“It’s a terrorist attack. It’s an Islamist terrorist attack. And we need to call it out for what it is,” says Mahadevan Shankar, Indian origin entrepreneur based in Brisbane, Australia.
He was a guest on The Gist, offering a perspective on the Bondi Beach killings and believes that this attack has been coming for a while and there have been warnings.
“For the past 12 to 24 months, anti-Semitic attacks have been happening, the synagogues have been attacked. A lot of Jewish leaders have been targeted. Some of their houses have come under attack with graffiti, and death threats have been made. In fact, the Israeli government has been sending out quite a bit of Intel inputs, also warning that things are going to happen.”
But for whatever reason, the government of Prime Minister Albanese ignored or looked the other way, even as pro-Palestine protests swept the country, those protests turned into hate, then hate crimes and terrorism began showing its true colours.
Over a decade ago, “When George Brandis, the former attorney general of Australia, was in Washington, DC, he had mentioned that conservatively, more than 200 Australian citizens had volunteered to go and fight with ISIS in Syria.”
Others close to him had even given the figure of 1000.
But Shankar’s point is, if even 200 Australian citizens fought for ISIS, it means an ecosystem exists in the country where people are likely being radicalised or even indoctrinated.
Important to note that Australian intelligence agencies had Sajid Akram and his son Navid on their radar but somewhere they fell off, despite warnings that the son was being brainwashed at a particular mosque in Sydney.
“The people who were preaching hate and pretty much preaching killing infidels, slit their throats, and that kind of rhetoric was being used there. You can imagine he’s one of many who have attended that place. So yeah, it’s it’s pretty ghastly.”
A 10-year-old girl Matilda who was among those killed, was the child of Ukrainian parents who, ironically, had fled their native land to escape the Russian invasion. They had moved to Australia for a better life, or so they thought.
Tune in for more in this conversation with Mahadevan Shankar, Indian origin entrepreneur from Brisbane.
Thirty eight years in journalism, widely travelled, history buff with a preference for Old Monk Rum. Current interest/focus spans China, Technology and Trade. Recent reads: Steven Colls Directorate S and Alexander Frater's Chasing the Monsoon. Netflix/Prime video junkie. Loves animal videos on Facebook. Reluctant tweeter.
