Thaksin govt policies a key factor in crisis in South: PM
A soldier, in bushes at right, guards a family of four who returned home to Bannang Sata district in Yala yesterday after fleeing violence for safer areas for two months. They were among 50 families that decided to return to their village.
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Militants use the deep South's historical pain and unique identity to create violence in the predominantly Muslim region, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said yesterday.
The premier told Thai envoys to member countries of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that the previous government's wrong policies were a key factor in escalating the violence. Foreign elements were not involved in the South but the situation in Islamic countries such as Iraq encouraged local Muslims to feel they were being suppressed, he added. "That's the reason why militants in the deep South put a religious context into their campaign to call attention from the Islamic world," Surayud told envoys in a meeting at the Foreign Ministry. The premier suggested a strategy to contain violence of separating militants from supporters and sympathisers. "We have to eliminate conditions in which the militants could claim support from local residents - like separating fish from water," he said. Those who commit violence must face tough legal action, he added. The government would employ a peaceful approach in dealing with the situation, encouraging local participation, justice, economic development, education and social development, he said. The government deemed violence in the far South as local trouble but ambassadors and consulates in foreign countries had a role in preventing militants from trying to bring foreign elements into the region. "We need understanding and cooperation from foreign countries," the PM said. Surayud told reporters after the meeting that the government was considering how it could adjust secular education "to fit with the religious idea of peace, which is the heart of Islam". There are many ways to make this possible, such as sending students abroad or inviting speakers, he added. "There is also a discussion on applying Sharia law in the deep South. Currently it is being used, particularly in divorce law. We are looking at how we can apply more of it into the justice system so that it will relieve the workload of the Justice Ministry," Surayud said. The Justice Ministry would take care of this issue and might add the principle of Malaysian "Datoh justice" into the system, he said.
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