‘The West needs to do the same’

While much of the terror that is plaguing some countries in our part of the world is homegrown, much of it comes from abroad: primarily from Europe, the US, Australia and some other Asian countries.

The Western terrorists, in particular, seem to occupy prominent positions and play major roles among the terror groups in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

They are entrusted with summary executions, cyber propaganda and filming and directing many of the chilling images posted on the Internet.

Their acts of “horror” seem to have outdone those of the evil Mr Kurtz in Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, who came all the way from Belgium to the Congo to colonise and terrorise.

We know, of course, that terrorism knows no religion, no race, no ethnicity and no culture. 

Terrorists of all religions, racial and ethnic groups or cultures are of the same nature: ruthless, perverse and criminal.

So the point here is not to compare terrorists across nations. Nor it is to link terrorism to nationality per se.

Rather, it is to stress the importance of national responsibility towards terrorism.

Since the emergence of the “Islamic” terror groups, Arab and Muslim countries have been doing a lot of soul searching to understand why and how seemingly innocent people become radical and criminal.

While several Arab and Muslim countries have been fighting these groups militarily, as part of an international coalition, they have been fighting another war as well, on another front: the cultural/national.

Several countries in our part of the world are trying to determine the causes of radicalisation and criminality of the groups practising terrorism.

They are asking questions and conducting studies to understand whether religion, social background, economic status and a host of other factors have played a part.

In other words, our countries are shouldering their national and social responsibility towards terrorism, but we do not seem to see the same thing happening in Western countries, at least not at the same level of seriousness and intensity.

Western countries have been taking an active part in military campaigns, but we have not seen much on the other, more important fronts.

Important questions need to be asked by these countries in the pursuit of convincing answers and for the purpose of finding effective solutions.

What makes a “sweet”, “good” boy or girl born and bred in London, Paris, Brussels, Melbourne or New York turn into a chilling slaughterer of innocent people and a suicide bomber?

Is it social marginalisation, economic deprivation, cultural exclusion, racism, ethnic injustice, or what?

In our part of the world, we think that a radical religious, politicised environment that is prevalent in some circles has contributed to the radicalisation of our youth. But what about those foreigners — many of them recent “converts” — who were brought up in secular environments? How did they become radicalised overnight?

What social, economic, racial and cultural factors could have contributed to such evil transformation?

An important paradox needs to be recognised and studied here. Terrorism is a cross-national and cross-cultural phenomenon, but it is also, simultaneously, national and cultural. And it has to be understood from both angles, if we are to address it effectively.

In this part of the world are asking many questions for the purpose of understanding and eradicating terrorism, and doing much self-examination. The West needs to do the same.