YOURSAY | ‘What is driving some Muslims, in particular the Sunnis, to commit acts of terrorism?’

IGP confirms Puchong nightclub blast was terror attack

Negarawan: No true religion allows the killing of another human being. The alarming spread of Islamic terrorism around the world raises many serious questions.

What is driving some Muslims, in particular the Sunnis, to commit acts of terrorism? The Islamic State (IS), Abu Sayyaf and Boko Haram are exclusively from the Sunni sect.

If Islam rejects acts of terrorism that results in the murder of innocent victims, then terrorists should be excommunicated.

Islamic leaders should not remain passive. In Malaysia, we see an imam releasing an edict to kill non-Muslims, but shockingly the government and police are slow to take action.

Unfortunately, many Muslim leaders in Malaysia and in the Middle East are too mired in corruption to take any interest in stopping Islamic terrorism.

Pemerhati: The CNN programme titled ‘Why they hate us’ had an interview with the former Saudi Imam of the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, in which he said, “We have the same beliefs as ISIS, we share their ideology but we express it in a more refined way.”

That ideology known as Wahhabism is a puritanical and intolerant interpretation of Islam and has been spread all over the world (especially Pakistan) by Saudi Arabia by using its oil money.

Malaysia too follows the Wahhabi Sunni Islam practiced by Saudi Arabia and thus the extremist utterances of the Pahang mufti Abdul Rahman Osman and the silence of the Sunni Muslim political leaders should not come as a surprise.

The grave danger to Malaysia is that there could be many religious Muslim leaders giving sermons and saying things like the Pahang mufti in the mosques and radicalising Muslims.

You only need a handful of Muslims to be sufficiently radicalised to create the type of mayhem we have seen in places like Dhaka and Istanbul.

Vijay47: From being a distant rumble of Muslim terrorists at work, the IS and Al-Qaeda have already reached our shores, an achievement which apparently many here welcome.

The arrival may not have been stemmed, die-hard extremists would always find a way but how they are sustained and thrive is something the authorities could have controlled.

But Umno's attitude, while not overtly violent, was to offer tacit encouragement to activities against non-Muslims, a stand right out of the IS manual.

That is why not a single Umno or PAS leader, especially that beacon of democracy, Najib, has condemned the actions and statements of home-brewed fanatics since it served Umno's purpose to keep those of other faiths terrified and intimidated.

The Pahang mufti's call is a classic example of the mentality where IS objectives flourish. He was advocating murder, yet the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) justified and defended his urgings.

It may be too late when the bombs go off at Bukit Bintang, Kampung Baru, and Batu Caves. The inspector-general of police (IGP) must go. Now.

Armchair Newspaper: Yes, the state's ambivalence towards strict Wahhabism which leads to radicalism is the root cause why many impressionable youths are led to join IS.

De-radicalisation of these radicals means dismantling the state-sponsored and funded indoctrination of religious and racial supremacy and "them against us" fear paradigm, the very source of power which keeps the Malay heartland captive to Umno.

WDA: The correct professional response from the IGP immediately after the grenade incident would be, "We are ruling nothing out, including terrorism. Give us time to carry out our investigations. In the meantime, let us not jump to conclusions. If anyone has information on this case, please come forward."

Instead, we got an immediate initial response from the police that the bombing is due to personal vendetta between two parties and has got nothing to do with terrorism. Today, it's back to terrorism.

How can you blame the people to wonder what exactly is the truth? Could today's response to deflect further discussions and queries on 1MDB and "donations"? Could it be an afterthought to legitimate setting up the National Security Council (NSC) and steamrolling the bill through Parliament?

The fact is this IGP has lost so much credibility that no one can take whatever he tweets or speaks at face value.

Anonymous #40538199: Given that there were police officers arrested, the police must take extra effort in flushing out any possible IS or terrorists sympathisers within their own rank and file and other law enforcement agencies such as the Immigration Department.

Dr Suresh Kumar: IGP, why did you and the owner of the club were quick to dismiss the involvement of the IS terrorists in the immediate aftermath of the carnage, before even commencing investigations?

Who was the witness who said, he saw two Indians hurling the grenade? Is this the level of professionalism that you possess?

In the temple attack in Perak, the police did the same thing, by claiming the attacker was mentally unsound before even investigating him and it turned out that he was perfectly of sound mind and fit to stand trial.

Next time, please investigate before you come up with your own theories. Show some class and professionalism. Or else you will be looked upon as a clown by Malaysians as well as the world.

Mr IGP, please buck up. Make sure your intelligence unit work round the clock and nip this terrorist menace in the bud.

Anonymous #19098644: Kudos to the police for identifying the threat and been transparent to the public. Add this to the expose by the police that there were people impersonating police to stop the interfaith buka puasa at the church, this is of concern to all Malaysians.

The police must now fully deploy its Special Branch resources to combat this imminent threat instead of using it to monitor and harass the country's loyal opposition and PM Najib Razak’s enemies. We pray the IGP will do the right thing for the sake of this country.

Cogito Ergo Sum: Malaysia fought and beat the communist terrorists in the 50s, 60s and 70s. We were experts in counter-terrorism.

Today, politicians have made the people think that violence against an entire ethnic race is okay. You should have slammed down hard on the mufti's provocative pontifications.

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