YALA - Fragile relations between the Muslim in the deep South and the army showed again after a female teacher was taken for questioning by security officers on suspicion of her possible connection with bombing.
Muslim students hold a peaceful rally at the central mosque in Muang district of Yala to protest the army's action detention of a young female teacher for interrogation. (Photo by Maluding Dito)
The Federation of the Students in the Border Southern Provinces (Perman) organised a protest by about 300 students at the central mosque in Muang district of Yala on Wednesday, and sent 15 representatives to meet with officers of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) at their forward command post in Yarang district of neighbouring Pattani.
They handed over a letter asking for an explanation of the detention and questioning of teacher Padilah Sorman. Some members of the delegation demanded her immediate release.
Perman is short for Persekutuan Mahasiswa Sempadan Sepadan Selatan, the Malay name of the group.
Mrs Padilah, a 23-year-old kindergarten (tadika) teacher Tadika teacher at the Bukit community in Khok Pho district, Pattani, was taken from her class on April 16 for questioning at a base in Raman district of Yala, by paramilitary rangers. The school was holding a a summer camp and she was teaching at the time.
A security officer said the 23-year-old teacher, who is a Khon Pho native, was suspected of having information about the Jan 22 bombing of security officers guarding Khok Pho teachers. Her mobile telephone number was the one used to detonate the explosive, the officer said.
Mrs Padilah's brother, Fadel Sohman, 26, was taken for questioning at the same camp on Monday, said the officer, who refused to give his name under standing security directives.
The student protesters, however, called it the lastest example of threats to teachers in the South. They displayed banners at the rally site in Yala that urged authorities to end suspicions of their teachers. One of the banners read: "Tadika (kindergarten) teachers are not insurgents".
Suhaimi Dulada, the student leader, called for better measures for safety of Tadika teachers as they were threatened by officers before the rally which started at 10am ended almost four hours later peacefully.
The student protest raised concerns, as such demonstrations could be blown out of proportion.
Winthai Suwaree, the army deputy spokesman, confirmed that an investigation had found evidence that the teacher's telephone might be linked to the bomb blast four months ago, leading to the decision to take her to the ranger camp.
Col Winthai denied the detention showed prejudice. He said her rights would not be violated. All processes were undertaken in a transparent manner with no hidden objective, the deputy spokesman said.
He claimed the issue was treated with care, as it could be used as propaganda by "ill-intended people'' to try to claim that soldiers were intimidating innocent people in the region.
The conflict between the students and army occurred as the National Security Council prepared for a second round of peace talks with the Barison Revolusi Nasional (BRN) in Malaysia on Monday.