Islamic extremists are attacking many places around the world.
Twenty of the foreigners taken hostage in the July attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh, were killed: 9 Italians, 7 Japanese, 3 Bangladeshis and 1 Indian. The Islamic extremist organization based in Syria and Iraq, Islamic State, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Resistance to Oppression Turned Into Terrorism

The question is ‘why did this incident occur in South Asia and not in the Middle East?’

In Bangladesh, there is fierce conflict going on between the government that wants to separate state and religion, and the opposition who want to found an Islamic nation.

In 2003, the Bangladesh government persecuted the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, a fairly moderate Islamist political party, by making it illegal. In May this year, the government issued a death penalty to the leader, and in June ten-thousand party members were arrested.

The Dhaka terrorists were young members from one of Bangladesh’s largest extremist organizations that seek the establishment of an Islamic nation. It is undeniable that government oppression was closely related to the attack.

What was striking about this attack is that foreigners were deliberately targeted. The attackers were from wealthy families, and many had even studied abroad. So, perhaps they were angry with the international community for the unfair treatment they experienced because of their religion.

Other supposedly ISIS-related terrorist attacks have occurred in Turkey, Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the span of one week between June 28 and July 4. ISIS is an organization that grew out the opposition movements of Sunni Islamists who were persecuted by the Iraqi government. Their activities had been centered on expanding their territorial grounds in the area on the border of Iraq and Syria.

When they began killing hostage foreigners, Europe and the U.S. commenced bombings. Since then, ISIS-related attacks have increased rapidly in Europe and the U.S.

Both the Dhaka attack and other ISIS attacks are an act of resistance to oppression, which have evolved into attacks on foreigners.

Japan and Its Acts of Mercy

Master Ryuho Okawa, founder of Happy Science, gave a lecture in July entitled “The Light That Will Save The Earth”. In it he said that the war between Christianity and Islam, and the force that will end this is the power of mercy.

“Mercy is the love that finds in other people the same thing you have in yourself. It is to believe that the shining diamond, the proof that the person is the child of God, is also shining in other people.”

It is difficult for countries of different races and religions to try and settle the chaos in Iraq and Syria. One place where this succeeded, however, was Japan.

Indonesia had, for a long time, been a colony of the Netherlands. In 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army fought and won in its battle against the Netherlands. The Japanese helped in the release of confined nationalist activists, created local armies, built schools and trained Indonesian politicians and bureaucrats.

After these efforts Indonesia became an independent country in 1949.

Returning to the present, after the Dhaka attack, the White House National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said in a press conference that they would “root out [ISIS] terrorist network and leaders.”

If they continue to fear being rooted out, however, ISIS will continue to resist, and the terrorist attacks will never end.

Japan can become the bridge between the Middle East and the West, both in terms of culture and history. Japan ought to become one of the leaders in the international community.