Ahmad Haron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Injustices Created Muslim Thai Unrest: ICG
We have to think about the need for the people in the area to govern themselves, Panyarachun.
BANGKOK, May 19, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) The Thai government failure to address injustices and open a genuine dialogue with Muslim leaders in the south is the real reason behind unrest in the country, an influential think-tank said, as Thailand is urged to give more power to its Muslims.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) further warned Wednesday, May 18, that if unrest continues to be mishandled, foreign jihadists may be drawn to the south, Reuters reported Thursday, May 19.
The group said the violence, which has killed nearly 700 people since January last year, was being driven by local grievances and there was no evidence yet of external involvement.
But if this situation is left to fester, it could attract jihadists from outside Thailand, said Sidney Jones, ICG's Southeast Asia project co-ordinator.
The Brussels-based think-tank said the unrest poses a serious security threat to Thailand, and has the potential to draw in militants from other countries in the region, particularly Indonesia.
In its report, the ICG said that Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatras policies, ranging from military suppression to promises of lavish aid, have not worked, according to Reuters.
Unless the government makes an effort to address injustices and open genuine dialogue with southern leaders soon, violence will only continue to escalate, said ICG analyst Francesca Lawe-Davies.
The report added that attempts to crush the insurgency in the largely Malay-speaking, predominately Muslim provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani had only made the situation worse.
Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat are the only Muslim majority provinces in Thailand, where Muslims have long complained of discrimination in jobs and education and business opportunities.
Excessive force coupled with the government's refusal to hold top commanders accountable and to fully probe rights abuses is pushing more and more Muslims toward sympathy, if not active support for those responsible for the unrest, the report said.
Thailands national rights watchdog said earlier this month the Thai army was guilty of violent breaches of human rights in its handling of a demonstration at Tak Bai last October that resulted in the death of 85 Muslim protesters.
The Thai report came only a week after two independent investigations into the deaths of nearly 200 Thai Muslims last year, published Monday, April 25, accused the security forces of excessive use of force and negligence.
Rejection
On the Thai governments part, Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya rejected the think tanks assessment, according to the MCOT news Web site Thursday.
Chidchai, whos also the Interior Minister, said Thais should not be concerned by the warning, saying such foreign media reports were the product of arm chair journalists out of touch with the truth.
Critics at home and abroad have accused Thaksins government of using heavy-handed tactics against Thai Muslims.
Thaksin vowed Thursday, February 17, to crush what he termed separatist revolt in the south within four years, saying his government would cut off aid to villages who help the separatists.
Greater Say
Thai Muslims suffer deep-rooted injustices.
Commenting on the problem, Anand Panyarachun, chairman of a new national reconciliation commission, said Thailand must consider allowing its alienated ethnic Malay Muslim minority to have greater say in managing their own communities if it is to resolve century-old tensions in the troubled south.
We have to think about the need for the people in the area to govern themselves, Anand, a highly respected former Thai prime minister, told the Financial Times.
Within a unitary state, we can distribute power, we can distribute authority.
The commission was created in March after a public outcry forced Thaksin to retreat from a draconian plan to withhold government aid from Muslim villages perceived as sympathetic to a worsening Muslim separatist insurgency.
Over the next year, Anand said he hoped his commission would build a social consensus within Thai society for policies that would address Malay Muslims' political grievances.
OIC Delegation
The reports came as representatives of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) announced that they will visit Thailand next month on a fact-finding mission about southern violence, the Bangkok Times said Thursday.
Former assistant secretary-general of the OIC Sayed Gasim Almasri will lead a five-member delegation from June 2-15 as guest of the Foreign Ministry to prepare for an official visit by the OIC secretary-general at a later date, the Thai foreign ministry said.
The paper added that this issue has been of grave concern to the 57-member organisation.
In a recent statement, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu expressed serious dissatisfaction at the persisting bloody acts of violence perpetrated against Muslims in southern Thailand.
Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist nation but Muslims make up about five percent of the population. They mostly live in the five southern provinces bordering Malaysia.
(Source : IOL)
Ahmad Haron
http://www.FinallyaBetterWay.com/home/520882
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