So said leaders of independent and traditional arms of the local Muslim community, Islamic Front’s Umar Abdullah and Muslim Roundtable’s Hafeez Khan respectively.
Both commented on the issue yesterday following Saturday’s third terrorist attack in London.
The UK Telegraph reported that following London’s second attack recently in Manchester, ISIS had repeated its 2016 call for “all out war on western infidels” during the month of Ramadan. The fasting period began over a week ago. When the call was made in 2016, attacks followed globally.
ISIS is reported to have urged “Muslim brothers in Europe who can’t reach ISIS lands” to attack people in their homes, markets, roads and forums. The group reportedly said it “loved” the targeting of innocents and civilians.
Yesterday, however, Abdullah said he wasn’t taking the reported call as credible, since a lot of propaganda was “being circulated to attack the Muslim community and could assist the US’ bid to ban people from Muslim countries or aid retaliatory strikes in the Middle East.”
Khan added: “That sort of (ISIS) call would only take root in deranged minds and wouldn’t reach those of sound mind. Anyone responding to this wouldn’t be involved in true Islamic teachings.”
Khan, however, stressed that Government must be “on top” of the terrorism threat issue. Government meets with community members at mid-month to discuss ways of handling people who return from ISIS involvement.
Also contacted yesterday, former National Operation Centre head Garvin Heerah meanwhile said counter-terrorism focus is needed concerning fears that returnees might engage in terrorism on home ground.
“Rather than broad policy seeking to criminalise/restrict extremist opinions, a better approach is to focus on individuals reasonably suspected of intending to engage in a terrorist plot, finance terrorism or incite it. Professor Arun Dundani says the best way of preventing terrorist violence is to widen the range of opinions that can be freely expressed—not restrict it,” he said.
“There must also be a strategic intent from all factions of the national security grid for collaborative effort in preventing terrorist attacks. This needs to be generated from a centre for counter terrorism. This global threat far outweighs the responsibilities of a desk or sub-unit.”
He urged analysis of political, economic, social and psychological forces underpinning terrorism.
“Does T&T have a counter terrorism strategy? This goes way beyond utterances that returnees will be ‘monitored’. Another challenge is to understand the process by which extremist ideology takes hold among youths.”
