The long, long task of reconciliation

11 apr 05

 Last week, 300 scholars from 22 countries around gathered outside Chicago for the ninth International Conference on Thai Studies. Usually these triennial meetings discuss Thai culture, history, language, literature and anthropology. This time, these subjects were present, but in the background. Two of the three highlighted themes were the Thaksin government and the situation in southern Thailand. Quite a difference.

 Why so? Conferences need sponsors. Organizers must select themes which appeal to international foundations. The choice of these themes shows that the outside world wants to understand Thaksin because he is so powerful, and to understand Thailand’s south because the problems are no longer local or even national but international in their scope and implications.

 The south was the main focus, with one keynote speech, a roundtable discussion, almost 50 academic papers, and hours of debate. The presence of three members of the National Reconciliation Commission helped to focus discussion on immediate issues. But many speakers stressed that a belief in quick and easy solutions in the south was one of the key causes behind the current mess. Reconciliation is going to need time.

 At the first level, the task is to reverse the spiral of growing violence and mutual distrust over the past eighteen months. When one prominent community leader from the region was asked what southern Muslims wanted most of all, he replied simply “justice.” He explained: “Why does the Krue Se commission not cover the other incidents on the same day? Why is there no proper restitution for the Tak Bai victims? Why is nobody taking responsibility for 500 deaths? The government has to solve the problem of people’s feelings. Many feel they have lost their rights defined in the constitution.” 

Another local leader was quoted saying: “Our southern Muslims now are living like emigrants in their homeland.” A Pattani villager told one researcher, “I don’t really know much about our history, but the troubles have made me feel I now understand how the martyrs of the old Pattani kingdom felt.” A senior academic recalled southern villagers complaining about corruption and abuse by police and other officials ­ in 1954. Things have not changed much in the past 50 years!

 Security policies over the past two years have massively alienated the southern Muslim communities. Probably only a minute fraction supports separatism, and an even minuter fraction supports violence. But more supporters are being manufactured day by day. Changing this feeling of injustice will take a long time. But you first have to start. 

The conference’s second main message was that Thailand, like any other country with a Muslim population, has to come to terms with the current realities of the Islamic world. There are intense movements of purification and reform. There are also emotionally charge political issues raised by the conflicts in the Middle East, and particularly by the USA’s role in them. In this globalised age, information about these matters flows across national borders just as easily as MTV transmissions. New religious teachings are available as written material, broadcasts, websites, and many other forms. Imams in Thai mosques preach about the problems of Palestine. Groups gather in the evenings to debate what is happening in Iraq.

 Government cannot block these flows. Nor can it ignore their consequences and hope for peace. But there are plenty of Muslims in parts of Thailand outside the south who seem to have no difficulty about being part of a more intense Islamic world and at home as a Thai citizen. Several speakers at the conference urged that the Muslim residents in the south will feel more at home in the nation when they have more say and a bigger role in what the government does. Some time, Bangkok will have to reconsider how this region is governed. It’s different, and it needs to be run differently. Some measure of greater autonomy within the nation may be needed. But many at the conference urged caution. Autonomy is a dangerously emotional word, and any administrative change will need to be designed carefully. Again, the key message was that this is going to take time, but you first have to start.

 The conference’s third message was on the long-term issue of acceptance. Here the problem is not the 3 per cent of the Thai population who are Muslims living in the southern provinces, but the other 97 per cent. Can they accept this area’s difference?

 Bangkok took decisive control of the southern border provinces in the colonial era of land-grabbing. Thailand was then imagined as unitary nation, even though it was really a collage. For over a century, schoolkids have been taught that a proper Thai citizen speaks the Thai language and practices Buddhism. Other religions are tolerated but somehow their adherents are a little bit less than fully Thai. Other languages were expected to disappear. With this mindset, many of the 97 per cent are puzzled and dismayed by the Malay-speaking Muslims of the far south. Although official agencies now theoretically embrace cultural diversity, the commitment is rather half-hearted ­ no match for a century of nationalistic education.

 This attitude underlies everything from the government’s mean allocation of development funds to the far south (and its resulting poverty) to the inhumane treatment dished out at Tak Bai. Changing this attitude is a huge task which will take decades rather than years. But any solution which hopes to end the two-century-long trend of recurring revolts in the region has got to address this problem. However long the task, it needs to start.

 Perhaps the major conclusion of the conference is a chilling one. Anyone who expects the National Reconciliation Commission to come up with solutions which are quick and easy needs to think again. But this is a great opportunity to shift from military solutions to political and cultural ones, and the opportunity must not be missed.