Teen climate agitator a child-abused cuckoo case - TIME FOR THE TRUTH

Left goes ballistic as teen climate agitator gets pummeled

Greta Thunberg's rant to U.N. warned of beginning of 'mass extinction'

By WND Staff
Published September 23, 2019 at 2:47pm

The left has gone ballistic over criticism that teen climate-change activist Greta Thunberg resembles some of the Nazi propaganda that was used to turn the world against Jews more than half a century ago.

The Swedish 16-year-old, who is skipping school for a year to to protest climate change, charged in a speech at the United Nations on Monday that the adults in the room were stealing her dreams and her childhood.

"People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing," she claimed. "We are in the beginning of a mass extinction."

See a compilation of her statements from Ryan Saavedra:

This speech by far-left activist Greta Thunberg is absolute madness pic.twitter.com/RFyIPZlajQ

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 23, 2019

Author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza noted her resemblance to children exploited by the Nazis to convey their messages.

On Twitter, he said: "Children – notably Nordic white girls with braids and red cheeks – were often used in Nazi propaganda. An old Goebbels technique! Looks like today's progressive Left is still learning its game from an earlier Left in the 1930s."

His criticism prompted a backlash on Twitter.

"Do us a favor, blow your brains out. And please have someone post the vid," wrote Max Keiser.

Cassy Stowe wrote: "Amazing that so many have reported this tweet and it STILL hasn't been taken down."

Caroline wrote: "Take down this tweet. You are insane. She is a 16 year old child, with Asberger's syndrome, she's not part of propaganda."

The comments that followed Saavedra's video offered a different perspective.

"Should have stopped at 'I shouldn't be up here," wrote Tony Po."

"'I should be in school' Then go to school," added Samantha Garber

Niko wrote: "I see they've changed the propaganda to Climate Action (from Protect the Ozone, the Global Warming, Global Cooling, to Climate 'Change' – just in my lifetime). So is it going to be colder? Warmer? Moderate to fine? And Action against what exactly?"

Her performance wasn't so far from propaganda, another said.

Kimann said: "Child abuse to manipulate a little girl to this extent & then use her as a human billboard for childhood angst. There is nothing she does/can do that is not planned & brought to fruition by her adult controllers & so-called caregivers."

"This girl has anger problems. She has been trained to be a fear monger," added Alexander Padilla. "Regardless of the issue, I do not want to be lectured by a kid."

Thunberg's rant was littered with insults, including:

• "There will not be any plans presented in line with these figures here because the numbers are too uncomfortable and you are still not mature enough to tell it like it is."
• "If you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you."
• "Right here, right now is where we draw the line."

Twitter news aggregator Twitchy asked, "'Where are the parents'? Greta Thunberg's 'disturbing' rant at U.N. Climate Action Summit suggests she's been thoroughly terrorized.

"The bad people in this equation are all those who have instilled this young woman with fear and are using her as a human shield – and her parents for letting it happen."

Thunberg's warnings echo those of socialist U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who said that in a few years Miami would disappear because of global warming and that the world has only about a dozen years left.

But the Competitive Enterprise Institute reported "doomsayers have been predicting climate and environmental disaster since the 1960s," and none have come true.

CEI pointed out that while the predictions grab media headlines, "the failures are typically not revisited."

The Los Angeles Times reported in 1967, for example, that Stanford University's Paul Ehrlich warned it already was too late for the world "to avoid a long period of famine."

"Most disastrous by 1975," said the report.

Ehrlich, a "population biologist," had several others. In 1969 he warned that by 1989, "everyone will disappear in a cloud of blue steam."

In 1970, the New York Times reported on a threat from James P. Lodge Jr., a "pollution expert," who said there would be an ice age by 2000.

Also in 1970, NASA's S.I. Rasool said that over the next five to 10 years, there would be "such a temperature decrease [that it] could be sufficient to trigger an ice age."

Brown University scientists in 1972 wrote to the president that "very soon" there would be "a global deterioration of climate, by order of magnitude larger than any hitherto experienced by civilized mankind."

They looked at the bottom of the ocean to determine that.

The list continued.

