Muslim religious leaders on Sunday said they wanted the southern separatist movement to refrain from violent activities during the holy month of Ramadan starting next month.
SBPAC director Pol Col Tawee Sodsong met with Muslim religious leaders in Narathiwat on Sunday to hear their opinion of the peace-building process in the South, a few days before the third round of talks between Thailand and representatives of the southern separatist movement in Malaysia. (Photos by Waedao Harai)
Imams, or leaders of 634 mosques across the southern province of Narathiwat met with Pol Col Tawee Sodsong, director of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) at the office of the Narathiwat Islamic Committee.
The meeting was held to listen to the imams’ opinions over the Barisan Revolusi Nasional's (BRN) five demands for a peaceful settlement to the conflict in the deep South ahead of the third round of peace talks between Thailand and the BRN scheduled for Thursday in Kuala Lumpur.
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The group called on the National Security Council (NSC) to ask the BRN, when they meet on June 13, to end all forms of violence during the month-long fasting period which starts about July 8.
Abdulrahman Abdulsamad, president of Confederation of Islamic Councils in five southern provinces, said Iran and Iraq were able to reach a ceasefire agreement during Ramadan in 1988 after their eight-year war and he expected the southern militants would accept the imams’ appeal as the two sides are fellow Muslims.
Mr Abdulrahman suggested Thailand and the BRN should each take one step back in order to reach mutually neutral and concrete solutions during the June 13 peace talks, and encouraged both sides to continue their efforts to build peace in the South.
Pol Col Tawee said Ramadan is an auspicious month for people of all religions, not only for Muslims, and called on all sides to do good deeds in honour of the holy month by refraining from violence.
The BRN’s demands include the acceptance of the role of the Malaysian government as “mediator” of the peace talks and not just as a "facilitator"; release of all detainees held on security-related charges and dropping of all arrest warrants; recognition of the ownership rights of Malay Muslims of the territory of "Patani"; and to acknowledge the BRN as a liberation movement.
At Sunday’s meeting, the southern imams said they accepted the role of the Malaysian government as a mediator of the peace talks but disagreed with the BRN’s call to release all detainees in security-related cases.
On the BRN’s appeal for recognition of the “Patani” territory, the imams said they wanted further clarification from the BRN on what kind of administration the group was seeking or whether they want to form a state with its own elected governor, just like Bangkok and Chon Buri, in case the Thai government responds to their demand.
A survey conducted by Bangkok Poll indicated that the BRN is now at an advantage over the Thai side after two rounds of peace talks as the situation has become more violent.
The survey was carried out with random telephone calls to 409 people between June 6-7 in southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla.
Asked about the overall situation after two rounds of peace talks, 61% of respondents said the situation has become more violent, 36.3% said the situation has remained unchanged, and only 2.7% said the situation has improved.
Asked which side they thought was at an advantage, a great majority, or 78.9%, pointed to the BRN while only 21.1% thought the Thai side was.
On the seriousness of the government in the talks, 61.6% said it was not and 38.4% said it was.
Most, or 72.6%, of those interviewed were concerned the situation would get worse, while 27.4% said there were signs of a truce.
However, the majority, or 54.4%, of those polled wanted the talks to continue while the rest said the talks should be called off.