Muslim
mothers should be equipped with resources and education to watch out for
changes in their children's behaviour.
A dialogue that does not engage all
members of the community is a dialogue that is incomplete, as will be the
solutions developed to address the issue of Islamic radicalisation of
Australian youths.
The fatal shooting earlier this month of an Australian Federal Police employee
in Sydney by a 15-year-old Australian, who in turn was killed by police, has
added fuel to the national dialogue on Islamic radicalisation of Australian
youths. However, for a dialogue on Islamic radicalisation to be truly
effective, a wide cross-section of the community needs to be consulted to
develop strategies for combating the aggressive campaign being conducted by
organisations such as Islamic State in grooming and recruiting Australian
youths.
What is
noticeably missing from this dialogue are the mothers' voices, the voices of
the Australian mothers, the mothers who have already lost their children to IS
and those who might be at risk of losing their children to IS in the
future.
The
risk of not engaging with these Australian mothers is that we do not equip these
mothers to detect and act on the early signs of Islamic radicalisation.
The fatal
shooting of another radicalised Australian youth who stabbed two police
officers in Endeavour Hills in Melbourne in 2014 was followed by reports of the
youth's father and brother attending the inquest into the young man's death.
There was no mention of the mother. Where was the mother? Was she still alive?
Was she grieving behind the scenes? Did her religious beliefs and practices
prevent her from attending the public forum? Did journalists try to speak to
her? Does she understand and speak English? Was she silenced from speaking out?
Is there a forum for her to express her viewpoint and grief? Did she suspect
her child was at risk of becoming radicalised?
Both Malcolm
Turnbull and Tony Abbott before him made a point of reaching out to leaders of
the Muslim communities – notably all men. Australian male Muslim leaders, that
is, representatives from Islamic councils and organisations and mosques, have
appeared in the media, including on programs such as the ABC's Q&A,
to discuss the topic of youth radicalisation. Muslim youths of both genders
have also participated in these dialogues. However, I am yet to hear the voice
of an Australian mother who has lost her child or is at risk of losing a child
to Islamic radicalisation, and which in turn is most likely to lead to the sad
outcome of their untimely death.
What access to resources do these mothers have if they suspect their child is
at risk of Islamic radicalisation, without fearing repercussions at home,
incarceration from their own community and the larger Australian community,
both for themselves and their loved ones? Do we have Muslim policewomen in the
Australian Federal Police who are able to engage in conversations with these
mothers? Is there a lead "auntie" among them who is being trained to
provide these mothers with resources and education to watch out for changes in
their children's behaviour?
For those
mothers who have already suffered the loss of a child, how are they pulling
themselves from the sense of loss, shock, despair, disbelief and grief?
The risk of
not engaging with these Australian mothers – the mothers who are, I
suspect, largely responsible for washing the youths' clothes, feeding them,
watching over their emotional state, including monitoring any changes – is
that we do not equip these mothers to detect and act on the early signs of
Islamic radicalisation. Additionally, the leaders of the community could be
shutting the doors to a useful source of information and a resource for
preventing senseless deaths of both our youth and innocent members of our
community.
A dialogue
that does not engage all members of the community is a dialogue that is
incomplete, as will be the solutions developed to address the issue of Islamic
radicalisation of Australian youths.
In
expressing this opinion, I must admit I do not have children. Islam is my birth
religion but I am not a practising Muslim, although I happily embrace all
opportunities that allow me to savour cuisine that marks the celebration of
events such as the two Eids in the Islamic calendar. I have access to only a
small sub-group of Muslims from the Bangladeshi community in Melbourne, where
my parents reside and where I grew up. I note that the Bangladeshi Muslim
community group in Melbourne is a heterogeneous group exercising a diverse range
of Islamic piety. Oh, and yes, I am no longer a youth. I live and work in
Canberra.
Kishwar Rahman is a consultant based
in Canberra.
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