Don Pathan
Special to The Nation
Having fought against the talks under the Yingluck govt, its military-backed successor is now forging ahead with a flawed bid to end the southern insurgency
Wan Kadir Che Man, former leader of the now-defunct Bersatu, an umbrella organisation that emerged in the 1980s to unite the longstanding Patani Malay separatist organisations, has voiced criticism of the ongoing peace initiative in the far South.
His attack came just days after MARA Patani, a new forum comprised of six longstanding separatist organisations, had introduced itself to the public following a third round of informal talks with Thai negotiators led by the junta-appointed General Aksara Kherdphol.
Wan Kadir said the Bangkok government should not pin its hopes on MARA Patani as the forum does not represent all the groups involved in the southern unrest, particularly those with command-and-control over the insurgent combatants.
He told a gathering at the King Prajadhipok Institute on Friday that he personally knew at least six of the 15 MARA Patani members and that he was dismissive of their claims.
He also poured cold water on Malaysia's role as talks facilitator, noting that initiatives involving Kuala Lumpur come and go but nothing seems to change.
But the thing about this latest initiative - launched by the Yingluck government and picked up by the current crop of junta leaders - is that the media and the public will be regularly engaged.
Civil society organisations working on peace for the South think that's a good idea and that the process be as transparent as possible.
Others think the public should be kept out until the state is certain beyond any doubt that the people they are dealing with have the ability to influence the combatants and can deliver on whatever goods and promises are made at the table. The official terms of reference for talks must also be agreed upon before negotiations can proceed.
The criticism launched by Wan Kadir on Friday came as no surprise since it was in line with what he has been saying all along. But worth closer scrutiny is the story of how this exiled leader emerged into the Thai public spotlight. It helps shed light on the feeble and sometimes appalling attitude of Thai governments and authorities towards peace and peace initiatives for the deep South.
After living in exile for more than five decades, Wan Kadir was permitted by the Thai Army to return to Thailand on a secret trip in January 2013.
The military was against the peace initiative being put together by Yingluck's team but knew it couldn't publicly criticise the leader of the nation. So that's where Wan Kadir came in.
Wan Kadir had announced back in 2004 his desire to return to Thailand to work from within to resolve a fresh wave of conflict involving a new generation of fighters that had surfaced a couple of years earlier.
At first, then-premier Thaksin Shinawatra was reluctant, fearing his return would upset his security advisors, including General Chavalit Yongchaiyud, who was at the time on a quirky ambition to "destroy" Bersatu, even though the group was already defunct.
One of Wan Kadir's main supporters at the time was then-Fourth Army commander Lt-General Pisarn Wattanawongkiri.
Pisarn's idea was to use Wan Kadir as his personal consultant and establish an understanding with the new generation of combatants that would at least cover rules of engagement.
His interest was understandable, coming in the wake of a disturbing April 28, 2004 incident in which more than 100 militants - apparently inspired by notions of invincibility conferred by local superstitions - charged against 10 police outposts and a station armed with little more than machetes.
And although Thaksin remained implacable, Wan Kadir continued with hush-hush lobbying for permission to return to his birthplace.
Later that year, his main supporter, Lt General Pisarn, was ousted from his post in the aftermath of the Tak Bai massacre. But that wasn't the reason why Wan Kadir gave up on his secret lobbying. According to several sources, separatist leaders - most likely operatives from the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) - told him that he "would not last more than 10 days" if he returned to Thailand.
BRN cadres said his return at that time would undermine the separatist community's effort to attain support from international actors - state and non-state.
But in January 2013, Wan Kadir was finally permitted to return for a secret visit to several cities, including Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai, where he was received by senior state officials.
His first public appearance in Thailand came later that year in November, when in a speech at the Thai Journalists Association he criticised the Yingluck government's peace process. Bangkok-based diplomatic corps were eager to meet with him, but his hosts, the Royal Thai Police, kept them at arm's length.
Wan Kadir was invited back again the following month, when he tore the credibility of the peace talks' stakeholders to shreds during a speech at the Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani.
The Thai Army was gratified - not because it was being criticised for lacking commitment and sincerity towards the peace initiative but over the fact that the initiative was being attacked in public.
Coup brings moment of truth
The Army didn't like the idea that civilians were dominating a public process which they believed was their exclusive right to run behind closed doors.
However, it didn't take long for Yingluck's initiative to fall apart, a victim not of Wan Kadir's criticism but of its shaky foundations laid by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother, one year before the official launch on February 28, 2013.
