In the tangled web of terrorism

The chilling video released this week by the leader of the purported ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS) congratulating the inhumane suicide bombers who carried out the Easter Sunday carnage in Sri Lanka raised eyebrows in world capitals. Believed to have been killed during battles in his make-believe Caliphate in West Asia, the video has been confirmed to be that of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, not seen since 2014.

That Sri Lanka has been flagged as part of the global nexus of ISIS activities is a pity, to say the least. The negative publicity generated around the world by the actions of a fringe group against the minorities in Sri Lanka has crucified the nation as one where ‘Buddhist majoritarianism’ prevails, not as a peaceful Buddhist country. Western news agencies and NGOs did Sri Lanka no favours in conveying that message around and helped attract the evil eyes of ISIS, even though their global enemy was the ‘crusaders (Christians) and the ‘non-believers’.

ISIS was a creation of the West’s illegal and immoral ‘intervention’ in Iraq, Libya and Syria in the post 9/11 era. Baghdadi’s utopian Caliphate has been crumbling on the battlefield in recent months. But his movement is not dead – yet. Its weapon of mass destruction is not nuclear bombs, but the internet; not conventional warfare but social media.

ISIS exploited the worldwide web to recruit cadres around the world. It shows gruesome videos and photographs of dying children and atrocities committed in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen – everywhere the West has upturned the status quo and waged war in the name of world peace. They mix these pictorials with the deadly cocktail of emotive scripture interpreted to suit their cause. The influential US-based Foreign Policy publication went to the extent of comparing that modus operandi to how certain Western charitable organisations use graphic videos of starving children in Africa to get donations for their work.

It was the Governments of the US, Britain and their Western allies which upset the hornets’ nest in West Asia. Their indiscriminate bombings and ‘collateral damage’ on civilians have not gone unchallenged. The crazed bees are stinging people in Europe, and now Asia in tit-for-tat campaigns also targeting the European (Christian) way of life. These countries viz., Iraq, Libya, Syria etc., had excellent relations with Sri Lanka in the years gone by. Former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike was wowed and greatly respected by the Arab people. Today, some of these very people have turned against Sri Lanka, even to the extent of harming this country.

Whether one likes it or not, this unholy holy war between the West and the Islamic nations of West Asia has come to Sri Lanka. The knee-jerk reaction in banning the burqa and other attire identified with one faith has become a debatable issue, and it might have been wiser to implement such a step through a voluntary exercise rather than by law. In West Asia, Islamic dress has now been turned into a multi-billion dollar (US$ 60 billion in 2017) fashion industry for Western designers.

Those who however dismiss the security aspect of the ban ignore the fact that flushing out the terrorists in our midst will necessitate the checking of identities, including those of persons in such attire. This in turn could bring accusations of scandalising the modesty of women and lead to a breach of the peace.

Whether the ban is a temporary one or not is a decision for later, one might think, but hopefully the authorities who are coming out with figures of more and more arrests, are not doing so to cover up for their colossal lapse in preventing the Easter Sunday massacres. One can only hope that these arrests are being clinically executed to sweep the terrorists from their hideouts.

While monks and priests are advising the Security Forces whom to arrest and of the need to search empty houses, a Colombo-based foreign ambassador, probably with the ghost of Benghazi hanging over, issued warnings of further attacks, adding to the fear-psychosis. Despite Sri Lankans being almost anaesthetised to terrorism not so long ago, the decade-long period of peace has not only propelled people back to that era, but thrown them off their usual tranquil complacency into a state of extreme anxiety.

Many remain on edge, partly due to the publicity around the possibility of further strikes coupled with a lack of confidence that the Government is on top of things. The only redeeming feature is that the Security Forces can handle the situation. In the circumstances, it is crucial for the Government to realise that there are numerous case studies that show that persons in police or judicial custody, or even at rehabilitation centres can get radicalised within these confines if they are not involved in terrorist activity in the first place.

It is hoped that Intel reports will, on the one hand, be made available only on a ‘need-to-know’ basis, but equally shared with the relevant authorities. Sharing tip-offs should not be stymied because agencies do not want to share the credit. Oneupmanship is a trait in the Intelligence community. On the other hand, writing down a mere minute on a piece of information, and passing the buck as it were, caused the deaths of hundreds of innocent people on Easter Sunday.

This is the month of Vesak to be followed by Poson next month. The people need to have the confidence that the Government and its Security Forces have got a grip on the situation. The Christian community is still reeling from the Easter Sunday attacks. The UNP-SLFP coalition Government is still haggling over who should run the Law and Order Ministry. There still is no apex persona handling national security. The Muslim community is caught between the terrorist and the deep blue sea. The move to ask foreign religious teachers overstaying their visas to leave the country is a step in the right direction. The statistics revealed this week of the number of madrasas and Arabic schools in the country are alarming. The competition among Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran for influence has rent the Muslim world asunder. And that sectarian division has been exploited by the West.

A few years ago, this newspaper highlighted the audacity of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen asking the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan directly for monies, ostensibly for the resettlement of displaced Muslims following the northern insurgency. This was a flagrant violation of the country’s laws that require these funds to be channelled through the External Resources Department of the Finance Ministry. The then President ignored the matter; the Minister dumped him and joined the new Government.

So, it all comes back to the political leadership that salivates for votes at the expense of national security. The silence of Muslim political leaders since Easter Sunday is deafening. World powers mouthing platitudes on fighting terrorism are backing terrorists if they are on their side of the fight against other terrorists. Oh what a tangled web they weave…...