Making Armageddon Happen
Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese religious movement currently operating under the name 'Aleph,' is best known for its March 20, 1995 terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system.
On March 20, 1995, Aum Shinrikyo, a fanatical Japanese religious cult, released Sarin, a deadly nerve gas, on five subway trains during Tokyo's early-morning rush hour. A male cult member boarded each of the trains carrying two or three small plastic bags covered with newspapers and, at an agreed-upon time, removed the newspaper and punctured the bags with a sharpened umbrella tip. On the trains, in the stations where they stopped, at the station exits, people coughed, choked, experienced convulsions, and collapsed. Eleven were killed and up to five thousand injured.
Had Aum succeeded in producing a purer form of the gas, the deaths could have been in the thousands or hundreds of thousands. For sarin, produced originally by the Nazis, is among the most lethal of chemical weapons. Those releasing it on the trains understood themselves to be acting on behalf of their guru and his vast plan for human salvation.
The japanese society went into a state of shock as they wrecked their minds as to the reason for this small but violent segment to engage in subversive activities. They thought their country was a safe one.
Aum Under Pressure
Japan's Constitution guarantees religious freedom.
However, half a year after the nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, Aum Shinrikyo lost its legal status as a religious organization:
The doomsday cult accused in the nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways was ordered stripped of its religious status yesterday, clearing the way for the government to seize its assets.
A Tokyo judge ruled that the Aum Shinri Kyo cult did not deserve preferential legal and tax status because its members used cult facilities to make nerve gas.
The ruling by Presiding Judge Seishi Kanetsuki was the first time a Japanese religious group has lost its tax-exempt status. The group's 10,000 members still will be able to gather and worship freely.
Measures taken by the government
- Aum Shinrikyo was placed under surveillance by the Japanese police.
- Asahara sentenced to death penalty but appeal was expected.
- Still dangerous: Government extended surveillance of Aum Shinrikyo to three years, with review at the end.
- The commission extended the surveillance on grounds that the cult, which now calls itself Aleph, is still under the influence of its founder, Chizuo Matsumoto (also known as Shoko Asahara), now on trial for masterminding the sarin attacks and other crimes.
- Many former senior members, including founder Chizuo Matsumoto, have received death sentences for Aum’s reign of terror.
- Anti-Aum Law - In January 2000, the group was placed under survelliance for a period of three years under an anti-Aum law, in which the group is required to submit a list of members and details of assets to the authorities.
But for another three years, as they have found evidence which suggests that the group still reveres Asahara. In April 2004, the authorities still consider the group "a threat to society."
Concern From the Japanese
- Official monitoring of Aleph continued to show that they revered Asahara.
- Continued extension of surveilance that government still view the organisation as a threat.
- Should more be done?
Video 1: Mr Wong HB, a retired Senior Officer from the Singapore Civil Defence Corp.
Video 2: Caroline, Sec 3 student from Yishun Sec.
Our group's recommendation
- It appears that the public does not feel safe and Aleph remains a potential threat to the majority.
- Reports suggest that Aleph has a slow but growing network in Sri Lanka, Bonn in Germany.
- To prevent the proliferation of this threat, we suggest that the Japanese government tie-up with intelligence from other countries to share data. Similarly, steps must be taken to convince the public to support the inclusion of Aleph into the 1952 Subversive Activities Prevention Law.
LINKS:
How the male cult member releases the sarin gas.
From YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGy5SmdZvSU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lDyZRFqGto
On the album Sounds of Japanese Doomsday Cults.
