IT is unlikely that the two Rohingya nabbed by police over alleged planned terror plots were trying to avenge firefighter Muhammad Adib Muhammad Kassim’s death, said a human rights research group.

Think-tank Iman Research said Adib’s death does not appear to fit in with the larger Islamic State narrative of seeking to establish a caliphate in the region.

“As such, Iman feels that the connection between the foiled attacks and the tragedy of Adib’s death needs to be re-examined,” it said in a statement today.

Iman also urged “caution and pragmatism” in associating Rohingya refugees with terror networks.

It was reported that four men were arrested by the police’s Counter Terrorism Division (E8) last week.

Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador had said a group of individuals loyal to IS were part of a locally organised “wolf pack” plotting to assassinate VIPs and launch attacks on non-Muslim places of worship in the Klang Valley.

The attacks were purportedly planned in retaliation for Adib’s death during the Seafield temple fracas late last year, over which an inquest is currently being held.

“We are particularly concerned about the involvement of two Rohingyan individuals in the ‘wolf pack’. There is a need to be careful and delicate in deliberating this issue in an attempt to properly understand the plight of the Rohingya community, who have been on Malaysian soil over the last 40 years.

“Our findings indicate that the Rohingya community in Malaysia is largely concerned with their own grievances and day-to-day struggles of living as refugees. It is uncharacteristic of them to become entangled in local issues.

“At the same time, however, we acknowledge that current issues in Malaysia can and will be utilised by local hard-liners or extremists to garner sympathy and amass a blind following among disenfranchised communities.”

Iman said incidents with racial overtones, such as Adib’s death, could be manipulated by extremist groups to incite hatred among the different communities here and encourage further attacks on Malaysian soil.

Iman called on cooperation between government agencies, civil society groups and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, saying it was “crucial” to understand the relation between refugees and violent extremist groups.

“We are also wary that the Rohingya community in the country, who are an Islamic minority, are vulnerable to exploitation by terror groups such as IS, and could be recruited or used as a means for such groups to establish a base in Rakhine state.”

Iman founder Dina Zaman said the recent police action risks “casting shadows on a vulnerable community, (which) worsens their plight as refugees already persecuted back home”. – May 14, 2019.