The fighting was between farmers of the country's ethnic Han majority and the Muslim Hui minority living in neighboring villages, as well as thousands of military police sent in to restore order. It appeared to be among the worst incidents of ethnic violence known to have taken place in China in recent years.The situation in Thailand is becoming increasingly tense. As David Fulbrook writes in the Asia Times:
The latest unrest followed a clash this summer in a nearby village in which police fired rubber bullets at farmers protesting land seizures and anti-government rioting two weeks ago in the western city of Chongqing. The Henan fighting served as a stark reminder of the varied tensions tearing at this vast nation as it undergoes rapid social and economic change.
Thailand's own September 11 may be moving closer, accelerated by the government's tough but inept policy that is alienating moderate Muslims in the deep south, possibly opening the door to foreign hands. A brutal response by disgruntled Muslims to last week's carnage [the death of 78 Muslims detained in connection with riots] would severely test relations with Buddhist Thailand and Muslim-majority neighbors Indonesia and Malaysia, potentially fracturing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
[...]
Despite a heavy military presence this year, assassinations, bombings and arson have increased in Thailand's southern border provinces. Intelligence seems poor, which is hardly surprising given the poor relations between the state and the people. Against such a background security forces have their work cut out in intercepting a major attack.
Even pro-government Muslims are losing faith. "People are extremely angry, even very well-known Muslims who have sided with the government all along," said Senator Kraisak Choonhaven, who joined a Senate fact-finding team visiting the region on Thursday. "It's really getting out of hand."
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Arbitrary detention, disappearances - most notably that of prominent Muslim human-rights lawyer Somchai Neelahphaijit - and extrajudicial killings have become common. It now may be impossible for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government to repair relations.
"I think the government has lost all credibility among Muslims nationwide and many Buddhist Thais as well. These methods of suppression [go] against people's constitutional right to demonstrate," said Kraisak.
The history of ethnic/sectarian relations in southern Thailand is conflictual but has been improving in some respects. Again from David Fulbrook:
These provinces have always had a somewhat tenuous link with Thailand; they comprised the Kingdom of Pattani until early in the 20th century when Siam, as Thailand was then known, subsumed them. Rebellion has been festering ever since, especially during periods of heightened Buddhist Thai nationalism, which has been resurgent over the past few years.Prime Minister Thaksin has taken a hard line against Muslim violence, arguing that Thailand can't afford to be soft on terrorism. Initially he praised the security forces, and he has indicated there are no plans to remove any officials. Yet on Friday in a televised speech he promised an independent investigation.
Despite initial moves at separation, over the decades, separatist dreams waned as the Muslim population, including ethnic Malays, began slowly integrating to a degree into Thai society.
"Even Malay-speaking Muslims have acquired a sense of belonging to Thailand over the last few decades. Many go to work in Malaysia but they listen to Thai music, read Thai magazines and are crazy about Thai soap operas. Thailand is home for them, they have multiplex personality; Thailand is their home," said Michiko Tsuneda, a University of Wisconsin cultural anthropologist studying Thai-Malay Muslim communities in southern Thailand.
However, like other ethnic minorities, they face discrimination from some elements of the Thai state in policy and practice. For Muslims, that feels sharper at a time when Muslims worldwide perceive persecution by non-Muslims, accentuating the problem and giving it an international tinge.
"Until recently it has very much been an ethnic issue, but this global trend of seeing conflicts along religious lines is affecting the southern Thailand situation, making religion a bigger issue," said Tsuneda.
On Saturday, Kraisak Chunhavan, chairman of the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press that Thaksin "should be fully responsible for this and resign for causing so many deaths."The Thai Army's tactics have not only been angering Muslims in the region regardless political persuasion. They have also stirred up considerable anxiety about future violence. As the WashPost reported yesterday:
Newspapers have reported allegations that the actual death toll may be higher.
Kraisak, who traveled to the area with other senators to investigate, couldn't confirm the reports, but said it had been difficult to count the number of missing because the army had isolated some of the detainees.
In a bid to address growing anger over the deaths, the military said it freed a total of 1,178 people on Saturday. However, 113 were kept in custody to be prosecuted, including those thought to be the ringleaders of the riot.
Relations between the Muslim and Buddhist communities were already tense in this region. After the deaths this week, businessmen and professionals have been buying guns and armoring their vehicles with steel plates, according to Panitan Wattanayagorn, a security analyst at Chulalongkorn University.The situation is prompting increasingly vocal concern from neighboring Malaysia. Last week former prime minister Mahathir's statement in favor of greater autonomy in the south was characterized by the Thai foreign ministry as "unhelpful."
Religious leaders and security experts said they feared further violence. A bomb exploded Thursday outside a bar in a border town, killing three people and wounding about 20 others. Two bombs killed a policeman and wounded 19 people Friday morning at a crowded food stall in neighboring Yala province. Authorities defused a large bomb that had been set to explode near a Buddhist temple in a Narathiwat market at a time when monks were scheduled to be there collecting alms.
Analysts, including Panitan, warned that the deaths on Monday could strengthen an evolving alliance between younger Muslim radicals and older separatist groups, which have remained largely quiet in recent years.
Mahathir said Thailand should consider more autonomy for the three southernmost provinces where most of Thailand's 6 million Muslims live, many of whom speak a Malay dialect.Former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said today, however, that it was too early to be discussing autonomy. But he warned that southern Thailand was risking becoming a flashpoint for Islamic extremism.
"I only propose to have a discussion and listen to them. They cannot get the independence that they want, so they are hoping for autonomy," he told the Utusan Malaysia newspaper last week.
Mahathir also took a swipe at Bangkok's handling of the 10-month wave of violence which has killed 440 people in the region bordering Malaysia.
"This is like the Palestinian issue. If it had been resolved from the beginning, it would not have led to problems," he said.
Bangkok has consistently rejected any notion of giving more autonomy to the region.
"If (violence) is allowed to go on and you leave it purely to security forces to handle the situation, this is certainly going to be a base for extremism," Anwar told The Associated Press. "Training of cadres for violence is certainly conducive in such an environment."Muslim reaction in Thailand wasn't delivered in as conciliatory a tone as Anwar's.
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Anwar said he believes Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government does not condone the deaths, but that allowing security forces to alone deal with dissidents was "not acceptable."
The deaths sparked outrage in the Islamic world against Thaksin's government.
The concern has been greater in Malaysia, which shares a border with southern Thailand. People on both sides are of the same ethnicity and speak the same language, and some Malaysian leaders worry that the violence could spill across the border.
Anwar urged Thaksin to seek assistance from Malaysia, which is the chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. He said Thailand should not be overly concerned about its sovereignty in approaching Malaysia for help.
If they are committed to fighting Islamic extremism and terrorism, "then they should welcome" Malaysia's involvement, and not see it purely as an internal affair, said Anwar, who wields considerable support in the Muslim world.
Thaksin insisted Friday that the problems in the south did not involve a conflict of religions but were a matter of national security and safety for all Thais.And now Thaksin also has to deal with the wishes of Thailand's king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is rarely seen to intervene in Thai politics. Following a private briefing by Thaksin with the king, Thaksin told reporters:
His comments were greeted with skepticism.
"I think Thaksin is trying to divert attention from the mistreatment by calling it a law and order issue," said Surin Pitsuwan, a prominent Muslim politician from the opposition Democrat Party and a former foreign minister.
"All he said is a manner of whitewashing himself," said Surin. "His speech will not help to lessen tension. The tension will escalate."
"[The king] expressed his concern over the situation in the south and he asked the government to consider being more lenient in dealing with the problem and to allow locals to participate in problem-solving," Thaksin told reporters.
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