Tag: terrorists

Captured And Tortured By Terrorists, Pakistani Sought Solace In Radio Broadcasts Of Manchester United Games

Shahbaz Taseer, the son of a Pakistani politician, has spoken out about his four years in captivity.

Mr Taseer was seized by gunmen in Lahore in August 2011, months after his father Salman was killed for opposing Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

He told the BBC he was “tortured badly” while being held – but that he found solace in listening to Manchester United matches on the radio.

He said he was eventually released by a senior member of the Afghan Taliban.

Mr Taseer was reunited with his family in March, but has not spoken out about his experience in captivity until now, amid unanswered questions over how he was freed or whether a ransom was paid.

He says he was held by Uzbek militants, before eventually being passed to the Taliban.

Recounting the day he was captured, Mr Taseer told the BBC’s Today Programme: “I was ambushed by about five men… My first instinct was they were going to kill me.”

“They drugged me five minutes after abducting me. I passed out – they had beaten me up very badly because I was moving and screaming while being drugged.”

While held by Uzbek militants, he says he was “tortured badly”, and that he and his captors “could never relate to each other”.

“I didn’t want a friendship. I was [categorical] – you’ve done this for money, you’ve ruined my life. You’re not going to find me being gracious at even a piece of bread you throw me.”

However, he and his guard did find common ground – because they were both Manchester United fans.

“I would listen to these Manchester United games every Saturday and Sunday on the radio on BBC. My guard, he was a Manchester United fan, but for him [listening to the games] was a sin.”

They would listen to the matches together in secret, Mr Taseer said, and celebrate the goals together in silence.

“Can you imagine, you’re watching a game, your team scores, and everybody screams, but here we are air jamming our celebrations.”

However, the two were not friends, Mr Taseer said. “For me, [listening to the matches] was [for my] sanity, to listen to something about the world.”

Mr Taseer said his ordeal ended after he was taken prisoner by the Afghan Taliban, who eventually let him go.

“I found someone who was senior Afghan Taliban – he worked some magic, organised for me to meet a few motorcyclists who had no idea who I was. I just got on the back of the motorcycle and came to Pakistan.”

He said being back home, “to wake up and have breakfast with my mother, and see her face”, was “the most unbelievable feeling”.

Source: www.bbc.com

May 18, 2016
Bangladeshi Workers Worried They Can’t Pray Together

Some Bangladeshi workers sporting a beard are perceived as terrorists.

Others are not allowed to have their meals together – a measure some companies have taken to prevent any sharing of propaganda material among workers, said Mr A.K.M. Mohsin (photo), editor of Banglar Kantha, Singapore’s only Bengali newspaper.

With Ramadan coming up next month, the workers are now worried they will not be able to pray together.

Such is the impact that the latest spate of arrests and detentions of Bangladeshi workers under the Internal Security Act has had on the community, said Mr Mohsin.

Late last year, 27 Bangladeshi men were arrested and deported for terror links and possession of material on terrorist propaganda.

Last month, another eight men were detained under the Internal Security Act. Five others were repatriated.

Mr Mohsin, 52, explained: “Ninety-five per cent of the Bangladeshi workers here are Muslim, and most are very pious.

“They grow beards to emulate the actions of Prophet Muhammad, who is believed to have had a beard. But now they feel that if they follow their religion closely, people here will think that they are terrorists.”

As someone who runs Dibashram – a space for migrant workers here to get together for cultural activities and fellowship – Mr Mohsin is concerned about the plight of the Bangladeshi workers after the high-profile arrests.

“We should allow them to spend their weekends on recreational activities so they don’t have time to do bad things, or be involved in ridiculous discussions (that are held to radicalise).

“We should think of migrant workers as human beings, not machines,” he said.

WORRIED FOR HIS CHILDREN

As a father of three daughters aged six, 16 and 18, he is also concerned about how his children will be affected by the news.

“Like other parents, I’m worried about how Singaporeans will look at my children in another way. Actually, (these arrests) bring a lot of shame to us,” he said quietly.

