Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has demanded that PAS president Hadi Awang explain his allegation in a Youtube video that the Islamic party cannot cooperate with a “Marxist” party. PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan said that Hadi’s statement alluded to PSM even if he did not mention it by name. “We want to ask, is Hadi (right) referring to us? If so, please show us the evidence (that PSM is Marxist),” he told a press conference in Kota Damansara
None of the mainstream political parties, including the secular groups, has promised to eliminate or at least enervate the influence of political Islam. No party manifesto envisions the separation of religion from politics and the affairs of the state. Malaysia’s democratic institutions are willingly offering enormous space and unquestionable concessions to Islam in everyday life. I have always believed that mixing up religion with politics is Pakistan’s greatest tragedy in Malaysia
There are three critical areas where PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG needs immediate improvement in order to become the next prime minister state. Islamization is the last thing that will help PAS to achieve stability, progress and prosperity. Any future government that gives in to the Islamists or helps the youth achieve their desired Islamic form of governance or encourages the influence of religion over democratic institutions will significantly increase Malaysian’s woes.: Malaysia has come under tremendous national and international criticism for the appalling state of human rights. Without containing the influence of state policies tolerant of violence in the name of religion and operations by the non-state actors, PAS will constantly risk its religious and sectarian minorities.All political parties must commit to internal stability (leading to economic growth), respect for human rights and a balanced foreign policy. In order to accomplish that, PAS must secularize its democratic institutions. Without sticking to these goals,PAS PRESIDENT ABDUL HADI AWANG cannot find a road-map to stability. Elections should change policies, not only the regimes. Policy overhaul is precisely what Malaysian, on its part, requires at this juncture for its survival.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has demanded that PAS president Hadi Awang explain his allegation in a Youtube video that the Islamic party cannot cooperate with a “Marxist” party.
PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan said that Hadi’s statement alluded to PSM even if he did not mention it by name.
“We want to ask, is Hadi (right) referring to us? If so, please show us the evidence (that PSM is Marxist),” he told a press conference in Kota Damansara.
PSM president Nasir Hashim expressed disappointment on Hadi’s statement.
“We are saddened by this baseless allegation. The Quran says defamation is more cruel than killing.”
In the video posted byTerengganukini, Hadi, in an unnamed location, said PAS was involved in seat overlapping with PKR in order rescue Pakatan Rakyat from a repetition of 2009 Perak crisis.
He also said some candidates were suspected to be drug dealers although he did not reveal any names. “How can they be candidates?” he asked.
“Some candidates have portraits of (Vladimir) Lenin, (Joseph) Stalin and (Karl) Marx, how can PAS support them? PAS is cooperating with PKR and DAP, not with the party of Lenin, Stalin and other Marxists,” he continued.
“How can our party members work under the portrait of Marx? Marx is the prophet of Russians and believed in communism. This is forbidden in Malaysia.”
Asked if Hadi should retract the statement and apologise, Nasir said Hadi should be a gentleman and retract the statement.
contentious issue is the move by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) to try and usher in a future where the Islamic way of life becomes a part of every day life in Malaysia. PAS says they are willing to discuss the issue, but the implementation of the Hudud law is a matter beyond question and not up for negotiation or debate of any kind.
Despite disagreement with its partners over this, it has started pushing for the implementation of hudud in the state of Kelantan which it had been ruling for the last 20 years. Several Islamic practices are already in place there.
It says hudud would address a multitude of issues affecting Muslims. However, the non-Muslims fear that there will be long-term direct and indirect effect on them although on the surface it is meant only for the Muslims.
The opposition alliance is now in a bit of a fix over this – supporting the plan will mean losing non-Muslim votes while opposing it will see a backlash from Muslim voters. Depending on how the opposition alliance handles this issue, it will affect not only the thinking of Muslim voters but also the stand of the fence-sitters and new voters.
BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak today attempted to douse the anger over Perkasa vice-president Zulkifli Noordin’s disparaging remarks about Hindus, claiming that Indians have now warmed up to him.
“There are Indians who have even kissed him already,” Najib said, adding that he endorsed Zulkifli’s (right) candidacy for the Shah Alam parliamentary seat.
“Forget about the remarks he has made. He has apologised. Let it be,” the caretaker prime minister said in Shah Alam as he stressed that the statements were made when Zulkifli was part of a “backward” party.
He claimed that Zulkifli has vowed to take care of the welfare of Indians in the constituency.
“Indians want temples, schools. He told me he wants to get them what they want,” Najib added.
