{"id":87705,"date":"2019-04-25T23:06:08","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T05:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87705"},"modified":"2019-04-25T16:05:36","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T23:05:36","slug":"muslim-terrorists-heading-towards-a-jihadist-nandikadal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/25\/muslim-terrorists-heading-towards-a-jihadist-nandikadal\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim terrorists heading towards a Jihadist Nandikadal"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The history of terrorism in Sri Lanka reveals a clear\npattern. The first to take up arms in the post-Independent era were the\nmisguided Sinhala youth. They were educated youth desperately running in search\nof a quick solution to establish their classless paradise. Their violence did\nnot take them anywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil youth were the second to take up arms. Most\nof their cadres too consisted of educated Tamil youth running in search of a\nspeedy route to establish their mono-ethnic paradise. At the end of a\nthree-decade war they ended up in the bottom of the Nandikadal Lagoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the Muslim youth have bombed their way into the\nglobal headlines. They shot into the limelight on the morning of Easter Sunday\ntaking everyone by surprise. Unlike the two preceding terrorist groups the\nlocal Muslim terrorists who carried backpacks loaded with explosives seems to\nbe dummies carrying out the orders and agenda of a hidden hand directing them\nfrom abroad. To begin with they were echoing the imported hate politics fed to\nthem by the extremist local agents running fragmented jihadist cells. Nor have\nthey produced a calculated, well-defined ideology against the state, like the\nother two terrorist organisations, arguing that it should be destroyed and\nreplaced with their political models. However, it is known that the preachers\nin their cells and madrassas have been indoctrinating the youth with violent\ninterpretations of the Koran with the aim of converting Sri Lanka into an\nIslamic Caliphate. That constitutes a part of the larger agenda of ISIS,\nwithout any local content in it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running through all three violent movements of the\nyouth is a manufactured ideology tailored to radicalise and convert them into\nviolent politics as the solution to their indoctrinated, imagined and real\nproblems. The Sinhala youth took to Marxists revolutionary ideology reduced to\nfive lectures. The Tamil youth took to the ideology of the Saivite Jaffna\nVellala supremacists to create Eelam \u2013 the paradise of mono-ethnic extremism.\nAnd the Muslim youth seems to have jumped into a similar ideology believing\nthat they could achieve their Islamic salvation at the end of violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If history is any guide then the preceding two violent\nmovements point to a bitter end. Like the other two preceding terrorist groups\nthe Muslim terrorists too are doomed to end up achieving nothing. Besides, the\nodds are tilted heavily against the Muslim terrorists, both internationally and\nlocally. (More of this later).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have begun with a big bang which had echoed round\nthe world. That is about all they could achieve:<\/strong> making big noises if\nthey are to continue down this path of violence. Whether they have the capacity\nto sustain the violence of the Easter Massacre on a mass scale for a prolong\nperiod is questionable. Based more on the historical evidence of the past two youth\nrevolts than on the skimpy details available on the Muslim youth, my conclusion\nis quite simple: neither the prevailing hostile international climate against\nevery kind of Muslim violence, nor the national ethos of a thriving and\nconservative Muslim trading community dependent on peace and stability, is\nconducive for the Muslim youth to sustain their campaign of violence for\nlong.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the wobbly Yahapalanaya government, which was\ngoing softly-softly on rising Muslim radicalisation and violence, has at last\nwoken up to the grim and destabilising realities that had blown their tops off.\nIt is the magnitude of the simultaneous explosions hitting three points of the\ncompass \u2013 east, west and the immediate north \u2013 that shook the foundations of\nSri Lankan establishment <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Easter Sunday blast is likely to change \u2013 at least\nin the short run — the conventional image of the Muslims.  