And then came the May 2014 coup and the moment of truth for the Thai Army. Failure to continue with the peace effort initiated by the government it had ousted would be a bad political move. But going along with it would mean climbing down from its previous stance.
In the end, the Army opted to continue the process, but junta chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha added demands of his own. Looking tough and in control was important to him.
The demands were that various separatist organisations must unite under a common platform and that there must be a period of peace - ie, a ceasefire - before a formal process could start.
The common platform came in the form of MARA Patani, launched about two weeks ago. They have presented themselves as men who are willing to negotiate a political settlement, leaving it to Bangkok to find ways of moving the initiative forward.
As for the "ceasefire", nobody has brought it up - at least not in public.
Finally came the re-emergence of Wan Kadir on Friday. By attacking the current initiative, he is also discrediting this latest crop of junta officials and their decision to continue with an initiative they had previously opposed.
In a recent interview in Pattani, Wan Kadir said the government should reconsider the peace initiative and switch to using a local interlocutor as the go-between. He recommended a bottom-up approach that starts with the combatants and works its way up to their leaders, who may or may not be living in exile.
The Army appears to have dug its own grave on this matter. If the Thai military and the Yingluck government had begun with a common understanding of how the peace process should be conducted, perhaps we wouldn't be in this predicament.
But instead, Thai institutions - political and military - prioritised their respective political agendas over the well-being of the nation and national security.
Sadly, everyone was out to protect their own turf, with little consideration of the problems at hand or the consequences of their actions. And from the look of it, the Thai Army is now getting a taste of its own medicine.
Don Pathan is a security analyst and a freelance consultant based in Yala. He is also the founding member of the Patani Forum (www.pataniforum.com).
DON PATHAN - Thailand-based security analyst/development consultant (Photo: Anjaman Pass, Afghanistan, with two Northern Alliance fighters, October 2001)
Showing posts with label Wan Kadir Che Man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wan Kadir Che Man. Show all posts
Thursday, 10 September 2015
Thursday, 26 December 2013
Insurgents know that Bangkok isn't serious about peace: Wan Kadir
Don Pathan
Special to The Nation
PATTANI __Wan Kadir Che Man, 72, the former leader of the now defunct Bersatu, didn't mince words when he lashed successive Thai governments for their "stupid" and "insincere" actions in three decades of failed peace initiatives in the deep South.
Speaking at a packed seminar at the Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani, the ageing academic, who this year was permitted to return to Thailand after more than 50 years in exile for his involvement with separatist movements, said the failure to generate a meaningful peace process was down to Bangkok's choice of facilitators/ mediators and go-betweens whose main interest was in "exploiting" talks for personal and political gain. Meanwhile, Thai officials who have taken part in three decades of negotiations have been more concerned with enhancing their professional rank than bringing peace.
The peace initiative launched on February 28 in Kuala Lumpur between the Thai National Security Council and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) is the latest example of Bangkok's lack of sincerity, said Wan Kadir, with separatist leaders Bangkok has brought to the table having no control over insurgents active in the three southernmost provinces.
The so-called BRN cadres at the talks appear to have been handpicked by local Malay Muslim politicians and leaders allied with the Pheu Thai Party.
Wan Kadir said it was difficult for the real leaders of various separatist groups to take the Thai government seriously and that many came "just for the delicious tom yam soup".
In other words, if the peace process is credible and coherent - and if the combatants and their political leaders are prepared - then the separatist movements will produce viable representatives.
But instead of rethinking the whole approach to peace and its negotiations, Thai authorities continue to go to the same "facilitators, mediators and go-betweens, some of whom have little understanding of the region's problems, and whose sincerity is often questionable".
"How can we expect some 'white-eyed' [coward] farang or some dato [Malay local ruler] to resolve our problems? The past 20 years have shown that this same old approach does not work. Are we that stupid not to see it, or are we just pretending not to see it?"
He was making obvious reference to prominent Malaysian figures involved in various peace initiatives, and Western organisations wanting to mediate the conflict in southern Thailand.
However, Wan Kadir said he greatly appreciate the moral support of various Western governments, including the United States, Germany and Sweden, suggesting that their participation as mediators or facilitators could add legitimacy to a peace initiative.
He said that longstanding separatist movements appreciated Western countries for seeing the deep South's problem as a "conflict" as opposed to "terrorism", and added that these respective governments treated the exiled Patani Malay separatist leaders in a dignified manner. "I was a refugee in Sweden but they issued me a passport so I could travel and take part in negotiations in Switzerland."
