Terror Resurfaces In Bali

Saturday's suicide strike in tourism's paradise, Bali, was the second in less than three years and a grim reminder to the civilized world that terrorism is alive and kicking.

This time, most of the victims were local residents, a fact that is not insignificant. If Australians count October 24, 2002, as their 9/11, then for the indigenous Hindus of Bali, Saturday, October 1, was certainly a date that will live in infamy. Before using the usual Al Qaeda broad brush on the latest incident, we ought to reflect on the historical background of Islamist fundamentalism in Indonesia which has threatened the country's composite culture even in the pre-9/11 era.

It is another matter that terrorism in Indonesia did not get adequate attention, thanks to the tendency of international opinion building powerhouses to make a distinction between terrorists striking Anglo-Saxons as 'dangerous', and those killing the rest with impunity, as 'tolerable'. The West woke up to the South-East Asian variety of Islamist terrorism only after the October 2002 bombings because of the similarities between their techniques and the West Asian strain that policy makers in Washington DC and London were familiar with. But it was easily overlooked that Al Qaeda played only the role of financier. There was already a reservoir of radical Islam in Indonesia, which needed no real impetus to get back to work.

Islam was the rallying flag for resistance to Dutch colonizers in the 18th century and fidayeen attacks were recorded even then. In fact, there has been so much glorification of those 'martyrs' in the officially prescribed texts of modern Indonesia that the lingering glamour of becoming shaheed for Islam has become a magnet for the masses of unemployed youth driven to extreme poverty by the Suharto regime. The Hindus of Bali, who have retained their links with tradition for centuries, are now beginning to feel the brunt.

Despite the Megawati Sukarnoputri regime's best attempts to preserve the distinct identity of the indigenous Hindus - there is even a separate Ministry for special focus on their development - fundamentalist Muslims have persisted with their campaign to bring them under Dar-ul-Islam. Meanwhile, in neighboring Philippines, Christians have been similarly targeted. This carries the signature of classical intolerance to diversity which plagued South-East Asia even before Al Qaeda emerged before the West as a potent threat.

Yet, we cannot ignore the obvious implications of Bali-II. Al Qaeda now has an operation spanning half the globe. It has struck thrice within the past three months and holds out the threat to kill and maim many more. Four years since the much-hyped launch of America's war against terror, the world is none the wiser on the length, breadth and depth of the scale of international Islamist terrorism.

A good way to revive the old temper would be to force the United States to listen to all the people affected by the scourge. The problem today is not so much a lack of will by Governments to fight terror, but the utter lack of coordination. Each theatre of terror has its own uniqueness which must be factored into the worldwide campaign.