Mr Mohsin is expected to meet the Singapore Bangladesh Society today to come up with some measures to improve the situation.

“Today, I told some of them (in the society) that we come forward to do something only when an incident like this happens. After that, we stop. That is no good. We have to continue our efforts to the migrant workers here,” he said.

Singapore ‘not exempted’ from radicalisation sweeping world

The wave of radicalisation is sweeping through the world and our region – and Singapore is not exempted, said Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam (right) yesterday afternoon.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a closed-door event at Temasek Polytechnic.

On Tuesday, the Home Affairs Ministry revealed that eight radicalised Bangladeshi men were detained last month under the Internal Security Act for plotting terror attacks in their own country.

They would meet in parks or open fields, and share large amounts of radical propaganda and videos. (See report below)

Another five investigated under the ISA were repatriated.

“These people had wanted to go to the Middle East but they couldn’t and so they were looking at other means.

“We could have been a target because they were prepared to attack anywhere.

“If they had been directed to attack in Singapore, they would have attacked in Singapore.

“So it shows the seriousness. It brings home again Paris, Jakarta… (the threat) is here to stay,” said Mr Shanmugam.

Adding that material on bomb-making and sniper rifles were recovered on detainees, he said: “You and I don’t go do research on those… so yes, there is a concern.”

We could have been a target because they were prepared to attack anywhere. If they had been directed to attack in Singapore, they would have attacked in Singapore.

– Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam

5 things to know about the detainees

Eight Bangladeshis, who called themselves the Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB), were detained last month under the Internal Security Act (ISA), and another five were repatriated, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Tuesday. Here are five things you need to know about the detainees:

1 ISB’s leader was radicalised in 2013

Rahman Mizanur, 31, had been working on and off in Singapore since 2007. When he last came to Singapore last December, the authorities had no information to suggest that Rahman had radicalised views.

At the time of his arrest, he was working as a draftsman in a construction firm.

The seeds of terrorism were first sown in Rahman in 2013 when he read radical material online. He became more radicalised after a fellow Bangladeshi shared the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) propaganda material with him last year in Bangladesh.

2 ISB was a structured organisation

Members were given specific roles, such as leader and deputy leader, and were assigned responsibilities like managing the finances.

They would usually meet at parks or open fields and would share large amounts of radical propaganda and videos.

ISB was the first group comprising all foreigners to be detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities in Singapore, said MHA.

3 Detainees had at least three years’ work experience here

When the eight detainees first came to work here, they were not known to be radicalised or involved in terrorism-related activities.

Each of them had worked here for between three and 10 years in the construction and marine industries. The authorities found no significant concentration in any particular company or accommodation.

The workers were arrested between late March and early April and were issued with two-year Orders of Detention late last month.

Five other workers who were repatriated – Evan Galib Hassan Chowdhury, Rana Masud, Pailot Md Rana Miea, Islam Tanjemul and Alomgir Md – were not part of the ISB, said MHA. But they possessed or proliferated jihadi-related materials, or supported the use of armed violence in pursuit of a religious cause.

4 Funds raised by ISB were members’ own contributions

At the time of the arrests, money was seized from the detainees.

MHA said the funds raised were from the members’ own contributions. The members had intended to use the funds to buy firearms for their planned terror attacks, but are not known to have acted yet.

Several of them may be prosecuted for terrorism-financing, and investigations are ongoing.

5 There is no link between ISB and the Bangladeshi nationals arrested last year

Some of the eight detainees chanced upon members of the radical religious group who were deported for terror links last year, but there is no indication that the eight detainees from ISB were part of this group. The Bangladeshi nationals in both incidents were not known to have been targeting Singapore at the time of their arrests.

Source: www.tnp.sg

May 6, 2016
MUIS: Ideologi ISIS Masih Terus Jadi Ancaman Serious

PENANGKAPAN terkini satu lagi kumpulan pekerja Bangladesh menunjukkan ISIS dan ideologi pengganas terus menimbulkan ancaman serius.

Demikian menurut satu kenyataan Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (Muis), semalam.

