese New Year Eve, the four masked men posted a video clip with a Malaysian flag in the background onto Youtube through the account “ISISMalaysia69”. In the video clip, Molotov cocktails were shown, and they criticised the Malaysian judiciary system with radical and intimidating words. It is undoubtedly a very serious threat to the country. Such provocative and trouble making acts must be condemned and punished to highlight our hard-line stand of not compromising with the IS.
So far, two university students, from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Selangor (Unisel) respectively, have been arrested by the police for uploading a video clip onto Youtube, calling for actions to be taken to blow up courthouses on Chinese New Year eve. Although the four masked men have yet to be verified, since they claimed themselves to be Malaysian youth, while inciting young people to join them, their acts have gone far beyond “mischief” and thus, law enforcement authorities should take it seriously.
About 50 Malaysians have joined “jihad” in Syria over the past few years and since last year, the police have arrested more than 20 at airports who were leaving to join the IS abroad. These people are mostly young people, including the four masked men, two arrested university students, as well as a 14-year-old Malay girl who planned to join “jihad” in Syria. It has become a trend for the IS to recruit teenage girls through social networking sites. Not only young women in our country have been deceived, but also those from other countries, including the US.
All these signs showed that the IS extremism might have penetrated campuses, greatly affecting students. It is not only a severe challenge to Muslim families, but also a threat to social and national security. The IS instils Islamic extremism through social networking sites and thus, the government should instruct schools to strictly supervise teachers' ideologies and students' behaviours to prevent extremism from penetrating campuses, avoiding students from being instigated to join militant struggles. In particular, religious schools must be strictly supervised.
The IS extremism has not only endangered peace of our society, but in fact, also threatened peace of Asean countries. During his visit to Myanmar, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has achieved some consensuses with Myanmar Defence Minister Lt Gen Wai Lwin regarding stopping the IS from spreading extremism across Asean countries. Asean member countries should exchange information and work together to combat the IS, as it is the only way to safeguard peace and stability in the region.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
