(IPS) news focus

- Not a day passes these days without fresh allegations in Malaysia's media about Islamic extremism and militancy, even as many find themselves trying to figure out what is really behind the focus on this subject.

Indeed, the allegations have now assumed a regional flavour as well, with Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines expressing concern about a region-wide network of 'militants'.

Two weeks ago, Defence Minister Najib Razak said that Singapore senior minister Lee Kuan Yew shared Malaysia's concern over rising Islamic militancy. ''Yes, I think he is concerned because it will not only affect us but also Singapore,'' said Najib.

His comments coincided with the Philippine government's backing of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's claim that militant Islamic groups were linking up with local separatists in the country's south.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said security matters were prominent in the talks between Mahathir and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (pix) and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, both of whom visited Malaysia last month.

Last week, Mahathir said that Islamic extremists were using religion to ignite hatred against the government and setting up militant wings to seize power.

Mahathir added Saturday that a network of extremists had formed a league in the region that was bent on establishing a union of Islamic governments in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Regional links

His remarks were the latest salvoes against a so-called 'Malaysian Mujahideen Group', or its Malay acronym KMM, which has been accused of a series of crimes, including the bombing of a Hindu temple and a church.

Ten Malaysians were detained without trial under the Internal Security Act in early August for suspected involvement in the KMM. Their arrests came on the back of nine other arrests months earlier, following a botched bank robbery and the subsequent alleged recovery of an arms cache.

Since then, fingers have pointed to regional links especially to militant activity in Indonesia.

But a Malaysian who was accidentally hurt when a bomb he was carrying went off in a shopping mall in Jakarta has denied knowledge of the KMM, after speculation mounted that he was part of the group.

Taufik Abdul Halim said he had gone to Indonesia on his own initiative to be in 'solidarity' with Muslims in the Maluku Islands, where there is fighting with Christians. He had read about the conflict through Malaysian newspapers and the Internet, he said.

''Only after I was brought to this hospital (following the Aug 1 explosion) that Malaysian police visited me and showed me pictures of people who had been arrested,'' Taufik said from his hospital bed in an interview with English-language daily The Star recently.

''I don't know them. I also don't know the existence of that Kumpulan (group),'' he said.

'Very worrying'

That, however, has not stopped fresh revelations from emerging. Concerned by claims that some 2,500 students were involved in underground movements in Malaysian campuses, Education Minister Musa Mohamad has directed university heads to conduct an immediate probe.

''I have asked the vice-chancellors to study this matter and ensure that the situation in the universities is under control . . . and also take the necessary action as provided for in the law so that it does not spread,'' said Musa.

The persistent media coverage of alleged religious extremism has provoked two types of reactions from the public.

On the one hand, there is concern especially among non-Muslims. ''It is very worrying, the emergence of this group,'' an Indian Malaysian senior executive with a government agency in Penang, says of the allegations.

On the other, is a fair degree of scepticism and even cynicism in some circles - a sense that there is more than meets the eye and that the allegations could actually have political roots and are actually aimed at discrediting the opposition, Muslim-based Islamic party PAS.

The use of the ISA, which denies accused an opportunity to defend themselves in court, has fuelled such scepticism.

Most of the 10 detained for alleged involvement in KMM are PAS branch leaders, state committee members and activists. One of them is religious school discipline teacher Nik Adli Nik Aziz, the son of the chief minister of PAS-ruled Kelantan.

Nik Adli, 34, is accused of being the KMM leader but his father, Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who is also PAS' spiritual advisor, lashed out against the use of the ISA. ''Those who use the ISA have sinned against Allah as they have violated human dignity,'' he said.

He pointed out that PAS and the opposition front were working to defeat the government through democratic means and not through an underground movement.

Largest Buddha statue

Ever since making sharp inroads during the last general elections in November 1999 at the expense of the ruling Umno, PAS, along with other opposition parties, has had to contend with a string of restrictions - the latest being a curb on all political gatherings - that has particularly hit PAS badly.

PAS itself is deadlocked with opposition coalition partner, the Chinese-based DAP, on its platform of turning Malaysia into an Islamic state. Muslims make up some 60 percent of the country's 23 million people.

Many non-Muslims typically are wary of talk of an Islamic state - they are alarmed by several conservative PAS rulings such as gender segregation at supermarket checkout counters in Kelantan.

But some of these non-Muslims acknowledge another side to this story. This week, for instance, local papers reported that a Buddhist temple in Kelantan with the largest statue of Buddha in this region was declared open.

For everyone edgy about the allegations of extremism, there are others who think the issue has been blown out of proportion.

One of those not unduly worried by talk of extremism is Zaid Kamaruddin, deputy president of the Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), an Islamic reform group.

''I think the vast majority of activists for change here - including Muslims - subscribe to the democratic process,'' the urbane-looking, congenial Zaid told IPS. ''I don't expect university students to be involved in militant activities. I have not come across any of these people.''

Zaid concedes that during the Afghanistan war some 20 years ago, many Malaysians flocked there to aid Afghans fighting against the Soviet Union invasion. But he says the struggle there 'was seen as a battle of Islam against communism'.

Political purposes

Drawing a parallel with the solidarity and aid given by foreign groups in the struggle against fascism in Spain, he points out that many Muslims from other countries also joined in the struggle in Afghanistan.

They should not be penalised now for their solidarity with the Afghans and beyond that, should not be pictured as a looming threat, especially for political purposes, sceptics add.

Said Zaid: ''If they are involved in militant activities now, then the government should come up with the proof and try them in open court.''