When the armed wings of the separatist movements were defeated militarily in the late-1980s, foot soldiers who laid down their arms were granted blanket amnesty. However, most of their leaders chose to go into exile in other countries.

Although most of these leaders, who are now in their 60s, have since abandoned the idea of fighting to create a Muslim Malay homeland in the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, they are still considered too dangerous to be allowed back into the country. Most, if not all, of the former separatist leaders who will be taking part in the informal talks with Thai officials in Malaysia's Langkawi island are Thai nationals. They may carry Malaysian ID cards or have residency in that country but they still have a strong attachment to Patani, a historically Malay-speaking region that was formally annexed into Siam just over a century ago.

There is no question that the three southernmost provinces are an integral, indivisible part of Thailand. As people who were born and raised in this country, these one-time separatists should now be pardoned and given a chance to return to live in peace in their home provinces.

They should be seen as no less Thai than any other Thai national. They may speak a different language from many of us, or practise a different religious faith, but we all have a shared destiny as citizens of this country. If these people choose to love Patani in their own special way and want to retain their strong sense of identity as Thai Muslims of Malay descent, then they should be free to do so. After all, people in different regions in this country don't need to be told how or why they should preserve their unique traditions, dialects or ways of life.

The majority of ethnic Malays in the deep South have insisted that they are willing to be Thai citizens on their own terms, and they have made it abundantly clear that they want to preserve their unique Malay identity.

In an interview with The Nation two years ago in Sweden, Wan Kadir Che Man, an academic who fled his birthplace decades ago because he had challenged Thailand's notion of a nation-state, pointed out that the Malays are united by their cultural identity and a long history of resentment.

"They don't see their region getting a fair share of the country's wealth and development, and they don't see their history being taught in school or their past being recognised by the country that they are supposed to be a part of," Wan Kadir said.

Too often, we seek to impose nationalism in the narrowest sense when we address sticky and complex issues such as minority identities and their place in society. The Buddhist mainstream is quick to condemn Muslims for questioning Thailand's sense of a nation-state, while most peace-loving Muslim Malays in the South feel helpless in the face of intimidation by their radicalised co-religionists. The latter are the ones engaged in a war of attrition with the state security apparatus.

The return of the former separatist leaders from their exile may have no direct bearing on the government's attempt to end the ongoing insurgency by a new generation of Islamic militants/Malay separatists. But it could convey the important message to people in the deep South that the Thai nation is big enough for many different kinds of people, regardless of their ethnicity or religious faith. Cultural diversity is to be celebrated rather than be regarded with suspicion. It cannot be emphasised enough that the need to rebuild and achieve reconciliation demands that both sides reach out to one another.