Are ‘radicalised youth’ only Muslim?
by Yasmin Khan
Speech delivered to the Canada-Australia Symposium on Radicalisation of Youth, 11 February, 2016.
Radicalisation is a process by which an individual or group comes to adopt increasingly extreme political, social, or religious ideals and aspirations that:
- reject or undermine the status quo, or
- reject and/or undermine contemporary ideas and expressions of freedom of choice.
Now that’s a fairly innocuous understanding of the word radicalisation and because of its subtlety all of you in this room could be called radicalised individuals.
For those of us who say that women shouldn’t cover their face with a niqaab we are undermining an expression of freedom of choice. Radical.
For those that say that mosques shouldn’t be built, apart from being unconstitutional it’s also undermining freedom of choice. Radical.
For those that want to ban abortion clinics, radical. Stop immigration, radical. Pauline Hanson, radical. The United Patriots Front, radical. Hizbut Tahir, radical. Exclusive Brethren, radical.
We all have radical thoughts and depending on which side of the spectrum you come from, your radicalisation is never as bad as the other — it’s all about perspective.
During Prophet Mohammed’s (PBUH) time at the start of the Islamic civilisation, Arabia and its’ surrounds experienced changes that they had never seen before. The Prophet introduced major social changes within that world — women had a choice in marriage, had ownership of their dowry, could inherit property, paganism was abolished, a social security system was introduced, usury was outlawed, alcohol was banned, men were limited to four wives if they could afford it, the idea of slavery was challenged and changed, female infanticide was abolished, state taxes were introduced, a constitution was initiated that protected freedom of religion, security of the individual, security of the community, and a judicial system.
He was radical in his views and thoughts but he had legitimate concerns and was able to exercise his thoughts into deeds that benefitted that society and mankind in general.
Throughout history radicals in the west have:
- changed slavery,
- women’s right to vote,
- minimum wage,
- the 40-hour week,
- indigenous rights,
- equal rights.
Pankhurst, King, Brown, Washington, Kennedy were all radicals who changed society for the better.
So radicalisation in itself is not the bogey man. People having unpopular thoughts, and expressing those thoughts is not a state of alarm. It is a sign of a liberal, democratic, free society. But that society must be a just society, a fair society. It can’t continue to allow hate and vitriol to go unpunished and unchecked, but allow a 14 year old Muslim kid, who does a Google search on terrorism or the Palestine Israel conflict, to immediately end up on a government watch list. (After the research I’ve done on this speech — no doubt my metadata has put me a few notches up the watch list too, I think!)
When we talk about misguided Imam’s that preach against Australian values, we vilify them, and rightly so, but are we quick with our vilification when Danny Nalliah can suggest that bushfires and floods are because of abortion laws or Kevin Rudd’s rebuff of Israel. They should both be condemned for their stupidity.
Terming people radicalised youth and expecting everyone to become the thought police only seeks to further alienate them. If young people can’t go to schools and universities and have open, frank, honest debates, talks and arguments about provocative issues — especially when universities are considered a hotbed of radical thought — without the suspicion of being dobbed in, then it makes it more difficult for those of us in the community to educate and enlighten them with dialogue, free thought, rationality and common sense.
But let’s have a look at some real life examples of how youth are treated differently.
Daniel Fing is a troubled young man who has been to jail for planting a bomb in his girlfriend’s car in 2006, and was sentenced to 4 years jail. In 2014 a property he’s renting in Pullenvale, in Brisbane’s western suburbs is found to have 50 kilograms of explosives. The same explosives used in the London Bombing — there are maps of underground rail systems and Queensland Police bomb squad and Defence Force personnel have had to have seventeen controlled detonations to clear the area of explosives. Daniel is not charged.
Let’s look at another troubled young man — Farhad Mohammed — the murderer of NSW Police employee, Curtis Cheng in Sydney late last year. Farhad was 15 and he unfortunately shot a man and in the return fire was shot himself. Let me quote from the ABC news report online at that time from the NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione:
“We believe his actions were politically motivated and therefore linked to terrorism … We have no information that this individual posed this type of threat but we will investigate thoroughly.”
So here we have the Police Commissioner before there is a final investigation stating that his actions are linked to terrorism. They didn’t know much about him apart from his ethnicity and his name and address — and remember he’s dead so he can’t be interrogated — but here’s a young kid dressed in cultural dress and immediately his actions are politically motivated and therefore linked to terrorism! There is no evidence, no motivation, nothing and yet, the guy with the 50 kilograms of explosives, he’s not charged!
I am not for one moment suggesting that we should dismiss plots to blow up landmarks or the murder of innocent people. Not at all . I want you to get them , I want you to hunt them down, I want you to prosecute them and I want you to jail them. But I also want you to be just as diligent with other suspected criminals who have conventional, every day names.
Why is having radical thoughts, or espousing those thoughts so threatening when drug dealers, who destroy the very fabric of society for many, many years, are treated so leniently. I want you to treat them all for the criminals they are regardless of their motivation as if that justifies it just as you would if Daniel Fing’s name was Ahmed.