He was speaking during a walkabout campaign in Kota Raja and Shah Alam earlier today.
At a press conference in a hotel in Shah Alam later, Najib went on to say that the Selangor government’s demolition of an altar in Sepang recently was more serious than Zulkifli’s remarks.
“That’s 1,000 times more serious than what Zulkifli said ten years ago. That (demolition) is a bigger slap for the Indians,” he said.
He said the matter of Zulkifli’s qualification to be fielded as a candidate under BN should not be raised further.
“It’s history. In fact he is already championing Indian issues,” he said.
He also said that Zulkifli left Pakatan Rakyat in 2010 because the former was asked to “slander” Najib by his party.
“But he is a man of principles. That is why he left them,” he added.
The three main categories of extremist aggressors are listed below, and usually one is the primary element with an offender, with at least one other playing a secondary supporting role:
. The Ideologically Motivated (Religious, Political or Hybrid)
. The Psychologically Dangerous (Sociopath or Cognitively Impaired)
. Personal Benefit or Revenge
One of the most fascinating, if not disturbing, aspects of the change in the terrorist threat in recent years has been the emergence of a diverse, yet very small group of radical Salafists in the United States, who are radicalized through a process that can include such factors as peer influence either in personal relationships or through the Internet and social media. Unconfirmed news reports state that Dzhokar Tsarnaev has a laptop and is communicating over social media while at large. Salafist Muslims follow an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam that they believe was adopted by the initial followers of the faith. While al-Qaeda’s overseas leadership, operational capacity and affiliates faced significant attacks abroad over the past decade, a diverse ragtag group of radicals undertook numerous potentially fatal, though mostly unsuccessful plots in the United States.
“Al-Qaida and its affiliates understand the Western world’s reliance on information sharing and use of technology to communicate. They are increasingly using the Internet to manipulate the grievances of alienated youth, radicalize them, and give them a sense of purpose. Al-Qaida encourages homegrown terrorism, and through the use of propaganda messages and information found on the Internet and transmitted through social media, more individuals have access to information and materials to carry out “lone wolf” operations against Western targets.”
In 2011 Bergen, Hoffman and Tiedemann explained:
“A key shift in the past couple of years is the increasingly prominent role in planning and operations that U.S. citizens and residents have played in the leadership of Al Qaeda and aligned groups, and the higher numbers of Americans attaching themselves to these groups. Another development is the increasing diversification of the types of U.S.-based jihadist militants, and the groups with which those militants have affiliated. Indeed, these jihadists do not fit any particular ethnic, economic, educational, or social profile.”
While there is both agreement and debate as to both the causes and definitions of radicalization, the following definition is useful: “Functionally, political radicalization is increased preparation for and commitment to intergroup conflict. Descriptively, radicalization means change in beliefs, feelings, and behaviors in directions that increasingly justify intergroup violence and demand sacrifice in defense of the ingroup.”
Important debate also exists on the extent that psychological factors, as opposed to sociological ones play in formation of radicalization: “Radicalization has been approached as a psycho-social process of gradual progress from context, to thought, and finally to action. Hence, it requires micro (individual) and macro (societal/cultural) examination of context-specific variables to explain causation.”
Irrespective of where one falls on that issue, the emergence of a residentially American, yet Salafist orientation in social media as well as in small circles of personal relationships created a tiny subculture where a small number of committed individuals went from mere discussion to violent plotting.
With the unfolding developments we simply do not know enough about what influenced these brothers into radicalization and exactly where they got their expertise or developed their hatreds. Oftentimes personal setbacks and estrangement from community norms, psychological issues, and the influence of others can impact the path to radicalization.
Much speculation revolves around the fact that the brothers are ethnic Muslim Chechens from the Caucasus region where an intermittent, yet bloody conflict has existed for the last two decades, but nationalist sentiment has existed far longer than that. However, Chechens’ main target has been Russia not the United States, and while they are Muslim, their conflict has been as much if not more a nationalistic one. After a bloody civil war broke out in 1994 where Chechens tried to gain independence Russia prevailed. Since then some of the most spectacular terrorist attacks in recent history have been committed against Russian targets by Chechen nationalists, many of whom are women. Among the targets have been trains, apartment buildings, a theater, airplanes and a school. A siege at a theater in Moscow in 2002 resulted in the deaths of 130 hostages and dozens of assailants after authorities used gas. In Beslan, Russia, over three hundred died in a school massacre in 2004. As the story unfolds we simply do not know how much idiosyncratic reasons played versus other motivations such as religious or political in the recent violence in the Boston area.