WND long has reported on such failures and admissions about the political and financial agenda behind the activists pushing the idea of global cooling, global warming and climate change.

Al Gore, for example, once admitted the campaign is "torqued up."

He was discussing a warning from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that horrible things are ahead for humanity if it continues to use carbon fuels.

PBS host Judy Woodruff noted the panel members were "painting a much more alarming picture of what we face than we had previously known."

Gore, the vice president under Bill Clinton and a failed Democratic nominee in 2000, said, "The language that the IPCC used in presenting it was torqued up a little bit, appropriately – how [else] do they get the attention of policy-makers around the world?"

Scientist Art Robinson's The Petition Project gathered the signatures of at 31,487 scientists who agree that there is "no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate."

"Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth."

Robinson, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California-San Diego, where he served on the faculty, co-founded the Linus Pauling Institute with Nobel-recipient Linus Pauling, where he was president and research professor. He later founded the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. His son, Noah Robinson, was a key figure in the petition work and has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech.

Teen climate agitator  a child-abused cuckoo case - TIME FOR THE TRUTH.
THE TRUTH -   31,487 scientists who agree that there is "no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate.
These dumbbells are like sheep led to slaughter - being tricked by the elite (globalists) into a piranha feeding frenzy. These evil people are profiting from carbon tax, and also have wicked agendas  one of which is blanketing the sun rays, causing worldwide crop failure - thereby killing off 90% of the population (a Satanic plan). 
WAKE UP,  WAKE UP NOW!!! 

Send Zakir Naik back or get him to S. Arabia where he has citizenship

Why empower a demagogue like Zakir Naik?

By

 Dennis Ignatius

 -

August 13, 2019 8:00 AM

Whatever else you may say about Zakir Naik, and I have said much about him, one thing is certain: he’s one of the most astute and manipulative operators that this nation has ever seen. He understands – better than most of the political and religious leaders that now mollycoddle him – that in an essentially feudal nation like ours, the man who captures the religious imagination of the people will be the one who rules them.

After his meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last year and the glowing endorsement he received from the minister in charge of Islamic affairs, Mujahid Yusof Rawa, his support and popularity across the nation has grown exponentially. Even though he speaks in English to a largely Malay-speaking crowd, thousands upon thousands turn up to listen to him wherever he goes.

In Kelantan, over 100,000 people turned up to listen to him, making it one of the most spectacular religious gatherings ever held in Malaysia. Not even Mahathir – as respected as he is – has come close to evoking such passion. It is a testimony to the power and influence Naik has amassed in the short time he has been here.

What does it say about Malaysia though that nowhere, not even in Saudi Arabia, has he been treated with such adulation and adoration, with everyone from the prime minister downwards eager to shake his hand? In Kelantan, he rode in an open car, replete with flashing lights and police outriders, waving to adoring followers desperate to catch a glimpse of the great man. It was quite an extraordinary sight!

Naik’s supporters are now planning yet more high-profile mega rallies for him across the country. At this rate, he will become the nation’s most influential figure and his pronouncements will carry fatwa-like significance. PAS itself will soon have to defer to him because he has proven himself infinitely more popular than all the PAS leaders put together.

And his influence over the nation itself is set to grow yet further as he takes to the air on local TV stations like Hijrah TV and tours our public universities to spread his Salafist message and promote himself as the country’s foremost Islamic thinker and preacher.

Worryingly, as his influence grows, he has taken to involving himself in our domestic affairs as well. In Kelantan last week, he lauded Kelantan for being the most Islamic state in the country. Was this an endorsement of the PAS leadership and a not so subtle hint that the rest of the country is not Islamic enough for his liking? Will he soon join PAS in agitating for Sharia law to be made the law of the land? With a man like Zakir Naik, we should take absolutely nothing for granted.

While PAS leaders were, no doubt, pleased, PH will have cause for worry.

Apart from taunting Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, he accused local Hindus of being more loyal to Modi than to Mahathir although Hindus in Malaysia, he said, are better treated than Muslims in India.

Malaysian Hindus are bound to be further enraged and further disappointed with PH for allowing him to continue belittling them and their religion. Naik is doing PH a great disservice but they are too enamoured of him to notice.

