In a university in Malaysia, two foreign lecturers were conducting secret brainwashing sessions with undergraduates. Each night in a lecture hall, the foreigners who profess to be teachers of Islam would get the students to chant.
“The students would shout out eerie threats like ‘I will kill’ and they were all probably in a trance,” regional maritime security expert Prof Dr Aruna Gopinath tells The Establishment Post. She suspects the lecturers are members of militant groups like Islamic State.
One of the students felt something was not right and reported it to the university authorities. The Special Branch, the intelligence agency under the police force, stormed into the university and apprehended the lecturers. “They were quick to respond. The foreign lecturers were caught and sent back to their home countries which were Bangladesh and an African country,” says the National Defence University of Malaysia senior fellow and desk officer for Southeast Asia Affairs in the Center for International Defence and Strategic Studies.
She says this is one of the ways militant groups like Islamic State recruit members in Malaysia and that the fast-expanding influence of such groups can be checked with tighter screening of those heading for Syria and surrounding countries, and Malaysians and foreigners entering the country from those areas. Professor Gopinath adds: “We need to scrutinise large movements of people to and from overseas and this includes foreign workers. We cannot be lax, our patrols in Sabah waters cannot be lax.”
Dr.A.Hugentobler
Boat off the Mindanao Coast in Southern Philippines
Malaysia considers Islamic State a threat to national security because Islamic State is manipulating Islamic teachings to justify their goals to overthrow a democratic government. Since February last year, the Counter Terrorism division has arrested 48 suspected militants, out of which 22 have been charged in court.
Southern Philippines is the key
Situation in southern Philippines and its waters is key to stablising the region in terns of security, according to Prof Gopinath. She feels that once the situation is resolved, there will be little chance of other militant and terror groups surviving for long. The groups in southern Philippines seem to be the lifeline for other groups in the region.
Home Minister Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported to have said that threats against Malaysia were constantly evolving as local militants were working with those from southern Thailand, southern Philippines and other parts in the region. On its part, Malaysia is trying to strengthen its surveillance along the waters off Sabah so as to avoid any more Abu Sayyaf kidnappings that only encourage more once ransom is paid.
Prof Gopinath says if there was more concerted effort to have the different ethnic groups in southern Philippines to jointly participate in the distribution of wealth and in power sharing, a lot of anger among the groups can be eliminated. “They all want to participate in the sharing of wealth, and in power sharing. All the groups want to feel like they are part of the development of that region,” she adds.
“Pondok education is also important.” This is the religious schools that are small and community based. Prof Gopinath says the right religious teaching was necessary to make sure deviant teachings do not thrive in that region.
Little regard for non-Arabs
She also says there is little regard for lives of non-Arabs and that they are the lowest in the Islamic State food chain. This is the reason why Malaysians and Indonesians are the ones most likely to be used as suicide bombers. [See: Lone Wolf Terrorism May Rear Its Head In Southeast Asia] “IS has little regard for those outside the region, even if they are Muslims.”
Prof Gopinath was asked to comment on the news that the second Malaysian suicide bomber had been identified. Ahmad Affendi Abdull Manaff, aged 27, is said to have driven a bomb-laden truck into a military installation in Homs, Syria, killing about 50 of Syrian soldiers on Nov 8. He is also known as Abu Zakaria.
Ahmad Tarmimi Maliki, aged 26, was the first suicide bomber from Malaysia. On May 26, he drove a military SUV filled with explosives Iraq’s SWAT headquarters in al-Anbar, killing himself and 25 elite Iraqi soldiers. Six Malaysian militants have died fighting in Syria and Iraq. Police say that, to date, they have identified 100 Malaysians involved in extremist actions.
Prof Gopinath also talks about how young women in Malaysia are being targeted as prospective mates for members of Islamic State and how the social media is the main tool for recruitment.
White Paper to fight Islamic State
On November 25, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak presented the White Paper on terrorism in Parliament and it was telecast live over television. The White Papers says that Malaysian militants returning from fighting for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq pose a clear danger to the country. There is also the danger that Malaysia could become a hub to finance terror activities and that returning militants could continue their terrorist activities by setting up cells and carrying out attacks.
This is the fourth time a White Paper is presented in Parliament on anti-terrorism measures. The first was on the Memali incident in Baling in 1985, then Ops Lalang in 1987. The government was supposed to present a third paper on militant group Al Ma’unah but decided against it to avoid interference with the court proceedings.
Memali, a remote northern village, was home to 400 or so villages who were followers of a sect led by Ibrahim Mahmud also known as Ibrahim Libya. Police laid siege to the houses. Four policemen and 14 civilians died in the attack that ensued. Ops Lalang was a nationwide swoop against those who opposed the government that saw 106 people arrested. The Al-Ma’unah was a militant group that broke into Malaysian Army Reserve camp on July 2, 2000 and stole weapons from the armoury. The White Paper also says that one of the steps the government plans is to pass an anti-terrorism law that will be preventive in nature and at the same time amend existing laws.
New terror law
The government is bent on acting fast against the Islamic State. An emergency sitting may be called for if necessary, according to Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid. He was reported to have said that the government may not wait till March, when the Parliament meets next, to get these laws in tabled and passed.
For now, action can be taken under laws that include the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 and Societies Act 1966. “However, we fear the number might increase if preventive measures are not taken. That is why we are also monitoring social media on two fronts: the recruitment of Malaysians and the terror cells getting more donations and funding,” he was reported to have said.
It is likely that the hostage siege in Sydney will further hasten the Malaysian government’s actions, especially since intelligence shows that several venues, like the Carlsberg plant, have been identified by Islamic State militants for attack, and there is a steady movement of Malaysians and foreigners from and to Syria and Iraq. It is clear that the Malaysian government is trying to curb the power and influence of Islamic State in Malaysia and Southeast Asia by formulating laws to make sure there are no loopholes for militants to escape, and scrutinising border movements, keeping an eyeon Sabah and its waters, and monitoring the situation in university campuses.http://www.establishmentpost.com/southern-philippines-key-curbing-islamic-state/
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