A ‘lone wolf’ does not materialise naturally

 

From P Waytha Moorthy

The statement by home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail that the attack on the Ulu Tiram police station was the work of a “lone wolf” has, in a way, assured and relieved Malaysians anxious about their safety and that of the country.

Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain later admitted the initial theory linking the incident to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) was based on the suspect’s father, who previously had a close association with the terror group.

A “lone wolf” does not take shape and materialise naturally. Such individuals are usually exposed to the theory of radicalisation perpetuated by hate preachers, which in turn causes a psychological transformation in them.

However, this does not necessarily happen to everyone who is exposed to such hate preachers and their speeches.

Let us face the issue frankly. Our nation is perceived to be harbouring and condoning hate preachers who have become bolder, with the authorities closing an eye to them.

My only hope is that law enforcement agencies and the attorney-general address the issue pragmatically.

They must support the development and implementation of policies and strategies against terrorism, and build the capacity of government agencies and NGOs to respond to “initial seeds of terrorism”, which includes hate speech, in accordance with human rights principles and the rule of law.

Engaging professional criminologists who are terrorism experts should be a priority for law enforcement agencies.

Much can also be learnt by engaging those close to the lone attacker, including his family members and friends, to understand the psychological conditioning that prompted his action.

A soft approach rather than arresting/remanding those mentioned above may bring to light the reasons for the attack.

My deepest condolences to the families of the two brave men in blue who were killed in the attack at the Ulu Tiram police station. - FMT

P Waytha Moorthy is president of the Malaysian Advancement Party.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.