PH had promised to ensure that Naik would not use his religious platform to stir up racial and religious discord, but apparently, he has now become too powerful to rein in.

In any case, who is Naik – an Indian citizen who has been nothing but disloyal and disdainful of his own country – to question the loyalty of any Malaysian? But that’s what he thrives on – stirring up division and provoking religious and ethnic discord. He’s been doing it for years and he’s been allowed to get away with it.

Our politicians think they can use him for their political purposes; they’ll discover soon enough that he will use them to further his own ambitions. And make no mistake, he is an ambitious man who has finally found a nation gullible enough to embrace him and welcome him as a great leader and Islamic thinker. Perhaps the people have become so disillusioned with their own leaders that they are now willing to look to a foreigner, a fugitive from justice no less, for leadership.

And if that’s not enough, just wait till the next election comes around. His political and religious endorsement will surely be worth its weight in gold. Malay politicians will find themselves falling over each other to seek his endorsement and support.

The last time around, he endorsed Umno-PAS with the asinine assertion that Muslims are obliged to support “Islamic” leaders even though they might be corrupt. It backfired on him, of course, but he had only to run and kiss Mahathir’s hand to get back into favour. This time around, he’ll certainly be more careful; he’ll endorse them all for so long as they kiss his hand. And he’ll be assured of his place no matter who forms the next government.

When are our politicians going to realise that they are empowering a dangerous and incendiary demagogue who is destabilising our country and destroying what remains of our fragile unity?

A great piece by Dennis. YES, Send Zakir Naik back or get him to S. Arabia where he has citizenship -NOW!!!!! Mahathir has no right to keep him as he has not keep his end of the deal - that is not to stir up religious sentiments and also race issues. Best for Dr. M. to also step down NOW!!! as he seems to think he has absolute rights - he should think rationally as the PH coalition gave him the PM role - he should also do things on a  Consensus basis, not as a maverick. He did not WIN GE14 on his own! 

Time for the world to ACT on Fulani jihadists

Nigerian priest killed by suspected Fulani gunmen; Clergy march to protest killings

5 Pentecostal pastors kidnapped in Enugu state on way to ministers conference

Nigerian priest killed by suspected Fulani gunmen; Clergy march to protest killings

By Samuel Smith, CP Reporter| Saturday, August 03, 2019

Facebook Twitter Email Print   

The Rev. Paul Offu of St. James Greater Parish in Ugbawka, Nigeria. | Facebook/Dioceses of Enugu

A priest in Southern Nigeria was killed Thursday by suspected Fulani radicals while five pastors from a Pentecostal denomination were abducted in a separate incident just outside of Lagos. Catholic Diocese of Enugu announced the killing of Father Paul Offu by unidentified gunmen on Thursday evening.

According to the diocese, Offu was the parish priest at St. James Greater Parish in Ugbawka. He's originally is from Okpatu in the Udi local government area. 

In a Facebook statement, the diocese declared: "tragedy strikes again in the Enugu Diocese."

"With a deep sense of sorrow, the Catholic Diocese of Enugu announces the tragic death of REV FR PAUL OFFU who was shot dead [Aug. 1] by some hoodlums suspected to be the notorious and murderous Fulani herdsmen, along Ihe-Agbudu Road in Awgu [local government area]," the statement reads. "May perpetual light shine upon his gentle and illustrious soul."

The diocese's communications director, Benjamin Achi, told the Nigerian media outlet The Punch that the priest was killed by Fulani radicals. 

"Fr. Offu was stopped by the murderous herdsmen while returning to his parish after a visit to priest friend along Ihe-Agbudu road in Awgu LGA." Achi told The Punch. "They dragged him to the bush but one of the assailants said kill him, that the church would not do anything if they kidnapped him.”

Across the nation, predominantly Christian farming communities are being attacked with increasing frequency by Fulani radicals. 

While the Nigerian government claims the violence is just "farmer-herder clashes," advocates warn that thousands in these farming communities have been killed or have been forced to flee in the last several years because of Fulani attacks.

