It took more than two decades for the Western society to accept the fact that Islamic terrorism has emerged as a hydra headed monster out to finish off modern civilisation, writes KUMAR CHEllAPPAN
It is the season of debates on “intolerance” and ISIS. Even as I was struggling with the book ISIS: The State of Terror authored by Jessica Stern and JM Berger, the All India Radio’s news bulletin was flashing the news that three youths from Hyderabad on their way to join the ISIS were arrested by police from Nagpur International Airport. The day was filled with news about intolerance and ISIS.
The most glaring example of intolerance is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a terrorist organisation, which itself is confused about its name. Some say it is Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. At times, it is mentioned as just IS. The organisation stands to establish a Caliphate stretching out from Middle East (West Asia), encompassing the Indian subcontinent and extending up to Indonesia and even beyond.
The Islamic Caliphate is to be formed on the lines of Sharia law and apparently of course, based on the directions given in the holy Quran. They say there’s nothing shocking or surprising in the means adopted by the ISIS “fighters” to reach the destination. The holy Quran tells: Remember Thy lord Inspired the Angels (with the message): “I am with you: Give Firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: Smite ye above their necks And smite all their Finger-tips off them.”
“This because they contended Against Allah and His Messenger. If any contend against Allah and His Messenger, Allah is strict in punishment,” says Ayat 12 and 13 in Sura Eight (The Holy Quran: English translation of the meanings and Commentary). This justifies whatever actions being committed by the “fighters” of the ISIS. They say that there are many such verses in the Quran and hence it is not at all surprising and shocking to see the YouTube postings of the beheading of James Foley, the US journalist and Steven Sotloff, another journalist by the ISIS executioners.
Thousands of infidels and kafirs have been executed all over the world by the Islamic warriors in the hope of getting the religious rewards such as entry into heaven and the benefits such as the 72 virgins. It took more than two decades for the Western society to accept that Islamic terrorism has emerged as a hydra headed monster and it is out to finish off modern civilisation (if there exists something like that).
late B Raman, the legendary Indian spy master had written in the 1990s itself about the impending Islamic terrorism for establishing the Islamic Caliphate by the Mujahideens who once fought the Soviet army in Afghanistan. “The proposed Islamic Caliphate includes West Asia, Indian sub-continent and extending to Far East including Indonesia,” wrote Raman in his thesis ‘A Terrorist State as a Frontline Ally’. He did not mention the ISIS by name in the book. But he articulated it clearly that countries like India, Israel and USA are the targets of the Islamist extremists who are out to carve out the Caliphate. It took more than a decade for the Western world to acknowledge the presence of such a threat.
Jessica Stern, a lecturer on counter-terrorism at Harvard law school and JM Berger, researcher, analyst and consultant covering extremism, offer the readers a panoramic description about the evolution of ISIS into the most dreaded terrorist organisation in the world. “The ISIS is an organisation that controls a third of Syria and a quarter of Iraq, covers an area larger than Great Britain and has a population larger than Denmark, Finland or Ireland,” write the authors. What one understands from the authors is that the ISIS and the kind of terrorism practised by it caught the attention of Western world only when the organisation posted video images of the execution of hostages from USA and Europe by the ISIS.
The book begins with a comment made by President Barack Obama in January 2014 about the ISIS. He refuses to call it by its original name and went on to describe it as a ‘jayvee’ (junior varsity) team putting on lakers uniform. The same Obama had to make a volte face and declare ISIS as the greatest threat faced by the world in modern times. The history behind the formation and emergence of ISIS shatters many claims put forward by the liberals and the seculars. The claim Islam is a religion of peace is shattered by the ISIS volunteers themselves. One of the explanations behind Islamic terrorism given by the liberals is the sub-standard living conditions of members belonging to the Islamic community. They argue that most members of the community are illiterate and live in sub-human conditions. The leaders of the ISIS portrayed by Jessica and Berger are professionals of the highest order with just one exception.
Osama bin laden, founder of al Qaeda had a Masters degree in business management and was a billionaire. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi who took over the leadership of ISI (the predecessor to ISIS) had a doctorate in Islamic Culture and Sharia law from the Islamic University of Baghdad. Ayman al-Zavahiri was a medical surgeon. Only Abu Musab al Zarqawi was the odd man out in the leadership of al Qaeda and ISIS. He was a school drop out and was a heavy drinker, bully and brawler.
The history of ISIS till the end of 2014 by Stern and Berger is based mainly on reports and books published by others and also on what they have gathered from social media sites. The book is a documentary evidence that there is no word called democracy in the dictionary of the Islamists. If what these leaders preach is Islam, then one is sorry to state that it is not a religion of peace. The only way to save the world is to crush ISIS like the way Mahinda Rajapaksa finished off the dreaded lTTE. We don’t want to see children or grown up people playing soccer with the severed heads of executed victims. We also do not want our sisters to end up as sex machines for those who kill in the name of religion.