The troubles in Thailand's Malay-speaking provinces were "unique" and thus not resolvable by textbook negotiating tactics, he said, adding that he was impressed with academics who are trying to understand the dynamics of the conflict.
He lashed out at special security laws used in the deep South and added that such a "double standard" was applied only because the Thai state sees the Malays of Patani as "colonial subjects".
He also urged the Malay Muslims in the South to come to terms with their status as Thai citizens and fight for their rights and dignity through peaceful means. However, he added that the people of the region hold the right to chart their own destiny.
Development and education in Thailand's southernmost provinces have been neglected by the state, he said, despite the fact that the region has tremendous human and natural resources.
He noted that the Patani region was once the cradle of Islamic education in Southeast Asia and saw no reason why that glorious status could not be revived.
He said many people in the region were multilingual, speaking Malay, Thai, English and Arabic, and that quite a few - especially those who have lived in exile - spoke German and Swedish.
He urged local Malay Muslims leaders to take advantage of the existing political forums to push for policy change at the national level.
He said that since the current wave of insurgency began in 2004, the Thai state had consistently used military means to address the conflict, but it had continued unabated with no end in sight.
While Thai officials blame Malay Muslim militants for virtually all the violence, he suggested they should also examine their own role in provoking clashes. "Fighting back is natural for humans," he noted.
Bersatu, the umbrella group for longstanding separatist groups Wan Kadir once led, was strictly political with no armed wing attached. During his years in exile, Wan Kadir also helped set up the Barisan Islam Pembangunan Pattani (BIPP).
Though there have been reports that Thai authorities are trying to woo the BIPP to the negotiating table, the former separatist leader said he was not aware of any approach.
The ageing academic tried to return from exile in mid-2004 to work with the Thai state to help resolve the conflict, but the then government of Thaksin Shinawatra gave him the cold shoulder.
Don Pathan is a consultant based in Yala and a member of the Patani Forum (www.pataniforum.com).
Special to The Nation
PATTANI __Wan Kadir Che Man, 72, the former leader of the now defunct Bersatu, didn't mince words when he lashed successive Thai governments for their "stupid" and "insincere" actions in three decades of failed peace initiatives in the deep South.
Speaking at a packed seminar at the Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani, the ageing academic, who this year was permitted to return to Thailand after more than 50 years in exile for his involvement with separatist movements, said the failure to generate a meaningful peace process was down to Bangkok's choice of facilitators/ mediators and go-betweens whose main interest was in "exploiting" talks for personal and political gain. Meanwhile, Thai officials who have taken part in three decades of negotiations have been more concerned with enhancing their professional rank than bringing peace.
The peace initiative launched on February 28 in Kuala Lumpur between the Thai National Security Council and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) is the latest example of Bangkok's lack of sincerity, said Wan Kadir, with separatist leaders Bangkok has brought to the table having no control over insurgents active in the three southernmost provinces.
The so-called BRN cadres at the talks appear to have been handpicked by local Malay Muslim politicians and leaders allied with the Pheu Thai Party.
Wan Kadir said it was difficult for the real leaders of various separatist groups to take the Thai government seriously and that many came "just for the delicious tom yam soup".
In other words, if the peace process is credible and coherent - and if the combatants and their political leaders are prepared - then the separatist movements will produce viable representatives.
But instead of rethinking the whole approach to peace and its negotiations, Thai authorities continue to go to the same "facilitators, mediators and go-betweens, some of whom have little understanding of the region's problems, and whose sincerity is often questionable".
"How can we expect some 'white-eyed' [coward] farang or some dato [Malay local ruler] to resolve our problems? The past 20 years have shown that this same old approach does not work. Are we that stupid not to see it, or are we just pretending not to see it?"
He was making obvious reference to prominent Malaysian figures involved in various peace initiatives, and Western organisations wanting to mediate the conflict in southern Thailand.
However, Wan Kadir said he greatly appreciate the moral support of various Western governments, including the United States, Germany and Sweden, suggesting that their participation as mediators or facilitators could add legitimacy to a peace initiative.
He said that longstanding separatist movements appreciated Western countries for seeing the deep South's problem as a "conflict" as opposed to "terrorism", and added that these respective governments treated the exiled Patani Malay separatist leaders in a dignified manner. "I was a refugee in Sweden but they issued me a passport so I could travel and take part in negotiations in Switzerland."