The priest's murder comes about five months after the body of priest Clement Ugwu from St. Mark Catholic Church in the Ezeagu local government area was found after a one-week search. 

“All is not well in Enugu State," Bishop Callistus Onaga said at the time, according to an earlier article from The Punch. "We should not continue to pretend about it while our people are killed every day. Enugu State is not secure again. Criminals have shifted to Enugu State from Anambra." 

Achi told The Punch on Friday that the Rev. Paulinus Ikechukwu Ilo is still in the hospital after being shot by suspected Fulani radicals on July 18. 

On Friday, dozens of priests in the Enugu Diocese protested the killing of their brother in the streets of Lagos in a procession that took them to outside of the Enugu State Government House. 

During the protest, The Punch notes that the priests held placards that read: "enough is enough" and "government should rise to defend Nigerians." 

In addition to Offu's killing, gunmen believed to be Fulani radicals were said to have abducted five Nigerian pastors while they were walking to a ministers conference in Lagos, a city in southeast Nigeria.

The general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Enoch Adeboye, made the announcement during the ongoing ministers' conference in Lagos on Friday.

The Nation newspaper reports that Adeboye said the pastors were abducted while on their way to the conference about 65 miles outside of Lagos. Adeboye stressed that this was the first time a kidnapping of this magnitude has occurred in the denomination.

“As a father, how do you think I should feel to hear that five of my children have been kidnapped while on their way to attend the Ministers Conference?” the report quoted him as saying. 

On social media, a prominant critic called on Adeboye to take a stronger stand against the inaction displayed by the Nigerian federal government to stop the Fulani violence against Christians. 

While referring to Adeboye on Twitter, former minister of culture and tourism Femi Fani-Kay, called on the church leader to "condemn and renounce [President Muhammadu Buhari]."

"If not this madness will NOT stop," he contended. 

Critics have also slammed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, an RCCG pastor, on social media.  

"Pastor Osinbajo of RCCG over to you. Is [President Muhammadu] Buhari still your Messiah? Do you still want us to be praying for the Fulani herdsmen?" Fani-Kay, wrote in another tweet. "How many more people do they have to slaughter and abduct before your eyes open?"  

Nigeria ranks as the 12th-worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA's 2019 World Watch List.

Fulani radicals are believed to have killed at least 2,400 people in predominantly Christian farming communities in 2018, according to data compiled by the nongovernmental organization International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law.

Recently, the Jubilee Campaign, another international human rights nongovernmental organization, submitted research and data to the International Criminal Court in an attempt to show that the standard for genocide has been reached in Nigeria. 

Time for the world to ACT on Fulani jihadists - President Buhari MUST be held accountable for their violence. He has done nothing but mouth out its herder-farmer conflict. What a load of crap - at times these so-called herdsmenare armed with AK-47 and in military fatigues. Remove him as head of state.   

TIME TO REMOVE THE Perak MB!!!

One too many gaffes by Perak MB

Mariam Mokhtar

 -

August 3, 2019 7:00 AM

From the time he entered office, in May 2018, Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu’s tenure has been plagued with ridicule and inconsistency.

Despite his gaffes, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has expressed satisfaction with the MB’s performance. However, Faizal went overboard with his recent statement that there was no such thing as Orang Asli “tanah adat”. That proved to be the last straw for many people.

As the head of the Perak government, he has access to some of the best legal brains in the state. He could contact the attorney-general’s office to sort out any technical matters or doubts. However, the statements issued from his office suggest that he is either surrounded by “yes-men” or that he has ignored his advisers.

When he first became MB, he horrified Perakians with his timid response towards a group of unruly Muslim NGOs. They had stormed into a grocery store in Manjoi, Ipoh, to demand the removal of alcoholic drinks. Their actions alarmed many businessmen. Many wondered if these thugs might next descend on their shops and scare away customers in a multiracial society.

In June, Faizal purchased a fleet of 16 new Toyota Camrys for members in his state executive council. This caused a public backlash because he had previously claimed that the state was short of money.

Last month, a group of vegetable farmers in Chemor was told to vacate state land which they had been cultivating for five decades. The MB had awarded their land to the Perak football team as a reward for beating Terengganu in 2018.

