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A two-story school building in Narathiwat province on fire
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By
Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent
KUALA
LUMPUR, January 4 (IslamOnline.net) - Recurrent armed violence with
the gunning down of four guards and the burning of 19 schools in the
predominantly Muslim southern Thailand has been linked to separatists
still active in the region despite a severe clamp down by the local
authorities against rebellion since the early 1990's.
Police
in south Thailand said Sunday, January 4, that “separatists turned
bandits” were responsible for the string of violence that has hit
the region for the past 3 years, with most of the violence aiming at
government officials and pro-government members of the Muslim
community.
Police
sources added that the four guards died when some 30 armed men
attacked an army depot in Narathiwat province, which has been at the
center of the attacks for the past few months, according to the BBC
News Online.
No
injuries were reported in the school burnings - both in Narathiwat and
in neighboring Yala province. Security agencies have blamed previous
attacks on former separatist rebels who turned to banditry for
survival.
However,
Muslims in Pattani and Narathiwat denied that the killings were the
actions of bandits, claiming instead that separatism, though a dormant
issue since the early 1990's crackdown on the Pattani United
Liberation Front (PULO), is still alive thanks to a group of young
Muslims calling themselves "Mujahideen".
Mujahideen
groups, mostly young Muslims below the 30s, sporting beard and trained
in automatic arms as well as bomb making are constantly attacking
government buildings, army camps and police stations in a bid to send
a message of disapproval against government policies towards the
Muslims.
"Most
of the violence is also a result of the government's heavy handed
tactic against public opposition to the government's policies in the
region," said a Thai businessman who regularly visits Malaysia.
Abdul
Manaf, working for a non-governmental organization from Thailand in
his spare time said the Muslims were still in opposition to the
government of Thaksin Shinawatra due to its pro-Thai and anti-Muslim
policies.
He
added that Muslims were not happy that the Malay culture and Islamic
education were being restrained while Thai based education, pubs and
bars were being opened right in the heart of cities where Muslims
live.
"This
leads to protests by the Muslims and the government ends up punishing
large communities of farmers for example, by not granting them aid…
etc," said Manaf.
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Islam is established in South Thailand for centuries but attempts are underway to undermine it
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The
Thaksin government has been accused of being autocratic and dismisses
criticism with harsh treatments against protestors, in particular
against Muslims.
Thaksin
has characterized political activists, non-government organizations
(NGOs) and civil society groups that disagree with his government’s
policies as troublemakers and even traitors. He said on several
occasions that these people are merely “receiving foreign money to
stir unrest” within the Kingdom, wrote the nationmultimedia.com
website Sunday.
The
paper reports that the Thaksin Shinawatra government’s crackdown on
the civil rights of those opposing the Thai-Malaysian gas pipeline as
his regime celebrated its second anniversary at the beginning of 2003
is a perfect example of the current regime's policies.
The
Thai-Malaysia pipeline is being built in a region where Muslims are
numerous and several protests were held against such a project which
is said to be dangerous to both the wild life and to the livelihood of
those living in the region.
Police
have in several occasions, arrested men and women who protested
against the pipeline and treated the protesters harshly, Manaf told
IOL.
The
BBC reported that Thaksin cut short a holiday in order to consult with
security officials following the attacks in Narathiwat, which is one
of the provinces where there has been sporadic violence.
The
five southernmost provinces - Songkhla, Satun, Yala, Narathiwat and
Pattani - were once the hot bed of Muslim separatism. A solution
proposed by the Organization Of Islamic Organization (OIC) in the late
1980's did not solve the problems faced by the Muslims in the
provinces.
Most
of the leaders of the PULO and other seperatist organizations in
Thailand are still in jail, some of them languishing in Bangkok
prisons without trial, added Manaf.