They were seen\nas the more emancipated and liberal Muslims not committed to radical Islam. But\nafter the East Sunday Massacre it is likely that they will be bundled with the\nrest of the ideologically driven Muslim fanatics abroad committed to irrational\nviolence. The latest Reuter\u2019s report which reveals the ISIS hand behind the\nEaster Massacre can only reinforce the image of being ruthless religious\nfanatics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radicalisation takes sense sensibility out of the\nminds of the impatient youth looking for instant solutions. And politicised\nreligion is packed with hate. Both are incendiary forces that can drive the\nimpulsive youth\ninto insane fits of violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the initial blast that shook Easter Sunday\nwas massive and impressive. The (1) precision timing that went of like\nclockwork, (2) the gigantic scale of the blasts hitting targets in east, west\nand the near north simultaneously,(3)  the selected targets of Christian\nChurches and hotels packed with Western tourists (4) the organisation capacity to\npiece together the various arms of the military-style operation that exploded\non Easter Sunday (5) the blind faith of the suicide bombers that walked the\nlethal distance to their fatal end and that of 350 other victims, point clearly\nto hidden brains beyond the borders of the local Muslims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is, no doubt, that the suicide bombers were on a\npolitical mission. But what was it? Also, terrorist acts are executed to convey\na political message. What is the message behind the biggest ever terrorist\noperation on Sri Lanka soil? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This explosion which hit like a bolt from the blue\nmakes no sense in the Sri Lankan context. Apart from sporadic tensions \u2013 some\nof which have been caused by National Thowheeth Jamaat (NTJ) \u2013 the\nSinhala-Muslim relations had not stretched to breaking point to provoke an\nattack of this magnitude. Mainstream Muslim politics was for co-existence\nwithout resorting to extremist violence. Interventions at the highest levels\nfrom both sides have succeeded in snuffing out any communal conflagration and\ncontaining the violence. In fact, Muslim leaders have been complaining to the\nauthorities that the NTJ is a serious threat to their lives too. Nor has there\nbeen a mass following for Islamic extremism either at the top or at the bottom\nlayers of Muslim society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of now Muslim violence has been confined to a\nminority. But it is a minority that has crept up, sedulously and\nsurreptitiously, to parts of the highest echelons of the Muslim hierarchy. If\nallowed to go unchecked it can become the majority. The description of this\ngroup given by Ruwan Wijewardene, State Minister of Defence, is revealing and\nalarming, to say the least. He said: What I can\nalso say about this group of suicide bombers is that most of them were\nwell-educated and come from middle or upper middle class, so they are\nfinancially independent and their families are quite stable financially. That\nis a worrying factor in this. Some of them studied in other countries, they\nhold degrees and were quite well-educated people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This explains the background and the potential threat\nto the future but not the cause behind the stunning Easter Sunday massacre.\nInvariably political protests and violence target the state. But the Muslim\nsuicide bombers did not target the state per se. They went straight to two\nnon-state, non-Sinhala-Buddhist targets: 1. Christian churches packed with\nEaster Sunday devotees and 2.  hotels packed with Western holiday-makers\nlining up for their Sunday breakfast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both targets were selected to make global headlines in\nthe Christian West. Any harm to the Christian worshippers inside churches in\none of the holiest days in the Christian calendar and Western holiday-makers\nwould instinctively pull the heart strings and the conscience of the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the selection of these two targets that do not\nmake sense. Why should local suicide bombers target the Churches and the hotels\nwhen their grievances are supposed to be against the Sinhala-Buddhists with\nwhom they have been having some sporadic sparring in recent times? Besides, none\nof these two institutions has rubbed against the local Muslims. So why did the\nstrategists behind Operation Easter Massacre target the Churches and the\nhotels? Is the message coded in these two targets? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is at this point that Ruwan Wijewardene\u2019s explanation\ngains credibility. He said that the targets were chosen as retaliation for the\nmassacre of the Muslims at Christchurch by the Australian white-supremacist\nBrenton Hanson Terrant. But is the local Muslim that concerned about what\nhappened in far away New Zealand to blow up Churches and hotels? No. But the\nvindictive politics of their masters in the failed Islamic State, pursuing\n.anti-American, anti-Christian agenda, are bent on targeting the sacred symbols\nof the West. Since the Sri Lankan Muslims are committed ideologically to follow\nthe political line laid down by their Islamic masters abroad they became the\nlatest suicidal messengers of death to the West. They even went as far as\nimitating their counterparts abroad by videoing their martyrdom, a la the\njihadists in the Middle East. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, the Easter Massacre was to deliver a political\nmessage to Donald Trump. He was boasting that the ISIS is dead. On the morning\nof East Sunday they told him that they are still alive and kicking. The\nideology behind the Easter Massacre is clearly expressed in the two main\ntargets allied to Western interests. It also contains a direct message to\nTrumpian braggadocio and arrogance. They picked Sri Lanka because it was fast\nturning into a base for American expansion in the Indian Ocean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like all terrorists they have picked the most iconic\ntargets for maximum impact in the minds of the West. Targeting them selectively\non one of the holiest days of the Christian world delivers an unambiguous\npolitical message to the West saying: <\/strong> If we can\u2019t get you in the\nWest we can get you in soft spots prepared by incompetent, complacent and\nback-biting rulers in the East who, incidentally, are cozying up to the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tattered remnants standing as sad ruins of\nchurches and hotels and the 350 victims debunk the usual fiction spun by some\nlocal political pundits who continue to blame the Sinhala-Buddhists. Their spin\nis to white-wash the Muslim terrorists saying that the suicide bombers were on\na mission to get even with the Sinhala-Buddhists for sporadic attacks that had\noccurred in recent time. This line of attack on the Sinhala-Buddhist runs\nagainst the evidence of the bloody ruins staring in their face. If the Easter\nMassacre was to teach the Sinhala-Buddhist a lesson why did they attack the\nChristian Churches and hotels packed with Westerners? This is the most notable\nfacet of the Easter Sunday attack. The suicide bombers skipped the\nSinhala-Buddhists, they skipped the Hindu Tamils and they went straight for the\nChristians in churches and the Westerners holidaying in hotels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Easter Sunday massacre was to send a clear\nmessage to the West then the international and local agents have succeeded\nbeyond their expectations. This initial message is now reverberating globally.\nIt says unmistakeably that the Jihadist power, packed with religious\nfanaticism, has found a new base to attack the West. But what is going to be\ntheir next step? Will they turn inward and intensify their attacks against the\nother religionists?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violence of any sort will not take the Muslim\nterrorist anywhere. If the other two varieties of terrorism (Sinhala and Tamil\nyouth) failed to win against the state what are the chances of the Muslim\nvariety winning? The state is sufficiently prepared and experienced now to meet\nchallenges of terrorists having beaten the world\u2019s deadliest terrorist, the\nLTTE. Most of all, it has the tacit support of the majority of the Muslims in\nthe mainstream. ISIS and its local agents have had some beginners luck by\ntaking the state by surprise. But the chances of Muslim terrorists becoming a\nformidable challenge to the state are very remote. Besides, before they take on\nthe state they will have to grab power from the established Muslim hierarchy.\nThey will also have to combat the anti-Muslim counter-terror forces of the West\nand also India. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The upshot of the Easter Massacre has been to increase\nand reinforce Islamaphobia. Until East Sunday the Muslims in the democratic\nmainstream have been a formidable force negotiating craftily behind the scene,\nwith both main parties, bargaining with the non-violent votes. But the\nexploding bombs have devastated their image and reduced the power of bargaining\nwith both major parties. They cannot be seen to be honeymooning, or playing\nfootsy with the Muslims after the backlash of East Sunday sweeping the nation.\nThe government, in particular, will have to face the charge of putting Bodu\nBala Sena in jail and letting NTJ run amok without any restraint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state is now in a favourable political climate to\ncrack down on Muslim extremism with hardly any pressure from international or\nnational interventionists.  Besides, the Muslim terrorists can never reach\nthe militarised power of the Tamil Tigers and challenge the state to yield to\ntheir demands, whatever they may be.  Of the three varieties of terrorism\nthe Muslims will be the weakest, purely on demographic counts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the dust settles down, the democratic state of\nSri Lanka will rise again triumphantly, hoping that the last remaining Indian\nTamil youth will not decide to go the way of the other three failed terrorists<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala The history of terrorism in Sri Lanka reveals a clear pattern. The first to take up arms in the post-Independent era were the misguided Sinhala youth. They were educated youth desperately running in search of a quick solution to establish their classless paradise. Their violence did not take them anywhere. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}