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Fears Of Pattani Muslim Eradication From Thailand Real
By Kazi Mahmood
PATTANI, Thailand, Aug 21 (IslamOnline) - Muslims, holding a recent meeting in Pattani, southern Thailand, said they feared the Thai government is going ahead with plans to eliminate Pattani Muslims from the province.
"It is a sad and difficult story to tell. The future of the Muslims in southern Thailand is at odds," a member of the Muslim
ulama (religious scholars) in Malaysia said.
Ustaz Abdul Ghaffur, who participated in a meeting of ulama's in Yala last week said the fate of Muslims in Pattani is turning from bad to worse "since they have been submitted to the rule of the non-Muslim Thai regime."
"Since 1786, the year of the invasion of Pattani by the Siamese of Buddhist faith, the Muslims have suffered considerably," said the Ustaz.
"The Muslims in Pattani will never be able to go back to their early days of dominance in Thailand.
"The oppressive Siam regime has decided to finish with the Islamic traditions of Pattani," said Ghaffur, adding that, "It has been 200 years now that the Pattani people are subjected to the oppression of the Thais, and today they are succeeding in erasing the identity and authenticity of this valiant nation of Islam."
The Ustaz criticized the education system imposed by the Thai government, which he claims has caused a loss of identity among Malays in the province.
He added that young Malays have even forgotten their original cultural language and heritage, saying that it was a dangerous situation and could lead to apostasy among Muslims.
Ghaffur said Muslims should take an interest in the fate of their brothers in Pattani, a land that once belonged to an Islamic empire formed by Malays.
He said elderly Thai Muslims told him the younger Malay generation in Pattani have forgotten their roots and origins since history books do not reveal the truth about Pattani.
He also questioned the role of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), severely criticizing it as a "political toothless bulldog that has subdued itself to the whims and fancies of the Thai regime."
Ghaffur said the OIC must situate its responsibilities in the current situation in Pattani, where only a few rich Muslims are still trying to safeguard the rich culture of Islam and Malays in the province.
"In Yala there is an Islamic University that is doing a great job, yet they still need assistance I guess. What are the Muslims around the world doing to assist them?" he asked.
He said that, according to some calculations, the number of Muslims in Pattani, said to be below two million, could be considerably lowered within the next 50 years, as many of them have preferred to migrate to neighboring countries or merge with the pro-Siam trend, where speaking the Thai language is deemed modern and perfect.
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