Address root causes of terror, expert advises – West must also counter propaganda by jihadists, writes Haroon Siddiqui
When I was in Singapore recently, I learned about two interesting anti-terrorism initiatives:
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Initiated in 2003, the program has entailed more than 500 sessions with the detainees and 50 with their families, so far. Of the 60 people arrested, 23 have already been released. Among those involved is a Canadian, Tom Quiggin, a former Canadian military intelligence expert. He served in Croatia and Bosnia, at the International Criminal Court at The Hague, and in the Privy Council in Ottawa before going to Singapore last year. He is co-ordinator of the Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning Program of the School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University. Another unit of the school is the Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, where staffers Mohamed bin Ali and Haniff Hassan keep track of the religious rehabilitation program. It’s the only one in Asia, others being in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Ali said the counselling came about spontaneously after the arrests of associates of Jemaah Islamiyah (J.I), the Indonesian-Malaysian militant group. “Some ustads (religious teachers) came together voluntarily,” said Ali. “They felt that the J.I. philosophy had to be countered.” Hassan said “the ustads did not claim any exclusive right to interpret the Qur’an,” arguing only that the holy book expressly forbids violence against civilians. The message slowly sunk in. Engaging the militants on their own theological turf was “a bold and courageous move,” said Quiggin. |
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