Lest it be forgotten, Asia is already one of the most regulated and restrictive political environments in the world. The region is a virtual patchwork of repressive rules and restrictions–variously dubbed national-security laws, antisubversive laws or internal-security acts–which give leaders wide powers to tighten the screws in the service of “stability and order.” Now, with the backing of Western governments and international bodies, these regimes say they require even more powers to keep the peace. It should hardly be surprising that some of those with the most appalling human-rights records have embraced the vague call to arms that is the war on terror. The Philippine government–with its violent handling of the Moro community in Mindanao–was one of the first to jump on the antiterror bandwagon. Not long after September 11, Indonesia moved quickly to label the Free Aceh Movement a terrorist organization, with the unproven and likely spurious charge that it had links to Al Qaeda. It’s one of the most compelling examples of how regional governments are willing to use the terrorist moniker to demonize opposition groups. The Indonesian military’s brutal treatment of the people of Aceh is, in fact, a testament to how far that regime will go to stifle dissent.
Sadly, proposals to curtail basic freedoms have been met with an almost deafening silence. Asians–perhaps more so than other people–have grown accustomed to living under the weight of a heavy state apparatus. The paranoia generated by 9-11 and the most recent spate of bombings has kept even leading voices of dissent quiet. The disappointing truth is that even the self-described “liberals” in the region have begun to show their true conservative colors, fearful that the next bombing may well target their favorite haunts or drinking spots. Never have political freedoms cost so little.
If the governments of Asia really want to arrest the slide toward extremism, they would do well to turn their strategy on its head. Terrorism and militancy have always flourished in dictatorial climes. Restrictions on freedom of speech and political activity will fan these problems, not solve them. Thus far, not a single Asian government has addressed the root social, economic and political causes of dissatisfaction and alienation among its people. Instead, all they have done is whip up the fears of the masses by playing on the trope of the unseen terrorist. If Asians don’t find their voices soon, the real human cost of the war against terror will be their surrender of their most basic political rights and freedoms to the misleading comforts of a paternalistic–and familiar–despotism.
