JANUARY 25 — Terrorism is all around us. Our beautiful world has become squalid thanks to religious extremism.
November 14 last year, at least six different locations in Paris came under terrorist attacks, killing at least 129 and injuring 352 others.
January 12, Istanbul’s tourist hub came under assault. At least ten perished in the incident.
Merely two days later, gun shootings and suicide bombings took place in Jakarta, more than 20 killed or injured.
Last weekend, in faraway Africa, heinous terror attacks took place in Ouagadougou, capital of Muslim-majority Burkina Faso. At least 28 were killed and many others injured.
In other words, terror attacks happened at a relatively high frequency around the globe in less than a month. There was nevertheless one thing common among these attacks. They all had IS written all over them and foreigners were among the casualties. The targets have been either crowded malls, cafes or tourist sites. Other than France, the other three countries are predominantly Muslim.
The Jakarta attacks, in particular, have sounded an alarm bell for IS expansion into this region. Indonesia boasts the world’s largest Muslim population, with about 87% of its 250 million inhabitants being Muslims. The fact that even Muslim countries have been targeted proves that terror attacks can occur just anywhere under the son—Christian-majority Western countries or Islamic countries—so long as religious fanaticism is allowed to thrive.
The series of terror attacks this month also shows that the IS virus has spread from the Middle East and Africa to Europe, North America and now Southeast Asia!
As a matter of fact, aggressive Islamic organizations sympathizing with the IS group are present in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and even Malaysia. They are trying to establish regional IS cells with the assistance of the IS group in Syria. Terrorist threats are therefore very much in existence and real in Southeast Asia, and Malaysia is never spared from such risks.
That said, there is no way we should allow IS militants to launch a single attack on our country, as any such attack is bound to deal a further blow to a country already in a highly vulnerable state in terms of religion, politics and economy.
It is imperative that the defense ministry, PDRM and immigration department step up collaboration to block the entry of IS terrorists attempting to infiltrate into the country in the guise of tourists.
The danger will be significantly higher if locally bred lone wolfs are pouncing on the opportunity to strike. Among the more than 40 terrorists arrested here by the police, many are operatives prepared to launch suicide attacks on local targets.
IS has already recruited a large number of supporters in this country but fortunately the police have initiated preemptive raids to evade a major disaster.
Federal Territories minister Tengku Adnan has singled out several malls and crowded hangouts in town as possible IS targets. This, unfortunately doesn’t help much in the prevention of terrorism but has instead triggered unnecessary alarm among the local residents.
The presence of armed police personnel at major malls and crowded public areas has indeed brought some relief to the public. The question is, how long can such preventive patrols be sustained?
Terror attacks in the name of religion should serve as a good reminder to the Malaysian government of the importance of moderate governance. Only moderate policies can check the advances of religious extremism and stop its followers from lending support to the IS.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