Last week, the MB rolled out a programme to provide jobs for the retired and elderly. He said they could work as nannies, but many grandparents are already looking after their own grandchildren.

He said they could also grow vegetables for sale, without realising that many of them are now living in apartment blocks.

He has ignored the hundreds of thousands of younger Perakians, who have sought jobs in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Many have also fled overseas because the local government does not know how to attract investors and retain the best workers.

Local and foreign tourists flock to Perak for its natural beauty, from the limestone hills and jungles to the seas. Despite that, the state has issued quarrying permits to blast the rocks and flatten the hills. Many important cave systems have been destroyed to provide materials for the cement industry.

The mining of sand in the seas off the coast of Perak will add to coastal erosion and threaten the fish, crustaceans and turtle-breeding areas. The fishermen have voiced their alarm. but their environmental concerns have been brushed aside.

We regularly read in the papers that the jungles are being cleared for monoculture. Tourists come to enjoy our rich diversity of plant and animal life, but industries like logging and mining pollute the rivers and waterways. The MB appears to have ignored all these important considerations.

A field officer of the Perak chapter of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has expressed alarm that the state had issued permits to two companies to clear an environmentally-sensitive area in the jungles of northern Perak. The jungle will be logged before it is replanted with rubber.

The previous week, a sickly tiger was caught in Terengganu. The beast, which was suffering from canine distemper, was transported to the National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Sungkai, Perak, to be nursed back to health, before it could be released back into the jungle. Sadly, the tiger died the following day.

When man encroaches into the jungles and clears the forests to practise monoculture, which is the planting of just one type of crop, such as oil palm or rubber, animals die.

At best, the animals will migrate deeper into the jungle. The tigers and elephants then have to share the small space with the other displaced animals. When there is too little space for them, they come out to forage in farmers’ orchards and kill the goats or chickens in their smallholdings.

Animals and many species of plants are not the only ones which suffer from the clearing of the rainforests. The Orang Asli, the true Bumiputeras, have found that their ancestral lands have been invaded by people who are alien to their beliefs and customs.

When the MB dismissed the rights of the Orang Asli to their ancestral land, he showed his ignorance of the laws of the land and what the courts have decided in their favour.

The combined efforts of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waytha Moorthy and Attorney-General Tommy Thomas may be too late to save the MB.

So, will Mahathir remove this MB and replace him with a more competent Pakatan Harapan candidate?

TIME TO REMOVE THE Perak MB. What is Mahathir think he ding - supporting an arrogant, egoistical person! The PH got MUST quickly remove him NOW!!! Probably  TIME for Dr. M. to go as well - his usefulness to getting PH govt. to success is much appreciated but he is going back to Mahathirism ways - not good for US ALL.

Putting profit before people in Perak - put this MB Ahmad Faizal Azumu out of office!

B

Putting profit before people in Perak

The impact of indiscriminate logging has serious consequences on the environment and on the Orang Asli, who live in the interior.

Last month, the Temiar people of Kampung Cunex in Perak Ulu, found that a blockade they set up to stop logging companies from removing felled trees had been breached. Violence ensued and some Orang Asli were kicked and assaulted by workers of the timber tycoon.

The Orang Asli say a police report was made, but the police denied receiving one.

A fortnight later, a second convoy of lorries arrived to collect more logs; this time they came with the police, as instructed by the Perak menteri besar. The police dismantled the barricade and the Orang Asli could only watch helplessly.

This was a classic case of bullying, with the resources and might of the state against the small man.

The Orang Asli have always maintained their rights over ancestral lands and say they did not give their permission for logging to take place. They are the guardians of the forest. They disapprove of logging and were not informed that the Perak menteri besar had given the logging companies the green light to resume logging after a brief lull.

The menteri besar, Ahmad Faizal Azumu, seems to have no clue about Orang Asli rights. He appears to have forgotten that the slopes of inner Kelantan have been laid bare, contributing to many environmental problems: surface run-off has turned rivers muddy and caused landslides and flooding.

Faizal seems to lack vision if he believes in the quick way to make money for the state by allowing logging. Perhaps, he just wants to cash in while there are still trees to fell.

