Hands up! Who has heard of a bombing here in our peaceful little dysfunctional city of Kuala Lumpur? Well, by now, everyone has, since an idyllic Thursday morning was shattered by news of 14 injured (one has since died) in a bombing in the heart of Malaysia’s hedonism centre, Bukit Bintang. FMT
The authorities were quick to say the bombing had its cause in a gangland feud. That certainly is a plausible cause, but why dismiss the possibility of a terrorist attack outright?
Just last August, Malaysians who had thought themselves safe from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria found themselves shocked by news reports that its operatives had been among us all this while. It was revealed that they had plotted to attack a Carlsberg factory and, yes, several nightclubs.
Let us remember that terrorism is not an entirely alien concept in our beautiful nation. Terrorism, defined as the use of violence and intimidation to pursue political aims, is far more insidious than the wholesale slaughter of innocents on the street. Indeed, terrorism by the definition above reared it’s head in Malaysia in 2010, when a church was fire bombed in the wee hours of the morning as the start of a spree of attacks on houses of worship and race-instigated threats.
That spate of attacks was brought on by the Allah issue, a hot button topic that persists till today.
There is of course no reason to connect Thursday’s bombing to the Allah issue, but there is a train of thought one may pursue: the controversy with Oktoberfest. With “religious authorities” opining back and forth about the sinful nature of the German celebration, it’s not implausible that someone took it upon himself to teach the sinners a lesson by attacking one of their hallowed halls of vice, this time with a grenade.
Or perhaps the collaborators not arrested in August perceived this as the perfect time to pursue their nefarious agenda, with sentiments so clearly on their side being expressed, and rose to the opportunity presented to them by the controversy.
Of course, no evidence has come to light that points towards any of these ideas being valid, this being an exercise in supposition and conjecture. But the point is that terrorism should not be dismissed off the bat when considering that the peaceful facade of our country has been rocked by a bombing happening in one of the biggest commercial districts in the capital city. It’s an unprecedented incident, one that seems more likely for the favelas of Rio than the bustling streets of Kuala Lumpur.
So that leads us to the most important question in this matter: why was the possibility of the bombing being a terrorist attack dismissed outright?
Malaysia, for its relative peace, has not had a spotless reputation when it comes to terrorism. For example, the militant group Al-Ma’unah gained notoriety in 2000 when they raided a Malaysian Army Reserve camp in the wee hours of the morning, eventually leading to a stand off with the army and Royal Malaysian Police. Plotters of the 9/11 terror attacks allegedly met in Kuala Lumpur to plan the attack, and of course, according to Home Minister Zahid Hamidi, 34 Malaysians have joined the Islamic State so far, with five already killed in action.
The extreme polarisation of Malaysia cannot lead us anywhere good, and ignoring the groundswell that is already beginning will get us nowhere. We’ve already had a bombing in one of the busiest areas of the capital city. What next will we have to witness before we truly begin to take the path of wasatiyyah?
As it is, carte blanche has been given to extremist groups to burn bibles (or other holy books) under the guise of defending Islam’s sanctity.
It is indeed time for the IGP to get back to work. Terrorist attack or gangland war, nobody should be freely walking around Malaysia with bombs and hand grenades. The question of “why” is one we must ask more and more often as we continue to seek a higher standard from the “servants of the people.”
Read more at FMT