Hatred must not take root
I ALWAYS thought how fortunate we were in South Africa. Despite our horrendous rape and murder statistics, we didn’t have to fear being ripped apart by bombs as it happens daily in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East and now even in distant Indonesia.
Not for a moment did we think there could be a bomb in the bin, in a parked vehicle or that the person next to you in a crowded mall could be a walking bomb.
Now the spectre of terrorism has reared its ugly head in our own backyard. The blood of innocent worshippers has stained a sacred religious place of worship In Ottawa near Verulam.
The mindless murderers even prayed before they attacked. How callous, ruthless and fiendish.
Some time last year there were media reports that extremists groups like al-qaeda and Islamic State had established terrorist cells in South Africa to recruit young, impressionable South Africans to become jihadists.
An estimated 140 South
Africans had reportedly gone to Iraq and Syria to join IS and three had already been killed in action. Muslims, among them, notably Saber Jazhbay, rushed to the press vehemently denying that South Africans could be involved in such evil. Where’s the proof, they asked.
Just then came the astonishing story of a 15-year-old Cape Town girl stopped in her tracks from joining IS. She was pulled off a flight bound for Saudia Arabia.
Then there was the case of the Thulsie twins charged for planning attacks on American and Jewish interests. Recently a Muslim couple with alleged links to IS were charged with the abduction and murder of a British botanist and his wife in northern KZN.
But it was the bloody attack on the Verulam mosque which set alarming bells ringing. Not satisfied with spilling the blood of innocent worshippers, the perpetrators came back and callously placed a bomb under a seat to cause more bloodshed and mayhem.
There has been outright condemnation of these attacks, with some blaming radical clerics for preaching the word of terrorism instead of the word of God.
Some would argue that these are isolated, insignificant and pose little danger to life or national security. But South Africa has become a haven for criminals. Why would terrorists also not find it attractive? Radical Islam is a reality of life. Those who deny it live in a dream world.
It is incumbent on society and the authorities not to allow these seeds of terrorism to take root in our country. They should be nipped in the bud before they grow and become too difficult to eradicate. Too often we let things get out of hand before we take action. We should rather err on the side of caution.
THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN Silverglen