He claimed that logging is critical to the Perak economy, but has failed to explain. The timber companies make millions, but the environment is destroyed. More importantly, the ancestral Orang Asli heartland is desecrated and their way of life destroyed.

There are less destructive ways to make money from the forest: eco-tourism could probably make far more money for Perak’s taxpayers than logging.

It is unclear if Faizal’s team has the wisdom to bring jobs and investment so that Perak could prosper and progress in the long-run, instead of resorting to short-term, desperate measures.

The Kampung Cunex story is a tragedy common to the forests of both east and west Malaysia. The original inhabitants of the land are slowly being hounded by those who should be protecting them: the state government.

Faizal has said he did not feel pressured by the demands of the Orang Asli that the state government approve customary rights over 12,456 hectares of forest. That land is part of the Air Chepam Forest Reserve in Hulu Perak, the Piah Forest Reserve (Kuala Kangsar) and government land in Mukim Kenering, Hulu Perak District.

The menteri besar claimed that the state government had been very lenient towards the Orang Asli, whom he accused of illegally occupying the land.

He said, without realising the irony of his words, “This is not a cowboy country, we have laws. So if there are people freely encroaching on government land without regard to law provisions, we need to take appropriate action. The government must be fair to everyone. Regardless who they are (sic), we have to take action (against those illegally encroaching on the land) but we will not demolish the Orang Asli houses immediately.”

But the Perak state government does not appear to recognise Orang Asli customary land rights.

The original Orang Asli village was well-established with a helicopter landing pad and clinic. The villagers were evacuated during the Second Emergency, but in 2011, the Temiar returned to their former village, as the promises of better conditions in their resettled area did not come to fruition.

What does Faizal mean by “cowboy country”? A lawless place?

Perhaps he should be told that Malaysia has signed the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and that the Pakatan Harapan government of which Faizal is a member, has said it will enforce this declaration.

Here is a reminder for the Perak government: the Kelantan state government was sued by the federal government for ignoring the rights of the Orang Asli.

So please do not ignore their rights.

PUT AN END TO THE MB fiasco.
   WHEN WILLTHE PH govt do the right thing and put this MB Ahmad Faizal Azumu out of office!!!

Zakir Naik and the radicalisation of Malaysia Baru - TIME TO GET ZAKIR NAIK OUT OF MALAYSIA

Zakir Naik and the radicalisation of Malaysia Baru

Dennis Ignatius

 -

May 1, 2019 10:15 AM

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, a warning by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) last month that Malaysia was becoming a hub for foreign militants has taken on added significance.

According to news reports, the IGP warned that the police had “uncovered a plan by foreign militants to use the country as a safe haven, transit and logistics centre, following the collapse of terrorist outfit Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).” Continuing, he said that the militants planned to marry local women to get spousal visas to enable them to live in Malaysia, or to remain in the country by attending educational institutions or by being involved in business.

The IGP’s warning should have immediately set off alarm bells but such is the state of denial in the country when it comes to religious radicalism that it passed almost without notice. Even the high security alert throughout the country announced by the IGP soon after the attacks in Sri Lanka – an indication of just how vulnerable we are – did not appear to have evoked much concern.

A favoured terrorist destination

Of course, Malaysia has long been a favourite destination for international terrorism. Some of the al-Qaeda operatives who planned the 9/11 attacks, for example, met in Kuala Lumpur. Since then, the growing number of both local and foreign jihadis being arrested in the country suggests that the problem has grown exponentially. And so, too, is the scope of their activities – from bomb-making and weapons smuggling to recruitment and fundraising.

The rising number of foreign jihadis in Malaysia is usually dismissed as simply a consequence of Malaysia’s good airlinks but the reality is far more worrying: they choose Malaysia because the local culture is increasingly tolerant of them. In fact, there is a sense among many local Muslims that it is their duty to assist anyone fighting for Islamic causes even though they might not necessarily agree with their methods. For this reason, foreign jihadis appear to have no problem finding refuge and support locally.

