The danger of IS returnees

"Terrorism works better as a tactic for dictatorships, or for would-be dictators, than for revolutionaries

."

- Christopher Hitchens

The idea that Islamic State (IS) "returnees" would be accepted back in Malaysia should be of concern for citizens of this country. Some people believe that these returnees should not be allowed back into the country. Others believe that they should be allowed to return to the country but stand trial for possible Islamic State activities.

This is in line with what Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said in that if there was any evidence that these returnees were involved in "IS militant activities" they would stand trial.

The problem here is what exactly are "IS militant activities"? Remember that IS is a death cult whose adherents swore to wage war even against their brethren for the glory of an imagined past transposed on this contemporary age of wonderment. The wives and children of these fighters – even if they were not involved in the conflict – were aiding, abetting, enabling and sustaining a genocidal culture which they believed was their spiritual destiny. There is nothing more “militant” than that.

The South China Morning Post did a piece which described the travails of a Malaysian IS bride, Lidia, 29, (a Malay-Muslim laboratory technician who can also speak Mandarin) who contacted her father in an attempt to find safe passage home. "Lidia left Malaysia for Syria in October 2014 with her husband and son who was then only a few months old. She remarried and had a second child after her first husband was killed. Her second husband has since also died.

"She and her sons are now among the 66,427 people – mostly women and children – living in the cramped conditions at the al-Hol camp, according to a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs statement issued on Monday.”

This, of course, is but one story of the kind of people who are returning to our country. Whether you believe that they should be denied the right to return or stand trial if evidence of militant activity is discovered, what we are really dealing with here is the return of people who have battlefield experience either as participants or enablers and who - no matter what the politically-motivated spin claims - believe that their religion should be imposed violently on their fellow citizens. This is just one step removed from the rhetoric of the Malay far-right.

An important question we should ask is, what type of rehabilitation will these people receive and also, does anyone really believe that a month is sufficient to de-radicalise someone? I have written about the so-called deradicalisation experts before. Remember when the preacher Zamihan Mat Zin was supposed to be an asset for the former Umno state when it came to deradicalising, terror suspects?

I discussed why I thought this was laughable. “How can a preacher like Zamihan be an asset to the state when it comes to rehabilitating extremists when his own ideas of Islam are anathema to a functional democracy and a pluralistic society? Here is Muslim preacher who advocates 'Muslim only' establishments, rails against the so-called enemies of Islam - Wahhabi, Shia, liberals and other deviant teachings – and constructs a Manichean view of Islam that goes against the so-called 'moderate' Islam advocated – in word but rarely in deed – by the mainstream political establishment of this country.”

When I said that IS was a death cult, keep in mind what someone like Zamihan believes: "(The pursuit) of the truth and the (our) struggle for dakwah (preaching Islam) will never stop until the apocalypse." So who are these clerics and psychologists who would stamp a seal of approval on these IS returnees?

Does anyone else see the problem here? I really do not want to get into the issue of whether these people should return home. My opinion is that once you leave the country to wage war in another country – even if you are just a spouse – then you lose the right (legal and moral) to return to the homeland you betrayed. You may believe otherwise.

What is important is that the government be transparent – maybe to our elected representatives if not to the public (for security reasons) - as to what exactly is the rehabilitation process and have independent experts to judge the credibility of the programmes. The problem, of course, with our current batch of sycophants is that they would probably just nod their heads and go along with anything because they do not want to spook the Malays. Hence, any kind of oversight on this process is non-existent.

Let us be very clear here. IS has already launched an attack in Malaysia. This idea that all that these returnees need is counselling is, well, complete horse manure. Remember the grenade attack in Puchong which was directed by IS and carried out by local talents?

This was what then inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said of the 15 people arrested:

“We found that the two of them had received instructions from one of our citizens in Syria, Muhamad Wanndy Muhamad Jedi, who told them to launch attacks in Malaysia against senior government leaders, senior police officers and judges because these three obstruct their activities,” he said. Entertainment centres are also being targeted for purportedly being 'un-Islamic'”.

Now think about this way. The country is entering a period of uncertainty because Malay power structures are going through birthing pains attempting to discover a new order. We have radical preachers like Zakir Naik who is wanted for alleged crimes in other countries and banned from others for his radical speeches. Yet the Harapan political and religious elite are embracing him for political purposes.

The state security apparatus is not only dealing with the political fallout from the recent elections but also has its hands full countering the machinations of various political demagogues and, of course, we have the machinations of the Islamic deep state.

This idea that there are no consequences to the return of these people is ludicrous. Some people have told me that these returnees are mostly women and children. Most of the men have perished on the battlefield, a source close to the situation informed me. These people are not terrorists, he said.

That’s not the issue. I have no interest in ideological loaded definitional debates about what constitutes terrorism. What I am talking about here is an ideology of a death cult which finds very little pushback from the radical polemics of the Malay far-right or the Islamic narratives of the Harapan state.

What I am talking about is the return of people who have no problem with Muslims slaughtering other Muslims in the name of god, which makes slaughtering non-Muslims less of an issue in a Muslim-majority country.

This really is a situation of chickens coming home to roost.

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. A retired barrister-at-law, he is one of the founding members of the National Patriots Association. - Mkini