The troubles in Thailand's Malay-speaking provinces were "unique" and thus not resolvable by textbook negotiating tactics, he said, adding that he was impressed with academics who are trying to understand the dynamics of the conflict.
He lashed out at special security laws used in the deep South and added that such a "double standard" was applied only because the Thai state sees the Malays of Patani as "colonial subjects".
He also urged the Malay Muslims in the South to come to terms with their status as Thai citizens and fight for their rights and dignity through peaceful means. However, he added that the people of the region hold the right to chart their own destiny.
Development and education in Thailand's southernmost provinces have been neglected by the state, he said, despite the fact that the region has tremendous human and natural resources.
He noted that the Patani region was once the cradle of Islamic education in Southeast Asia and saw no reason why that glorious status could not be revived.
He said many people in the region were multilingual, speaking Malay, Thai, English and Arabic, and that quite a few - especially those who have lived in exile - spoke German and Swedish.
He urged local Malay Muslims leaders to take advantage of the existing political forums to push for policy change at the national level.
He said that since the current wave of insurgency began in 2004, the Thai state had consistently used military means to address the conflict, but it had continued unabated with no end in sight.
While Thai officials blame Malay Muslim militants for virtually all the violence, he suggested they should also examine their own role in provoking clashes. "Fighting back is natural for humans," he noted.
Bersatu, the umbrella group for longstanding separatist groups Wan Kadir once led, was strictly political with no armed wing attached. During his years in exile, Wan Kadir also helped set up the Barisan Islam Pembangunan Pattani (BIPP).
Though there have been reports that Thai authorities are trying to woo the BIPP to the negotiating table, the former separatist leader said he was not aware of any approach.
The ageing academic tried to return from exile in mid-2004 to work with the Thai state to help resolve the conflict, but the then government of Thaksin Shinawatra gave him the cold shoulder.
Don Pathan is a consultant based in Yala and a member of the Patani Forum (www.pataniforum.com).
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Unofficial talks may fan the flames of insurgency
Don Pathan
SOMETHING is seriously out of tune in diplomatic ties between Bangkok and Jakarta, and the ongoing insurgency in the deep South of Thailand is to blame.
The Thai government was quick to distance itself from so-called secret talks in Bogor between a group of ageing Patani Malay exiles and Thai delegates led by Kwanchart Klaharn, a senior security adviser to the People Power Party.
Indonesian State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said Indonesia was considered an experienced mediator and that the gathering was a "wish that their efforts would end the conflict".
The Bogor meeting was facilitated by Indonesia's Vice President Yussuf Kalla, known to some in diplomatic circles as "Mr Let's Make a Deal".
It appears that the meeting was supposed to be secret in nature. But once the Indonesian media broke the story over the weekend, the people in Kalla's camp wasted no time in milking the situation. Photographs appeared of a majestic-looking Kalla sat between the two warring parties. The man was in his element, indeed. No one seems to care what this will do to Thai-Indonesian relations.
Over the past two years, there have been a number of meetings between self-proclaimed Patani Malay leaders and so-called representative from Thailand, official and semi-official. Most, if not all, of these meetings were secret in nature but some details were leaked to the media, only to be played down by the Thai government.
Because of the absence of a unified position on either the Thai or the exiled separatists' sides, these talks were ad hoc in nature, having no effect on policy change. If anything, the meetings have become intelligence-gathering exercises for the participants. This is not to mention the per diems and free trips abroad.
One only has to look at the fiasco in July when former Army chief General Chetta Thanajaro claimed to have succeeded in getting an unnamed underground separatist group to announce an end to the century-old insurgency.
The public didn't even give the former chief the benefit of the doubt by waiting to see if the violence ended as he stated it would. People immediately called it a hoax. And the violence continues unabated.
Just last weekend, former premier Chavalit Yongchaiyudh also made a similar claim - that the level of violence will begin a sharp decline starting on October 13, and by December 5 it will come to a complete stop.
As with Chetta, no one has given a hoot about this announcement.
But this is not to say that all of the encounters between separatist leaders and Thai authorities have been fruitless.
The Thai government has been in constructive dialogue with leaders of the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) and Barian Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate over the past two years, and in December 2007 then prime minister Surayud Chulanont met with the two groups in Bahrain.
But this fledging process needs stronger political backing.
Ethnic Malay participants at the Bogor talks called themselves the Consultative Council of the Patani Malay People. The delegates were made up of former members of the now-defunct Bersatu, whose former leader Wan Kadir Che Man is said to have declined an offer to take part in Kalla's dialogue process.
