Anger softens on Krue Se anniversary

Anger softens on Krue Se anniversary

Pattani: Ten years after the killings at the Krue Se mosque, a daughter of one of 32 Muslims gunned down by soldiers has taken a fresh view of the tragedy.

A Muslim girl sits in the compound of the ancient Krue Se Mosque in Pattani’s Muang district. Ten years ago, 32 Muslim insurgents hiding in the mosque were killed by soldiers after they attacked government officials. Ta watchai Kemgumnerd

Khodiyo Hali’s anger at soldiers who shot dead her father has disappeared and she prays to Allah for forgiveness for her father if he really joined the separatist movement.

At the age of 37, Ms Khodiyo is on the path towards one of the practices of morality much valued by all regions.

On April 28, 2004, her father Ma-ae allegedly led Muslim insurgent suspects to hide at the ancient mosque in Pattani’s Muang district after they attacked government officials.

They were among 106 Muslims killed in clashes with security officers in 11 locations.

The battle at Krue Se was most controversial as the act of soldiers storming the mosque was slammed for the use of unreasonable force.

Ma-ae laid dying with a string of beads in one of his hands.

“I first got angry at soldiers who killed my dad,” Ms Khodiyo said.

“I didn’t believe my father was wrong. Perhaps he just went there for making salat [prayer].”

Ms Khodiyo decided to fight the insurgency accusation against her father in the courts.

Her decision was based on her knowledge and closeness to her father who had taught only good things to her and her eight siblings.

It has been 10 years since the incident. Nobody cannot say exactly whether her father was in the right or in the wrong.

Ms Khodiyo has begun to suspect her father might have been involved in the separatist movement, but said he “was probably lured into supporting the group”.

It is this view that has changed her attitude towards soldiers who, over the past 10 years, have tried to build a better understanding between authorities and the families of the dead.

Her father, together with eight Muslim men, was a resident in Moo 3 of Ban Som in Pattani’s Khok Pho district.

Their bodies were buried in an old cemetery where Ms Khodiyo and other villagers went to pay their respects to the victims in a ceremony held to mourn their deaths yesterday.

While Ms Khodiyo still misses her father and deeply mourns his killing, she, along with other villagers, has also developed ties with soldiers so deep that she can say now “we all are friends and even brothers”.

Following on from her early attempts to fight to clear her father's name. Ms Khodiyo is now a coordinator between villagers and authorities when they want help.

She also works closely with the government in preventing youngsters from being lured into joining insurgent groups, the path that her father might have walked himself in the past.

“We cannot let young people simply hang around the village. They may be seduced into wrongdoing,” Ms Khodiyo said. She has introduced sports to keep them away from criminals.

As for her father, if he really supported an insurgent group and was involved in attacks before the Krue Se incident, she would ask Allah to forgive him and “take her father to live with him”.

Meanwhile, authorities yesterday tightened security in many areas, staying on full alert for any attacks militant groups might carry out to mark the 10th anniversary of the Krue Se massacre yesterday.

In Yala, the 16th Yala Task Force of military rangers set up security checkpoints at Ban Phong Yue Rai in Muang district to look out for suspicious cars travelling to the village.

The officers were afraid insurgent suspects might use stolen cars in new attacks, including car bombs.

Security was also boosted on Sukyang Road in the same district where border patrol police set up a checkpoint to inspect vehicles in the area, especially ones that might be stolen.

Earlier, eight pickup trucks were stolen in the district.

One of the vehicles came from Malaysia. Five were registered in Songkhla, Pattani and Bangkok. One was a car used in the Armed Forces Development Command while the other has no registration plate.

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