‘Being appalled’ is not enough from Regional Muslim leaders

By Ross B Taylor

 

The bloody murder of innocent people in Paris last week following-on from the shocking events in Sydney have been rightly condemned by not only western governments, but also many political leaders in countries where Islam is the predominate religion.

Many commentators and community leaders saw the shocking siege in Sydney by Man Haron Monis as the actions of a madman rather than a reflection of Muslim values and beliefs. The most recent massacre in Paris is now resulting in similar comments and reactions as Muslim leaders once again point out that in both of these events, the religion of Islam has been ‘hijacked’ by despot groups and individuals made-up of disaffected people who have a twisted desire to inflict terror and murder upon our world.

The comments from those who have power and influence throughout Islamic communities leaves no doubt that the majority of Muslims are appalled at the fanatical and hard-line developments involving Islam; but is ‘being appalled’ enough to stop the advance of Islamic extremism into our region?

To our north, Indonesia has worked closely with Australia to prevent terrorist attacks, particularly in places such as Bali. The Indonesian National Police have conducted hundreds of successful raids on Islamic terrorist groups who were planning to launch attacks in their own country and the region. 

Yet over this past year we have seen the number of Indonesians joining ISIS in Iraq and Syria increase from around 80 to possibly as high as 450.

This increase in Indonesians joining ISIS occurs despite Indonesia banning them as an organisation, and leading Muslim groups denouncing ISIS activities. These are positive words but Indonesian laws still do not allow police to charge people who head-off to the Middle East to join and fight for extremist groups, leaving many of them to return home without prosecution and to then spread their hate and violence throughout their country and to regional neighbourhoods.

In the past few years we have also seen increasing examples of religious intolerance throughout Indonesia with Sunni Muslim groups seeking-out confrontations with other religious minorities including Buddhist, Catholic and also Shia Muslims. Mob violence, harassment and threats have become more common, yet very little has been done to stop these activities, and in some cases police were ‘happy’ to simply sit back and watch places of worship (including Mosques) burn as minority groups were beaten and occasionally murdered. 

In the semi-autonomous Sumatran province of Aceh, which was devastated in the tsunami of 2004, Sharia Law has recently been enforced more rigorously, restricting the rights of all other religions. ‘Qanun Jinayat’ or ‘Behaviour Governing By-Laws’ as they are known, now apply to all people including women, non-Muslims and tourists to the popular region.

Aceh has a history of attracting Islamic insurgencies and there remains the risk of this province becoming a regional hub for hard-line Islamic groups such as Jamaah Islamiyah and the Islamic Defenders Front.

As the leading example of how a country with a predominately Muslim population (about 180 million people) can function as a pluralistic and civil democracy, Indonesia has a critical interest to ensure that religious intolerance and hardline Islam is not allowed to flourish in this region.

Yet disturbingly to Indonesia’s north, and a favourite holiday spot for Australians, lies Malaysia, another good example of how a moderate form of Islam can coincide with a vibrant democracy.

Over the past five years however, Malaysia has slipped into a more hardline approach, with restrictions in political freedom of speech and the rights of women. The ruling United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) is now pushing an agenda that is, according to many experts, ‘very hardline in both political and religious life’ despite the rhetoric of the Prime Minister Najib Rasak in seeking to present Malaysia as a moderate and open society.

For many years there has been a standard joke in Malaysia that UMNO actually stands for ‘You May Not Oppose’, yet today many people feel that this is no longer simply a joke.

Conservative groups in the provinces of Sabah and Sarawak – both popular tourist locations – have recently been attempting to install strict Sharia Law, further adding to the difficulties facing Mr Rasak and his government as they strive to curtail the activities of ISIS followers whilst not alienating the 62% of the population who are Muslim; and who mostly support the UMNO.

For Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, the increase in extremist Islam and associated terrorist activities in both Malaysia and Indonesia, combined with the rise-and-rise of China as a political force in the region, will present many diplomatic challenges for Australia in the year ahead.

But it is the leaders of countries which are home to mostly Muslim populations who must do more. A good start would be for the UN to appoint Indonesia’s former, and highly respected, president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) as a special ambassador for Islamic Nations to lead and take control of the crisis facing their religion. Sure, SBY may not have done much to address the rising tide of extremist Islam whilst president of Indonesia, but here is his chance to truly make a difference on the world stage and to tell the story to their cousins in the Middle East and Africa how a predominately Muslim nation can successfully embrace both their religion and a truly pluralist and democratic society.

This is urgent. The long-term stability of our region depends upon a lot more than just words and a benign approach to the growth of hardline Islam by our regional leaders in Southeast Asia, and also their Arab cousins in the Middle East.

Ross Taylor AM is the president of the Perth-based Indonesia Institute (Inc)