Not happening in a vacuum

Of course, all this is not happening in a vacuum but is taking place within the context of the growing radicalisation of our society. Thanks to decades of sustained Wahhabi indoctrination and infiltration, Malaysia is no longer the moderate country it once was although we continue to pretend it is. Despite a fatwa against it, Wahhabi theology is now the dominant force in the country and is being vigorously promoted in every school, every university and every government department, not to mention every religious establishment with predictable results. Ironically, while we boast about the success of our de-radicalisation programmes, the whole country is slowly being radicalised!

A recent survey, for example, revealed that one-fifth of students in major public universities believe that terrorism is an effective strategy to achieve an objective while 11% of Malaysians have a favourable view of IS. The dozens of young Malaysians who rushed off to join IS is but a manifestation of the slow process of radicalisation that has been underway in our society.

Paralysis in Putrajaya

Unfortunately, Putrajaya has thus far been unable or unwilling to provide the kind of decisive leadership that the situation demands.

There is widespread agreement, for example, that our education system has become a major precursor of religious extremism and intolerance but is Putrajaya willing to fight to wrest back our education system from the religionists who now dominate it? Do they even know how?

All they have done thus far is pander to the religious establishment by showering them with more money and ceding more and more legal and moral authority to them.

Even taking simple steps like strengthening immigration controls and reimposing visa requirements on Middle Eastern and other visitors seem too onerous, too fraught with danger to the risk-averse politicians in Putrajaya.

Sending the wrong signals

Nothing sums up the government’s lack of resolve on the issue of extremism more than the way it has managed the case of Zakir Naik – arguably one of the most controversial Wahhabi ideologues in the world today. He is so toxic that he has been banned by several countries and is now a fugitive from the Indian criminal justice system. Reports suggest that his teachings have inspired several jihadis including the ones who carried out attacks in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Everywhere he has gone, he has promoted nothing but division and social and religious strife.

And yet this is the man who is now held up as a role model in Malaysia Baru. Prime Minister Mahathir honoured him with a private meeting soon after he took office, the minister for religious affairs called him an “inspiration,” the Menteri Besar of Kedah welcomed him while the Perlis mufti is one of his staunchest supporters.

The PH government may not have given Naik permanent residence but they have given him something far more important – a level of credibility and respect that no other country has bestowed upon him. That, in itself, says a lot about the kind of nation we have become.

Of course, Mujahid has since backtracked on his comments and now says that he has not changed his position that Naik’s teachings are not suitable for Malaysia. If he really believes that, the very least he can do, as minister for religious affairs, is to publicly disassociate himself from Naik and work to have him removed from the country as speedily as possible. Anything short of that is simply intellectual dishonesty.

Mujahid and other PH leaders would also do well to note that Naik is not here simply to pass time or hide from justice in his own country; he is here to spread his hateful extremism and recruit followers to his cause. The very fact that one of his acolytes has just been arrested for insulting another faith should tell us something about the threat this man poses to our society. The longer he stays in Malaysia, the more people he recruits to his cause, the more dangerous he’ll become.

Non-Muslims, in particular, have every reason to detest Naik and other radical preachers because they (non-Muslims) are the principal targets. As the police have repeatedly warned, both foreign jihadis and local extremists tend to target non-Muslim places of worship. Naik himself has built his reputation on belittling other religions and promoting the view that non-Muslim places of worship have no place in Muslim countries.

But don’t expect the government to send him packing anytime soon. Naik has so skilfully woven his narrative into the fabric of Malay ethno-religious nationalism that his removal now would be seen as an assault on Islam, Malay rights and Malay civilisation. No Malay politician would dare do it. As it is, even the arrest of one of his proteges is deemed to be an affront to the Malays.

Malaysia Baru a passing phase

What all this says is that the Malaysia Baru that many of us are celebrating is simply a passing phase, a prelude to a more radical religious state. With no leader of consequence willing to defend the secular constitutional foundations of our nation, democracy’s days may well be numbered. The future, it seems, belongs to the likes of Zakir Naik.

TIME TO GET ZAKIR NAIK OUT OF MALAYSIA. SAUDI ARABIA HAS ALREADY INVITED HIM TO STAY THERE - WHY IS HE LINGERING IN M'SIA???