Pulo's foreign affairs chief Kasturi Mahkota said his group had pulled out of Kalla's process, saying it didn't have anything new to offer. "It wasn't serious," Kasturi said.
But given the option between talking and not talking, one would think that a dialogue is better than no dialogue at all," said a Bangkok-based diplomat.
But then again, these dialogues - especially those that organisers tend to milk for public relations purposes - could prove to be damaging.
If anything, they could derail the more meaningful processes, such as the one pushed through by Surayud.
But instead of picking up where Surayud left off, the previous government of Samak Sundaravej didn't want to be bothered at all with the conflict in the deep South - in spite of the fact that more than 3,300 people have been killed since January 2004.
In March this year, Samak delegated his authority as the director of the Internal Security Operation Command to Anupong, effectively making Anupong the security tsar overseeing military and civilian affairs in the restive region. But like others before him, Anupong knows that it is too costly politically to push through any bold initiative, even the one that Surayud had started.
Deep-seated issues such as Patani Malay cultural space and the sticky issue of identity are being discussed in seminars, but that's about it.
It is very unlikely that the outcome from these talks will be a win-win scenario for the two opposing parties as has been suggested by some mediators and facilitators. The bottom line is what kind of concessions the Patani Malays and the Thai state are willing to make.
SOMETHING is seriously out of tune in diplomatic ties between Bangkok and Jakarta, and the ongoing insurgency in the deep South of Thailand is to blame.
The Thai government was quick to distance itself from so-called secret talks in Bogor between a group of ageing Patani Malay exiles and Thai delegates led by Kwanchart Klaharn, a senior security adviser to the People Power Party.
Indonesian State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said Indonesia was considered an experienced mediator and that the gathering was a "wish that their efforts would end the conflict".
The Bogor meeting was facilitated by Indonesia's Vice President Yussuf Kalla, known to some in diplomatic circles as "Mr Let's Make a Deal".
It appears that the meeting was supposed to be secret in nature. But once the Indonesian media broke the story over the weekend, the people in Kalla's camp wasted no time in milking the situation. Photographs appeared of a majestic-looking Kalla sat between the two warring parties. The man was in his element, indeed. No one seems to care what this will do to Thai-Indonesian relations.
Over the past two years, there have been a number of meetings between self-proclaimed Patani Malay leaders and so-called representative from Thailand, official and semi-official. Most, if not all, of these meetings were secret in nature but some details were leaked to the media, only to be played down by the Thai government.
Because of the absence of a unified position on either the Thai or the exiled separatists' sides, these talks were ad hoc in nature, having no effect on policy change. If anything, the meetings have become intelligence-gathering exercises for the participants. This is not to mention the per diems and free trips abroad.
One only has to look at the fiasco in July when former Army chief General Chetta Thanajaro claimed to have succeeded in getting an unnamed underground separatist group to announce an end to the century-old insurgency.
The public didn't even give the former chief the benefit of the doubt by waiting to see if the violence ended as he stated it would. People immediately called it a hoax. And the violence continues unabated.
Just last weekend, former premier Chavalit Yongchaiyudh also made a similar claim - that the level of violence will begin a sharp decline starting on October 13, and by December 5 it will come to a complete stop.
As with Chetta, no one has given a hoot about this announcement.
But this is not to say that all of the encounters between separatist leaders and Thai authorities have been fruitless.
The Thai government has been in constructive dialogue with leaders of the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) and Barian Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate over the past two years, and in December 2007 then prime minister Surayud Chulanont met with the two groups in Bahrain.
But this fledging process needs stronger political backing.
Ethnic Malay participants at the Bogor talks called themselves the Consultative Council of the Patani Malay People. The delegates were made up of former members of the now-defunct Bersatu, whose former leader Wan Kadir Che Man is said to have declined an offer to take part in Kalla's dialogue process.
Pulo's foreign affairs chief Kasturi Mahkota said his group had pulled out of Kalla's process, saying it didn't have anything new to offer. "It wasn't serious," Kasturi said.
But given the option between talking and not talking, one would think that a dialogue is better than no dialogue at all," said a Bangkok-based diplomat.
But then again, these dialogues - especially those that organisers tend to milk for public relations purposes - could prove to be damaging.
If anything, they could derail the more meaningful processes, such as the one pushed through by Surayud.
