Does Terror ideology stem from hate verses in scripts – Gnanasara Thero & Minister Sarath Weerasekera
What is the reason for 99% of terrorists resorting to suicide terrorism & other forms of terror? What differentiates these terrorists from others is that they quote their holy verses before committing the crime. How connected is this to the overall fear by non-Muslims regarding these verses? If the duty of intel & security authorities is to ensure another 21/4 does not repeat & to ensure the country is safe & secure for all citizens, not just one community, why is it that their efforts end up being diverted by well-funded campaigns citing ‘islamophobia’! Their duty cannot be diluted simply because some NGO figures or others in high positions claim anything against their community is offensive. Most of these reactions are for their own personal/political gains & have nothing to do with concern for their community. When 99% of global attacks are related to terrorism based on religious superiority and by 4 main groups of which ISIS wants to create a Caliphate in Sri Lanka and when the Easter Sunday suicide bombers claim to be part of the ISIS, why should Muslims feel offended when someone says that a terrorist attack may happen in the future. Is it not because Tamil leaders and Tamils pooh-poohed LTTE that LTTE was allowed to grow & become lethal? Therefore, citizens cannot ignore that the Easter Sunday attack took Sri Lanka by surprise, though local intel were aware of pocket groups aligned to the ideology & had been monitoring them. Verbal statements is nowhere near as deadly as an attack that took place on 21/4. It was no isolated attack motivated by an isolated objective. Therefore, no one should take offence when anyone publicly says that the threat of future attacks persists – isn’t this why 32 countries of the world continue to ban LTTE even after its demise in May 2009? So long as the ideology is the source of the terrorism – the State & its citizens have every right to be alert.
When all of the Islamic/Islamist terrorists commit mass murder in the name of their religion, which included the Sri Lankan student-turned refugee who stabbed 5 persons in New Zealand – there is certainly cause for concern. Why are those who got offended by the Admiral’s or the thero’s interviews/statements not offended more by these suicide bombers committing mass murder in the name of their religion.
Many denounced the crime after it was committed but until it was committed, no one knew he was going to. However, in the case of the 21/4 suicide bombers, there was a nexus planning to execute the crime – this nexus was much larger than the 9 suicide bombers who think they went to heaven!
This is the very reason that the Sri Lankan authorities cannot and should not let their guard down simply because there appears to be a campaign to divert the attention under a feigned projection of targeting ALL Muslims.
Let us remind all that quite a number of the said community was aware of large numbers of swords being hidden in various places across the island. How many reported this? There were foreign preachers in remote parts of the island, how many reported these? The arrests made soon after 21/4 revealed that the majority of them were in the intel monitoring list and if we recall some of these special units were disbanded after 2015 crippling their operations. The person who reported the Mawanella Buddha statue disfiguring, was eventually shot by Zaharan’s group and today remains injured for life. https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Informant-of-Easter-Sunday-suspects-rewarded/108-218514
When Islamic scholar Usthaz Rasheed Hajjul Akbar (uncle of those who defamed the Buddha statue on Mawanella) was detained by CID in August 2019, Latheef Farook was quick to write in his defence “Demonised, battered and ostracised Muslim community of Sri Lanka is deeply disturbed at the detention of respected Islamic scholar”. The National Shoora Council, All Ceylon YMMA conference, All Ceylon Union of Muslim League Youth Front, Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, Muslim Media forum and All Ceylon Jamiathul Ulema even petitioned for his release. He was arrested in March 2021 under PTA – https://www.newsfirst.lk/2021/03/13/ex-leader-of-jamaat-e-islami-arrested-under-pta/
Therefore, the onus is on the Muslim community to be alert to the preachers that preach to them, the mosques that preach radicalism, the foreign preachers that arrive etc. Have such reports been made since 21/4 to the security agencies as the nexus that plotted to commit 21/4 is still at large – Muslims must help locate the locals involved in this mass murder, whatever powerful positions they hold and powerful people should not use their clout to prevent investigations or arrest citing “islamophobia” – we do not wish to see a bloodbath similar to 21/4.
Planning to kill close to 300 innocent people is nothing that can be forgotten or forgiven. What often happens is that political/economical & social pressures are exerted to delay or divert the punishment of the perpetrators as we have seen regarding the campaign around the arrested lawyer linked to 21/4 whose charity was accepting funds from an internationally banned entity. Given the international clout of these entities & personages linked to them, can we expect true justice? While the same parties will be quoting all the law books when they claim to be ‘discriminated’.
Therefore, instead of nit-picking on statements and carrying wrong placards – everyone is duty-bound to ensure no innocent live is compromised in the name of religion or controversial religious texts.
Alternatively, it is good to tabulate the verses being quoted by terrorists and either issue a global clarification or have them removed altogether if it can prevent radicalization & extremisms.
With ISIS claiming to make Sri Lanka a Caliphate & knowing the Western-brains that manipulate ISIS, Muslims must understand the dangers lurking which requires them to ensure that their youth do not get roped into radicalism. The issue at hand is the fact that suicide in the name of religion is regarded as a noble act & not something to abhor and this factor must be looked into by the Muslim community. Our goal is to prevent another generation of brainwashed youth who become mere pawns in a bigger game that seeks to only kill & destroy & destabilize nations. We must now understand the bigger picture. Politicians of this community must not commit the same mistake that the politicians linked to LTTE did – a camouflage to gain votes & enjoy parliamentary privileges and political panache!
Shenali D Waduge