Of the raids that have happened where eight hundred or so armed police, followed by media crews have raided houses across Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. We’ve seen very few people taken into custody and those that have are in isolation and/or supermax prisons. And yet every day, on average, eighty people die from drugs, every single day, in Australia!
Let’s see a few more.
Ashley Dyball arrived in Melbourne, last year, after reportedly fighting with the Kurdish YPG militia group Lions of Rojava as part of the Syrian conflict.
Under Australian law it is illegal for anyone in Australia, including Australian citizens and dual citizens, to travel to certain declared areas in Syria (unless it is solely for a legitimate purpose) or provide any kind of support to any armed group in Syria.
That includes engaging in fighting for either side, funding, training or recruiting someone to fight in the conflict, supplying or funding weapons for either side and giving funds or financial assets to either side.
Ashley Dyball walked free.
Matthew Gardiner, the 43 year old ex-Army former Northern Territory Labor official, who allegedly travelled overseas to help Kurdish forces, returned to his home in Darwin in early April. He was questioned by the AFP on his return but not charged.
George Khamis, the Melbourne father of two returned to Australia in March after travelling to Iraq allegedly to join an Assyrian militia group, fighting against IS. He was questioned in Abu Dhabi and on his return to Australia was not charged.
Ashley Johnston, 28 year old former Army reservist originally from Queensland was killed in February fighting with Kurdish forces. The Kurdish community in Sydney held a funeral in his honour in April.
Reece Harding, 23 left his home in the Gold Coast in May and was killed by a land mine in Syria in June during an operation with Kurdish forces. His family believed he was doing humanitarian work.
It’s these double standards that alienate kids, these hypocrisies that make kids feel on the outer, and it’s unfortunate when it’s your own government doing it, supporting it, encouraging it and systemically ingraining it.
We have to be just for all citizens, we have to treat all citizens with the same brand of justice. The rules are there, the legislation is there, the enforcement agencies are there so let’s not discriminate by racial profiling.
But, I say to the Muslim youth and the Muslim community at large, stop playing the victim and stop being reactive. Whilst there are some issues, and yes there some double standards and we need to call it out , we also need to call out our own. I have no sympathy for you, in the current climate, if you get caught with evidence that is going to see you go to jail for a long time. Don’t try to justify your actions — you won’t win.
You have to step up. You talk about inadequate leadership in the community ? Put your hand up — be your own leader. Learn your religion and I sincerely mean that — really learn your religion, understand the beauty of Islam. Islam is not about rituals, it’s not about a particular style of dress, it’s a code of ethics to live a good life.
No matter how disaffected you think you are (and believe me at 15 and 16, you are not mature enough to understand anything) there are ways and means in this country to protest and let your voice be heard rather than planning some dire act where people are going to die most probably yourself and believe me, you won’t be a martyr.
Don’t tell your girls they have a different standard to meet and let your boys stay out all night up to no good. Don’t talk about not buying a house because you don’t want to deal in interest, and then make shady deals, renege on your word, and cheat the system. Don’t tell the world that a woman has a right to choose when and if she wears a hijab, and then make it a mandatory uniform in your schools.
Be the leader yourself. Be the best Muslim you can be — that embodies the best of Islam, with the ideals of compassion, mercy, integrity, honesty, justice, softness, humility and piety.
This country allows you to be the best Muslim you can be. This country is more Islamic in its attitudes than the so called Islamic countries in the world. People are free to dress and pray how they want, where the government doesn’t command you a standard of dress, a level of education, a social system where the poor have no safety net, and a gender segregated community. All the things that Islam implores us to have: equality, justice, charity, freedom. They’re all here.
Muslims have contributed much to this country for many hundreds of years . It’s time many of us stopped segregating ourselves and enjoyed the liberties that this country offers, none of which interferes with our right to live to the best of our religious ideals.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
YASMIN KHAN
Yasmin Khan is a fifth generation cane farmer’s daughter from North Queensland. Her family have been in Australia for nearly 150 years and were the main family involved in the building of the Holland Park Mosque, the oldest mosque in Queensland. Yasmin was a founding member of the Cairns and Townsville Islamic Societies.
Yasmin is a dedicated community advocate and has worked in the media and politics. She is in demand as a public speaker on Islam, Women, and Domestic Violence issues. She represented the Muslim community on the Prime Minister’s Muslim Reference Group after September 11, and has been involved in community liaison for many years.
She is the current Multicultural Ambassador for Queensland, the Vice President of the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland, an Australia Day Award Recipient, Past President of the Islamic Women’s Association, and the founder and President of the Queensland Eidfest Association which has organised the multi award winning Eidfest for 11 years and now runs a community centre for women experiencing Domestic Violence.
Yasmin is also Australian Football League (AFL) Multicultural Ambassador 2015/2016, and 2015 Multicultural Ambassador of the Asian Cup. She is also a qualified Justice of the Peace (JP).