But instead of picking up where Surayud left off, the previous government of Samak Sundaravej didn't want to be bothered at all with the conflict in the deep South - in spite of the fact that more than 3,300 people have been killed since January 2004.
In March this year, Samak delegated his authority as the director of the Internal Security Operation Command to Anupong, effectively making Anupong the security tsar overseeing military and civilian affairs in the restive region. But like others before him, Anupong knows that it is too costly politically to push through any bold initiative, even the one that Surayud had started.
Deep-seated issues such as Patani Malay cultural space and the sticky issue of identity are being discussed in seminars, but that's about it.
It is very unlikely that the outcome from these talks will be a win-win scenario for the two opposing parties as has been suggested by some mediators and facilitators. The bottom line is what kind of concessions the Patani Malays and the Thai state are willing to make.
Thursday, 19 May 2005
Bersatu chief welcomes govt’s softer approach
Don Pathan
Lund, Sweden
A prominent exiled Thai Muslim leader said he welcomed the government’s policy shift towards a softer approach in dealing with violence in the Malay-speaking deep South and urged local residents to work towards peace.
In a recent interview with The Nation, Wan Kadir Che Man, an ethnic Malay and leader of Bersatu – an umbrella organisation of separatist groups – said he welcomed the creation of the National Re-conciliation Commission and the use of legal processes rather than military means to restore law and order in the region.
Concerning the ongoing violence, Wan Kadir said the government had been wrong when it considered the relatively quiet 1990s as a time of peace, when in fact the spirit of separatism has always been present in the area.
As long as there is a sense of injustice among the Malay-speaking minority the separatist struggle will always resurface, he said.
It appears that a new generation of insurgents has emerged and structured itself into a loose network of cells that operate independently, he added.
Unlike the previous generation of separatists who saw themselves as nationalists, the current generation of insurgents has employed more religious symbolism in their activities.
The religion of Islam, he said, had also become a source of comfort for many people in the Malay-speaking region during these troubled times.
Unlike past battles carried out between government security forces and separatist groups, this most recent wave of violence has driven a wedge between Muslim and non-Muslim communities in the region, said Wan Kadir.
The Pattani native, who went into exile nearly two decades ago, also reiterated his willingness to return to Thailand and work with the government and civil groups towards a peaceful outcome for the restive region, where more than 600 people have been killed since January last year.
However, the Western-educated academic said he would not permit himself to be a political tool for the state’s propaganda and added that he would not accept any conditions placed on his return.
Wan Kadir also said he would continue to speak out for the rights of ethnic Malays, whom he said were treated as “second-class” citizens.
He also expressed the same sentiment in an open letter on the ongoing violence. “The problem stems mainly from the fact that Malay-Muslims are discriminated against and are treated as internal-colonial subjects,” wrote Wan Kadir.
Wan Kadir said he did not regret having joined the separatist movement, saying his aim was only to advocate the rights of ethnic Malays in southern Thailand.
Wan Kadir, who now resides in Sweden, announced in May 2004 – while working as a university professor in Kuala Lumpur – that he no longer supported separatism for Thailand’s Malay-speaking region or the use of violence in pursuing such a goal.
His decision to give up separatism was a personal one and Bersatu continues to hold on to its current political outlook, he said.
Thai intelligence agencies regard Wan Kadir as a symbolic figure to whom the separatist movement looks for political direction and ideology, but they believe that he does not have direct control over armed insurgents on the ground. Wan Kadir agrees with this assessment.
He obtained a PhD at Australia National University and a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in the United States.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/south2years/jul0405.php
http://www.pataninews.net/ReadEnglish.asp?ID=90
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Bersatu leader calls it a day
The Nation
Published on July 04, 2005
A prominent Thai-Muslim leader in exile, Wan Kadir Che Man, 60, has announced his intention of stepping down from Bersatu, an umbrella organisation that groups a number of Pattani exile groups. He spoke to The Nation’s Don Pathan in a telephone interview from Sweden.
Q. Why have you decided to stand down as leader of Bersatu? Why now, amid an ongoing spate of violence in the Muslim-Malay region?
A. I’m an old man now, and I think its time to let a younger generation of people take over. Hopefully they can do a better job. With regard to the ongoing violence in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand, I want to make it clear that Bersatu does not have anything to do with it. Bersatu is an umbrella organisation that advocates civil and political rights for Malays in southern Thailand.
Do you have any regrets?
