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Mahathir Urges Autonomy for South Thailand
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“The best they can hope for is the formation of an autonomous territory,” said Mahathir.
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KUALA
LUMPUR, October 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Former
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has urged Thailand to
consider autonomy for its Muslim south, and called on separatist
groups to drop their goal of independence.
Mahathir’s
statements, published Friday by a Malay-language daily, followed the
brutal death of scores of Muslim protestors in the custody of Thai
security forces, calls for impartial inquiries and a surge of bombs
and threats of revenge.
“They
(separatists) cannot achieve the independence they want,” Mahathir
said in an interview with Utusan Malaysia daily.
“The
best they can hope for is the formation of an autonomous territory,”
said Mahathir, who retired and took on the role of elder statesman
last year, according to a translated script of statements carried by
The Associated Press.
Mahathir
further added that he was convinced that Thailand's Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra was a tolerant man who would listen to the demands
of his country's minority Muslims.
He,
however, conceded that autonomy could be a difficult issue.
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Malaysians protest “Genocide of Muslims by Thailand”. (AFP) |
“I'm
just suggesting that talks are held and all their grouses looked into.
The Thai government needs to pay closer attention ... whether
(autonomy) is possible or not is not the point but it needs to be
worked at.”
Earlier
this year, the Thai government claimed it was willing to meet Muslim
separatists, but it turned out it was not serious after conditioning
the start of any talks on the separatists dropping any demands for
autonomy.
Mahathir
pushed the issue a bit further by likening the violence there to one
of the world’s most complicated crises and sufferings; that is the
Palestinian issue.
“This
is just like the Palestinian issue. If it was solved at the beginning
stages, there would have been no problem. But if you allow local
(military) commanders to take action, it becomes very difficult.”
Saying
efforts must be taken to overcome the problem in the Muslim-dominated
provinces, Mahathir expresses sadness over the situation in the
restive southern provinces.
He
said that what was happening in southern Thailand reflected yet
another weakness of the Muslims, in taking actions without much
thought with a mere hope that they would prevail in the end.
“But
the truth of the matter is that their actions will only lead to all
sorts of calamities,” he told reporters after breaking fast at the
newly-completed RM4 million Masjid Jamek Al-Qoddim in Kuala Lumpur
Thursday night, according to the official news agency Bernama.
Monday,
October 25, was one of south Thailand’s most tragic days as some
85 Muslims were killed or crushed to death when over 1,300
protestors were detained, tied and piled in trucks for a six-hour long
trip.
The
clashes erupted after a crowd had gathered at the district police
station in Takbai, Narathiwat, to protest against the detention of six
men accused by the police of providing weapons to “Islamic
militants”.
Some
six months earlier, Thai security forces clashed with Muslims in
southern Thailand and opened fire killing at least
107 Muslim youth in the bloodiest day in the history of this
troubled region, April 28.
Bombs
Explode
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Three bombs have exploded in 12 hours in the south. (AFP) |
On
Friday, October 29, two bombs rocked the south wounding at least 20
people, as Thaksin vowed there would be no cover-up over the deaths of
Muslims in the volatile region.
Friday's
coordinated bombings followed a blast late Thursday that left two
people dead and about 20 wounded after a separatist group vowed
revenge for the scores of detainees who died in the custody of Thai
security forces.
The
latest bombings occurred in the southern town of Yala during morning
rush hour. Eight people were wounded, including three police, when the
first roadside bomb went off near a tea shop and kindergarten, police
and hospital officials said.
Another
device that exploded less than 90 minutes later at the same location
wounded 12 police including forensics experts investigating the first
bombing.
Local
television showed officers carrying away their wounded colleagues, one
of whom appeared to be screaming in pain.
Police
cordoned off the area and were preparing to search for a possible
third explosive device, they said.
Senior
police expressed concern that the attackers had scored a successful
hit on security forces with the latest blasts.
“It
was clear that the perpetrators were part of this unrest campaign, and
they were successful because of the second bomb which targeted
policemen and was more severe than the first,” Yala police commander
Major General Parinya Kwanyuen told reporters.
It
was the third bombing in just over 12 hours in the south.
Thailand's
Muslim-majority south is gripped by violence rattling Thaksin's
administration, which has come under fire for its handling of the
unrest.
“In
my national TV address (later Friday), there won't be anything covered
up,” haksin vowed before he and his foreign minister moved to
assuage mounting domestic and international concern over heavy-handed
tactics by security forces in the predominantly Buddhist kingdom,
according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Thaksin
Friday pledged to bring to justice anyone found guilty of using
excessive force in the south.
“They
will be prosecuted objectively if found guilty. I want to reaffirm
that my government is sincere and understanding in this situation,”
he said.
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