http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GA29Ae07.html Jan 29, 2005
Malaysia, Thailand spar over 'mastermind' By Ioannis Gatsiounis KUALA LUMPUR - In recent months, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's combative tone and oppressive handling of what has been dubbed an Islamic separatist movement in the kingdom's restive south hasn't exactly warmed people to his accusations that militants responsible for the unrest are living and training in neighboring Malaysia. The general assumption is that he's been trying to divert attention away from his own misdeeds. But the Malaysian government's arrest this week of Chae Kumae Kuteh, a Malaysian citizen who is the alleged mastermind of the violence in southern Thailand, should come as a sobering wake-up call to Malaysia and teach it the importance of thoroughly weighing the possibility of certain allegations rather than dismissing them based on a tone and delivery that it deems unacceptable. Indirectly, it appears the Malaysian government is coming around. On Thursday, at an Organization of Islamic Conference meeting, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi urged moderate Muslims to speak out against the spread of Islamic extremism and its sympathizers. "It is our duty to demonstrate, by word and by action, that a Muslim country can be modern, democratic, tolerant and economically competitive," he was quoted as saying. But to be successful, Malaysian leadership must become more concrete in its application and strategy. Abdullah has given the impression that his administration is doing enough to combat Islamic extremism, most notably through its promotion of Islam Hadari (civilizational Islam), which Abdullah said at the conference "promotes tolerance and understanding, moderation and peace. It is the perfect antidote to extremism and militancy," he claimed. But Islam Hadari has mostly been platitudinous. Other than providing 10 fundamental points of the concept - including "the vigorous pursuit and mastery of knowledge" and "a good quality of life for the people" - Abdullah has yet to outline and implement Hadari thoroughly; indeed, most Malaysians would be hard-pressed to name but one of the points. So while Hadari is nice in theory, it's not being lived. It would also behoove the government to be more open in admitting that Malaysia is no less susceptible to Islamic extremism taking root within its borders than its neighbors. Alerted to the country's vulnerability, the public will likely be more willing to speak out against extremism. As it stands, the government here has often emphasized economic growth to dismiss the possibility. But as the case of Osama bin Laden makes clear, along with those of myriad Islamic terrorists nabbed in recent years, including engineers and university professors, the link between poverty and extremism is dubious. It would be wise too for the government and its champions in the state-controlled press to move beyond superficial indicators to assess the risk of extremism taking root here. When the moderate, Abdullah-led National Front coalition resoundingly defeated the hardline Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) in last March's parliamentary elections, commentators concluded that extremist ideology had few if any takers in Malaysia. This neglects the fact that the government rules more by authoritarian than democratic means. Naturally for some, particularly in the Malay-Muslim heartland, this has raised questions of legitimacy and fostered some resentment. So, too, have perceptions in the heartland that the ruling elite are profligate and corrupt and have over-emphasized economic growth at the expense of moral and spiritual development. These perceptions were solidified last October at party elections in Abdullah's United Malays National Organization, which were described by one veteran UMNO official as the worst case of money politics in the party's history. That Abdullah's promises of reform have been slow to materialize have hardly worked to quell these feelings. The situation in southern Thailand, in which more than 500 people have been killed within the past year, may be triggering Malay-Muslims' ire as well. Muslims in Thailand's restive south, like most of Malaysia's Muslims, are of Malay ethnicity, and this, some suspect, has increased sympathy and resentment in Malaysia. Some residents along the border have dual citizenship, which Thaksin said last year was leading separatists to train and seek refuge in Malaysia after carrying out terrorist acts in Thailand, for fear of the Thai government's aggressive, no-nonsense approach to dealing with suspected terrorists. Abdullah dismissed Thaksin's claims as "sensational". But with the Malaysian government's arrest of the alleged mastermind, Chae Kumae Kuteh, also known as Abdul Rahman Ahmad, such denials will find fewer takers. Thaksin said he suspects that Ahmad, who was arrested January 5, is a Thai citizen and is seeking his extradition. Abdullah on Thursday said, "On the basis of whatever papers that were available on [Ahmad] and whatever we can get from his house, there is no other evidence to show that he is a Thai. But he has documents which prove he is a Malaysian citizen." He added: "If Thai authorities want to seek some help from us in whatever way, [if] they want to know the activities of this man, we will be able to cooperate." Ioannis Gatsiounis, a New York native, has worked as a freelance foreign correspondent and previously co-hosted a weekly political/cultural radio call-in show in the US. He has been living in Malaysia since late 2002. (Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us for information on sales, syndication and republishing.) Malaysia silent on Muslim retaliation (Nov 13, '04) Thai dilemma over Muslim anger (Nov 3, '04) Malaysia rages over Muslim killings (Oct 30, '04) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
