Asia Times: Questions remain after martial arts cult's surrender


	July 8, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Questions remain after martial arts cult's surrender
By Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia - Malaysians heaved a collective sigh of relief after the surrender Thursday of a daring cult gang which was alleged to have hauled away arms from two army camps. But questions still linger as to whether those caught were actually decoys for a larger group with a broader agenda, despite the authorities' assurances that all the weapons have been recovered.

For more than four days, the gunmen linked to a shadowy mystical Islamic cult group held out in their jungle camp and gripped Malaysians in suspense as security forces cordoned off the area. Earlier on Sunday, the audacious successive raids on the two army camps in the northern state of Perak had stunned the nation.

The arms raiders, posing as senior military brass carrying out a spot check, duped sentries on duty at the two camps and carted away enough weapons and ammunition to equip a small army: about 100 assault rifles, 10 machine guns, 5 grenade launchers, 60 mortar shells, and several thousand rounds of ammunition.

Security forces soon zoomed in on a gang on a small hill in the village of Sauk, not far from the two camps, after the three Pajero jeeps used in the raid were found conspicuously parked nearby. A tense standoff then followed during which sporadic gunfire shattered the tranquillity of the area. The security forces, perhaps haunted by the bloodshed during a crackdown on another cult in 1985, this time exercised more restraint and used relatives of the gang members to appeal for a surrender.

But it was only after the authorities issued an ultimatum and crack anti-terrorist commandos advanced that the gang members, led by a former serviceman, finally surrendered. The final toll: 27 gang members surrendered, five of them injured; 15 other members of the martial arts group in other towns detained without trial under the Internal Security Act; two hostages - a secret police officer and a soldier - murdered; and two others freed.

The arms raid and the subsequent standoff shocked a nation more accustomed to tracking the ups and downs of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's Composite Index. The bizarre sequence of events puzzled Malaysians, many of whom had felt that the raiders would have fled as far away from the camps as possible. All sorts of theories abounded - some said it was a conspiracy to distract attention from local political events, others said the raiders were hired mercenaries working for arms dealers or guerrilla insurgency groups in neighboring countries.

Immediately after the raid, the authorities suggested that it could be politically motivated. Finally, they and the media pointed their fingers at Al-Ma'unah (Brotherhood of Inner Power), a shadowy martial arts group whose red-and-white turbaned members were said to have almost mystical powers. The group apparently was aiming to set up an Islamic state in Malaysia.

Photographs on the group's website showed group members placing their hands in a wok of hot oil as part of an endurance test. The martial arts training focuses on basic calisthenics and breathing techniques, which are used to harness what is described as an internal force in the body. Once this power is awakened, members believe they can freeze an enemy on the spot or hypnotize a violent aggressor.

Questions still linger over how the group, attired in military uniforms, managed to haul weapons away from the two camps in typical Hollywood style. It was deeply embarrassing for Defense Minister Najib Razak, coming hot on the heels of the unresolved kidnapping of Malaysian and foreign tourists from Sipidan by the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines. While the siege was underway, there were calls for Najib to be held accountable and even for his resignation.

Some analysts believe that the prevailing feudal mentality explains the ease in which the gang pulled rank on the sentries before raiding camps armories. "It is a sad story of human beings being reduced to unthinking, uncritical subservient robots ever ready to please and to obey authority," says social activist P Ramakrishnan. "This is what our society has come to be."

The incident in Sauk is the latest in a series in which Islamic cults have been neutralized in peninsular Malaysia.

In 1980, police shot dead an armed band of eight Muslim extremists led by a so-called Imam Mahadi after the group had attacked the Batu Pahat district police headquarters, injuring 23 police and civilians.

In 1985, in a confrontation dubbed the "Memali incident" four police personnel and 14 followers of a cult leader, Ibrahim Libya, were killed in a police operation at a village called Memali Ceruk Putih in northern Kedah state, not far from Sauk. Police detained 159 people, including women and children.

More recently, in 1990, authorities forced a popular Islamic group, Al-Arqam, to disband for spreading "deviant teachings". Its leader, Abuya Ashaari Muhammad, and many of his followers were detained under the Internal Security Act. Ashaari later confessed on television that he had been misguided.

The tension of the past few days may have subsided, but many more searching questions will be asked. Given the lax security at the camps, a shake-up in the military hierarchy may be on the cards and Najib's days in the Defense portfolio could well be numbered.

(Special to Asia Times Online)

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