No. I believe in what I am doing. I believe in speaking out for my people even if it means my having to live outside my country. I thank my wife and children for their support and understanding, and I apologise to them for what I have put them through.
What is the biggest misconception people have of Bersatu?
As I’ve said many times before, we struggled for the recognition of the Malay people, our past, our identity and our self-respect; that is all. But people saw us as a threat because we chose to speak out. It should be understood that our demand for respect does not mean we were against the people of Thailand or the country. In fact, we share the same goal of a peaceful Muslim region in southern Thailand, not a separate state. Bersatu is not about using force. We do not have any military capability and do not control troops on the ground.
So what do you make of the situation in Thailand’s Muslim South, and how is it affecting the country as a whole?
From what I gather, the fabric of society that once held the common people, both Muslim and non-Muslim, together has been shattered. This is extremely sad. The ongoing violence will have a long and lasting impact. The longer we wait, the harder it will be for the country to repair the damage. In previous decades, fighting was mainly between armed separatist groups and security forces. Today bombs are going off, and officials are assassinated, and nobody is claiming credit. This is very different from the past. I want to see an end to this fighting and to the loss of innocent lives, and I hope that by resigning now I will have opened the way for a new generation of leaders who can play a more active role in stopping the violence there. The idea is for Malays to use the democratic process to empower themselves, so they can work with the rest of the country to chart their own future.
What will happen to Bersatu as a result of your resignation?
Bersatu is a coalition, and so it will be up to each of the member groups to decide what happens. The job of a Bersatu leader is to provide general guidance as to how the movement should progress.
What is uniting the Malay people in southern Thailand now?
The Malays are united by their cultural identity and a long history of resentment. They don’t see their region getting a fair share of the country’s wealth and development, and they don’t see their history being taught in school or their past being recognised by the country that they are supposed to be a part of. I think that if the state makes a concerted effort to bridge this gap, perhaps the tension will subside and both sides will begin to trust each another. For this to happen, all sides have to work together. Whether we are Buddhists or Muslims, we are all equal in the eyes of God. But this is not enough: we must be equal in the eyes of each other as well.
Officials have accused Islamic schools of being breeding grounds for separatism. What is your comment on that?
Because some of the leaders of today’s separatist groups have religious education, the government made the false assumption that the institution of Islamic education was at fault. Islamic boarding schools, locally known as pondok, have been accused of being breeding grounds of separatism. Officials unfairly singled out the institution of pondok, and this has created a great deal of resentment. Militant groups can train anywhere: it doesn’t have to be religious schools.
What does the future hold for you? What will you do now?
I’m an old man now, as I said, and all I wish to do now is be allowed to live in peace with my family and retire, but I will continue to make myself available to other people, be they academics, government officials, civil society or whoever. I hope to see peace restored in my homeland and see my people live in peace within my lifetime.
Lund, Sweden
A prominent exiled Thai Muslim leader said he welcomed the government’s policy shift towards a softer approach in dealing with violence in the Malay-speaking deep South and urged local residents to work towards peace.
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| Wan Kadir Che Man, right, and Don Pathan in Lund, Sweden |
Concerning the ongoing violence, Wan Kadir said the government had been wrong when it considered the relatively quiet 1990s as a time of peace, when in fact the spirit of separatism has always been present in the area.
As long as there is a sense of injustice among the Malay-speaking minority the separatist struggle will always resurface, he said.
It appears that a new generation of insurgents has emerged and structured itself into a loose network of cells that operate independently, he added.
Unlike the previous generation of separatists who saw themselves as nationalists, the current generation of insurgents has employed more religious symbolism in their activities.
The religion of Islam, he said, had also become a source of comfort for many people in the Malay-speaking region during these troubled times.
Unlike past battles carried out between government security forces and separatist groups, this most recent wave of violence has driven a wedge between Muslim and non-Muslim communities in the region, said Wan Kadir.
The Pattani native, who went into exile nearly two decades ago, also reiterated his willingness to return to Thailand and work with the government and civil groups towards a peaceful outcome for the restive region, where more than 600 people have been killed since January last year.
However, the Western-educated academic said he would not permit himself to be a political tool for the state’s propaganda and added that he would not accept any conditions placed on his return.
Wan Kadir also said he would continue to speak out for the rights of ethnic Malays, whom he said were treated as “second-class” citizens.
He also expressed the same sentiment in an open letter on the ongoing violence. “The problem stems mainly from the fact that Malay-Muslims are discriminated against and are treated as internal-colonial subjects,” wrote Wan Kadir.