Meskipun adanya penangkapan ini, Muis berkata pengalaman pihaknya dengan pekerja Bangladesh selalunya positif.

Ramai pekerja Bangladesh menyumbang masa dan tenaga sebagai relawan di masjid bersama-sama dengan relawan setempat yang lain.

“Misalnya semasa bulan Ramadan, mereka membantu menyiapkan makanan dan buka bersama para jemaah yang lain,” kata Muis.

Ia menambah bahawa masjid akan terus menyambut kedatangan Muslim daripada pelbagai latar belakang dan kerakyatan bagi program keagamaan dan kelas yang dijalankan guru agama bertauliah di bawah Skim Pengiktirafan Asatizah (ARS).

Muis telah bekerjasama dengan Persatuan Bangladesh Singapura untuk meneroka lebih banyak inisiatif bagi menyokong pekerja Bangladesh dalam kehidupan sosio-agama mereka dan berintegrasi dengan masyarakat setempat.

Muis juga menekankan pentingnya masyarakat Muslim Singapura terus berwaspada dan tidak membenarkan sebarang ajaran yang menggalak keganasan dan ekstremis berlaku dalam masyarakat.

Source: www.beritaharian.sg

May 4, 2016
Controversial Columnist Ridhuan Tee Abdullah Denied Entry Into Singapore, Claimed Treated Like Terrorist

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — Controversial columnist Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah has complained that Singapore immigration officials treated him like a terrorist when they recently refused to allow him into the republic.

In his column on Malay-language daily Sinar Harian, the Muslim convert said his photograph and thumbprint were taken at Singapore’s land checkpoint at Woodlands when he and a friend recently travelled to the neighbouring country on personal business.

“I was treated like a terrorist. My photograph and thumbprint were taken,” Tee wrote in his column today titled “Know the true enemies of Islam”.

“After more than two hours of questioning, I received a letter saying I was not allowed to go there. There was no reason given. But I am confident that it was due to my comments on the ‘ultra kiasu’,” he said.

He said it was no loss not being able to go to Singapore, but added: “I just want to remind how dangerous the ‘ultra kiasu’ are”.

“Ultra kiasu” is a term Tee constantly uses on the DAP, a predominantly Chinese opposition party, but he has also applied it to other groups, including Christians and Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese.

The Chinese Muslim has repeatedly criticised the Chinese minority in Malaysia, labelling them as “racist” and “ultra kiasu” for not showing gratitude towards the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

In Tee’s column today, he again accused the “ultra kiasu” of trying to manipulate Muslims to bury PAS and claimed that Malays in Singapore were not given decision-making positions or posts in the police, immigration or army.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

March 22, 2016
MUIS: Dapatkan Nasihat Jika Mahu Menuntut Di Luar Negara

TIMBALAN Pengarah Pejabat Mufti Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (Muis), Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir:

“Kami menggesa Muslim di Singapura yang mahu mendalami Islam agar mendapatkan panduan dan nasihat daripada asatizah yang diiktiraf.

“Bagi mereka yang ingin belajar di institusi luar negara, harap dapatkan nasihat Muis dan kami akan memberikan panduan dan sokongan sewajarnya berkaitan institusi luar negara yang sesuai bagi pengajian Islam.

“Kami juga ingin menggalakkan ibu bapa dan anggota keluarga agar memainkan peranan lebih aktif membimbing mereka yang disayangi, dalam mendapatkan sumber pengajian Islam yang sepatutnya.

“Sebagai sebuah masyarakat, kita harus kekal berjaga-jaga terhadap elemen pelampau dalam masyarakat. Kita harus terus menegakkan ajaran Islam yang relevan bagi keperluan kontemporari dan yang sesuai dengan kehidupan berbilang agama di Singapura

“Muis, dengan kerjasama masjid dan institusi setempat, telah memperkenalkan pelbagai program pengajian Islam seperti aLive dan ADIL (pengajian Islam bagi dewasa) yang bertujuan memenuhi objektif ini.”

Source: www.beritaharian.sg

March 17, 2016