In a statement today, Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), said that Zulfikar was served with an Order of Detention for a period of two years for supporting terrorism and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (IS) or Daesh terrorist group.
“The government takes a very serious view of efforts to undermine Singapore’s constitutional democracy, and will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in such activities,” the MHA said.
According to the ministry, Zulfikar has made numerous Facebook postings glorifying and promoting IS and their violent actions, while exploiting religion to legitimise the group’s terrorist activities.
The ministry said that Zulfikar admitted that besides his intention to promote IS and armed jihad, he also wanted his online followers to reject the Western secular democratic nation-state system and instead establish an Islamic caliphate in its place, governed by shariah law.
“He believes that violence should be used to achieve this goal if necessary,” the MHA said.
It said that Zulfikar had also actively looked into holding training programmes aimed at radicalising young Singaporeans so that they would be persuaded into joining his extremist agenda.
And to realise the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate, he had set up an online group called “Al-Makhazin” in 2013, as well as other “Al-Makhazin” Facebook platforms for Muslims to counter the Western media, while residing in Australia.
MHA said that Zulfikar has also admitted that he had an ulterior motive for setting up a Facebook page called “Al-Makhazin Singapore” which he used as a platform to agitate on Muslim issues in Singapore and attack some Singaporean Muslims who did not share his views.
“His real agenda was in fact to provoke Muslims in Singapore into pushing for the replacement of the democratic system with an Islamic state in Singapore,” MHA said.
In view of the high level of the terrorism threat that Singapore currently faces, and the global terrorism threat posed by IS, MHA said Zulfikar’s promotion of violence and IS and his radicalising influence posed a security threat to Singapore.