Wan Kadir said he did not regret having joined the separatist movement, saying his aim was only to advocate the rights of ethnic Malays in southern Thailand.
Wan Kadir, who now resides in Sweden, announced in May 2004 – while working as a university professor in Kuala Lumpur – that he no longer supported separatism for Thailand’s Malay-speaking region or the use of violence in pursuing such a goal.
His decision to give up separatism was a personal one and Bersatu continues to hold on to its current political outlook, he said.
Thai intelligence agencies regard Wan Kadir as a symbolic figure to whom the separatist movement looks for political direction and ideology, but they believe that he does not have direct control over armed insurgents on the ground. Wan Kadir agrees with this assessment.
He obtained a PhD at Australia National University and a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in the United States.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/south2years/jul0405.php
http://www.pataninews.net/ReadEnglish.asp?ID=90
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Bersatu leader calls it a day
The Nation
Published on July 04, 2005
A prominent Thai-Muslim leader in exile, Wan Kadir Che Man, 60, has announced his intention of stepping down from Bersatu, an umbrella organisation that groups a number of Pattani exile groups. He spoke to The Nation’s Don Pathan in a telephone interview from Sweden.
Q. Why have you decided to stand down as leader of Bersatu? Why now, amid an ongoing spate of violence in the Muslim-Malay region?
A. I’m an old man now, and I think its time to let a younger generation of people take over. Hopefully they can do a better job. With regard to the ongoing violence in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand, I want to make it clear that Bersatu does not have anything to do with it. Bersatu is an umbrella organisation that advocates civil and political rights for Malays in southern Thailand.
Do you have any regrets?
No. I believe in what I am doing. I believe in speaking out for my people even if it means my having to live outside my country. I thank my wife and children for their support and understanding, and I apologise to them for what I have put them through.
What is the biggest misconception people have of Bersatu?
As I’ve said many times before, we struggled for the recognition of the Malay people, our past, our identity and our self-respect; that is all. But people saw us as a threat because we chose to speak out. It should be understood that our demand for respect does not mean we were against the people of Thailand or the country. In fact, we share the same goal of a peaceful Muslim region in southern Thailand, not a separate state. Bersatu is not about using force. We do not have any military capability and do not control troops on the ground.
So what do you make of the situation in Thailand’s Muslim South, and how is it affecting the country as a whole?
From what I gather, the fabric of society that once held the common people, both Muslim and non-Muslim, together has been shattered. This is extremely sad. The ongoing violence will have a long and lasting impact. The longer we wait, the harder it will be for the country to repair the damage. In previous decades, fighting was mainly between armed separatist groups and security forces. Today bombs are going off, and officials are assassinated, and nobody is claiming credit. This is very different from the past. I want to see an end to this fighting and to the loss of innocent lives, and I hope that by resigning now I will have opened the way for a new generation of leaders who can play a more active role in stopping the violence there. The idea is for Malays to use the democratic process to empower themselves, so they can work with the rest of the country to chart their own future.
What will happen to Bersatu as a result of your resignation?
Bersatu is a coalition, and so it will be up to each of the member groups to decide what happens. The job of a Bersatu leader is to provide general guidance as to how the movement should progress.
What is uniting the Malay people in southern Thailand now?
The Malays are united by their cultural identity and a long history of resentment. They don’t see their region getting a fair share of the country’s wealth and development, and they don’t see their history being taught in school or their past being recognised by the country that they are supposed to be a part of. I think that if the state makes a concerted effort to bridge this gap, perhaps the tension will subside and both sides will begin to trust each another. For this to happen, all sides have to work together. Whether we are Buddhists or Muslims, we are all equal in the eyes of God. But this is not enough: we must be equal in the eyes of each other as well.
Officials have accused Islamic schools of being breeding grounds for separatism. What is your comment on that?
Because some of the leaders of today’s separatist groups have religious education, the government made the false assumption that the institution of Islamic education was at fault. Islamic boarding schools, locally known as pondok, have been accused of being breeding grounds of separatism. Officials unfairly singled out the institution of pondok, and this has created a great deal of resentment. Militant groups can train anywhere: it doesn’t have to be religious schools.
What does the future hold for you? What will you do now?
I’m an old man now, as I said, and all I wish to do now is be allowed to live in peace with my family and retire, but I will continue to make myself available to other people, be they academics, government officials, civil society or whoever. I hope to see peace restored in my homeland and see my people live in peace within my lifetime.
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