In any case, my reaction: "gee, I wonder why?". Could it be that in countering the views of the so-called "radicals" or so-called "extremists" -- those I'd rather call "Islamists" -- they haven't got a very strong hand to play. Sure, there are some peaceable verses in the Koran, but they're "abrogated" (called naskh) by the more numerous violent ones. The guys in the story below saying "what we are doing, God willing, will be good in God's eyes" are spot on the money. They know the scripture and they know about naskh. They also know about Taqiyya, the principle of deception which Abdullah Sunata was clearly adept in. (That's him, the smiling deceiver above)
Not to say they should not try these "deradicalisation" programs. Just they they're not likely to have much success. The Nasir Abbas success story, below, is useful, but the rare exception.
And I wonder, when I see stories of these "deradicalisation" efforts, in Saudi Arabia -- where they've also been a failure -- or in Indonesia, I wonder what the deradicalisers say to the "radicals"....
... What do they draw on, in Islamic doctrine, that will be persuasive to those versed in the doctrine. For every time they say "here is a peaceful surah", the one versed in Islam -- and there's plenty of time for study in jail -- will counter with "ah yes, but it is abrogated by this surah, and this one, and this one here as well; and it is countered in the Hadith, as here, and here and here", and so on.
But until the ideology itself, the core doctrines of Islam, are addressed, there will continue to be more codas as the one in this article: "in the end, it was a failure".
Jakarta's deradicalisation plan flounders |
Scheme aimed at rehabilitating inmates jailed on terror charges has limited success |
| Not long ago, Abdullah Sunata was a poster boy for Indonesia's efforts to persuade jailed terrorists to give up their violent ways. He was given furloughs to attend lawn parties and police helped pay for mounting hospital bills when his wife gave birth. But immediately after his release on good behaviour a year ago, Sunata allegedly returned to his old ways, catapulting to the top of the country's most-wanted list. He was arrested on Wednesday for suspected involvement in a plot to carry out a Mumbai-style attack in Jakarta and several high-profile assassinations, including one on President Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Sunata's turnaround, experts say, highlights weaknesses in the predominantly Muslim country's deradicalisation programme. Unlike Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Singapore, efforts in Indonesia have been largely led by police, focusing on getting prisoners to renounce violence and co-opting informers. While officers provide financial help to reformed inmates and their families, and sometimes help negotiate early releases, little is done to challenge radical religious tenets, such as the goal of imposing Islamic rule. "Many of those who are supposedly deradicalised remain committed to those goals," Dr John Horgan, director of the International Centre for the Study of Terrorism at Pennsylvania State University, said. A terror suspect shot dead by Indonesian police two days ago was a former soldier who became a militant after coming into contact with a radical Muslim cleric in prison. The case underscores the poor supervision in Indonesia's prisons, where convicted terrorists are almost unfettered in preaching their jihadist ideology and recruiting inmates. The dead terror suspect, Yuli Harsono, had been jailed after he was caught stealing ammunitions from the military and selling it. While he was in prison, he became close to Oman Abdurahman, who was convicted in a 2004 bombing case, national police spokesman General Edward Aritonang said. Abdurahman, alias Aman Abdurrahmanis, is an influential scholar who believed in replacing Indonesia's democracy with a state governed by Islamic law, according to the International Crisis Group. Aritonang said Harsono's case showed the country's prisons risked being "schools" for terrorists. "There is a need for comprehensive co-operation so that terrorism doesn't spread. We need to find the right solution to deradicalise prisoners so they don't become more radical." Indonesia, the world's most populace Muslim nation, was thrust into the front lines of the battle against terrorism in 2002, when al-Qaeda-linked nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali killed 202 people, including 11 Hong Kong residents. There have been several attacks on Western targets in the secular democracy since then, but all have been far less deadly - and the most recent was a year ago. Analysts credit a security crackdown that has netted nearly 600 militants. Of those, about 20 are considered reformed and actively working with police. There have been several success stories, most famously Nasir Abbas, a former al-Qaida-linked militant who helped train the Bali bombers. After his 2004 prison release, he became instrumental in helping track down and arrest several former comrades. But many others join the list of disappointments. Bomb maker Bagus Budi Pranoto engaged in the deradicalisation programme while serving a four-year sentence for involvement in the 2004 Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta. Soon after his release, he helped carry out last year's attacks on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels. "There's no one country that can guarantee that their deradicalisation programme will work 100 per cent of the time," said Ansyaad Mbai, one of Jakarta's top anti-terrorism officials. "If five out of 10 give up their ways and are integrated back into society, in my mind that's a success." There is recognition within the government that changes must be made - especially within prisons, where terrorists easily recruit new members and spread extremist ideology - but that is not expected to happen quickly. Sunata first came to prominence as a militant in 1999, when he led Kompak, an armed Islamist group that took part in fighting between Christians and Muslims in the eastern Molucca island chain. New footage on YouTube from that time shows him directing dozens of alleged militants ahead of an assault in a coastal village on Seram island. "We believe that we are on the right side," he tells them before handing them weapons. "And what we are doing now, God willing, will be good in God's eyes." Sunata was arrested in 2005 for possessing weapons and hiding Noordin Mohamed Top, the late bomb maker who orchestrated all of the major suicide bombings targeting Westerners in Indonesia. Behind bars, Sunata was viewed as a shining example of how even hardened criminals could change. "He was a nice person, co-operative with our rehabilitation programme," said Noor Huda Ismail, executive director of the Inscription Peace Foundation, established in 2008 to help reform terrorism inmates. "But in the end, I admit it, he was a failure." |
