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2010-03-30 |
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| Malay-Muslims don't recognise our state |
| For a nation that loves talking about reconciliation, the deep South shows that we certainly have a strange way of demonstrating it |
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In April 1948, a group of angry Malay-Muslim villagers were gunned down in the deep South in what was referred to as the Dusun Nyor Rebellion. Details as to why the villagers in this one particular area had decided to rebel against the security forces remain sketchy. Some accounts describe them as being desperate against the ill-treatment meted out by state officials.
To commemorate the so-called bravery of the security officials who took part in this incident, a giant bullet was erected at a Narathiwat police station in their honour. The message here is that a rebellion - in which mystical-leaning villagers see themselves as invincible against the security forces - will be crushed.
Like the Narathiwat bullet monument, the Phaya Tani cannons are a reminder to the Malays of the Patani that they are a defeated people and, whether they like it or not, they will have to live with it.
It is strange how we can be proud of war booty but don't want the historical baggage that comes with it. But unless we address this historical baggage, the questions behind the legitimacy of the Thai state in the Malay homeland will never go away.
The latest wave of insurgency, which so far has claimed more than 4,000 lives since January 2004, is a constant reminder that nothing much has changed over a century. And that includes the mindset of the Thai state, and its officials, towards the Malay-speaking South.
Of late there has been talk of another statue being put up. This one for the late Police General Sompien Eksomya, a veteran officer who was gunned down in an ambush earlier this month in Yala's Banang Sata district.
After serving in the South for 40 years, Sompien was looking forward to retiring, and had asked to be transferred so he could spend his last year in service in a less stressful place. He made headlines when he came to Bangkok personally to ask Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for the transfer.
Yet, for some reason, his request was not approved by the police. Certain elements in police circles, including spotlight-chasing Police General Pongsapat Pongcharoen, blamed Sompien's death on the fact that his transfer request had been turned down.
One can't help wonder why his transfer was not an issue 20 or 30 years ago, or why Pongsapat took up the case only after his death?
So far, a foundation has been created in Sompien's name, and there is talk of erecting a statue to remind the public of his service to the country. But for many Malay-Muslims, especially in the Banang Sata area, General Sompien's death was a case of the chickens coming home to roost. That probably explains why the Muslims there slaughtered scores of goats to celebrate his passing.
For the Malays, Sompien's "eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth" philosophy didn't go down well with them. It certainly was not in line with the message of reconciliation from the central government. Any statue would just be a reminder of this contradiction, as well as a reminder that the two people have a completely different outlook, culture and historical viewpoint.
During the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, a statue of a bird was erected in Narathiwat supposedly as a gesture of goodwill. The bird was made from tonnes of smaller paper cranes dropped on the restive region from military planes. It was Thaksin's pet project. The then provincial governor, Pracha Therat, could not see the arrogance behind this act, and decided to turn the paper cranes into a big bird statue. Some Muslim clerics tried to talk the authorities out of the campaign for fear that it would drive the two sides further apart. They cited a verse - Sura 105 - in the Koran, and pointed out that such action meant a battle in Islam. The Koranic verses talk about how an army of evil soldiers was destroyed by big flock of birds with pellets fired from above.
The Thai officials justified their action on the grounds that it was made with good intent. To them, that's all that mattered. Sadly, this mindset continues to prevail, as is evidenced by talk about erecting a statue in honour of Sompien. The Thai authorities just can't seem to understand that good intentions do not mean good policies.
Until the authorities let go of this mindset, we will never see a sound policy that can address the division between the Malays and the Thai state.
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| http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/03/30/opinion/Malay-Muslims-dont-recognise-our-state-30125867.html |
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