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MUSLIM VIOLENCE AGAINST BUDDHISTS

IN THAILAND

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane

Buddhists account for about 95% of the population of Thailand and


most foreigners refer to it as the “Land of Yellow Robes”. Buddhism
has been the established „religion‟ or spiritual force in Thailand for
many centuries, according to some historic sources, since the 9th
century, and therefore has had a marked influence on the lives of the
people of Thailand. Buddhism has been the main spring from which
flow its culture and philosophy, its art and literature, its ethics and
morality, and many of its folkways and festivals. There are more than
21,000 Buddhist shrines and monasteries scattered throughout the
country. Thailand is a country where the king is constitutionally
stipulated to be a Buddhist and the upholder of Buddhism. All the
Thai kings in the recorded history of present-day Thailand have been
adherents of Buddhism.

Thailand is one of those rare countries in South and Southeast Asia


which was not under European colonial powers at any time in its
history and therefore not subject in the past to the influence of
Catholicism or Christianity.

A SMALL MINORITY OF MUSLIMS

Muslims account for a mere 4.6% of population. About two-third of


Muslims in Thailand are ethnically Malay and the balance consists
are those who have migrated to Thailand from China, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Cambodia, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The
Malay Muslims of Thailand are concentrated mostly in the
southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhla and
Chumphon. Their language is a dialect of the Malay language. Most
of the non-Malay Muslims are scattered here and there in Thailand
with a concentration in Bangkok. Northern Thailand is home to some
Burmese, Pakistani and mixed Muslims. In the far North and in some

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Central and Southern urban centres there are some Thai Muslims of
Chinese Hui origin.

Most of Thailand‟s Muslims consider themselves to belong to the


Sunni branch of Islam and almost all mosques are associated with
Sunni Islam. However, the Islamic faith in Thailand has become
integrated with many beliefs and practices not integral to Islam. In
the South, animistic practices indigenous to Malay culture are mixed
with Islam. There are 3,494 mosques in Thailand with the largest
number in Pattani province in the South. There are more than 200
Muslim schools in Thailand.

ISLAMIC SEPARATIST INSURGENCY

A separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand,


particularly in the Pattani region which is made up of three
southernmost provinces. Its beginnings were evident in the latter half
of the 20th century and in recent decades; Muslim separatists have
increasingly and openly rallied against the central government of
Thailand, accusing the government of ethnic-religious bias,
discrimination and corruption.

In recent years Islamic extremists have been spreading fear among


the indigenous Buddhists of the region, using violence and brutality.
They have resorted to the random killing of Buddhists, including
school teachers and Buddhist monks. Also, they have murdered
Muslims working in public institutions in Southern Thailand and those
who are suspected to be supportive of the Thai Government and
members of the Thai Military forces. A brutal attack on a Buddhist
temple in the town of Pattani in 2005 is seen as an attempt by
militants to deepen the religious divide between Muslims and
Buddhists in Thailand's deep South. About 20 insurgents stormed
the Promprasith Temple in Pattani's Panare district, armed with
assault rifles, knives, machetes, fireworks and petrol. They then
hacked a 76-year-old monk to death while two teenage temple
novices died in the hail of gunfire. The temple was set ablaze. The
news from Promprasith came as a shock to the rest of Thailand.
Muslims and Buddhists had lived in this area in harmony and peace
for a long time. Buddhists here never had any conflict with their
Muslim neighbors. The militants appear to be outsiders who want to
create a rift between Buddhists and Muslims. The increased
occurrence of violence in the South has been spilling over into other
provinces as well.

During 2000, authorities responded with military force and legal


action to separatist activity in the south. In February 2000, security
forces dealt a severe blow to the New Pattani United Liberation
Organization, a Muslim separatist group and killed its leader who
was responsible for 90 percent of the terrorist activities in Narathiwat,
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a southern Thai province. In 2004, the Thai government officially
recognized attacks in Thailand as terrorist acts performed by the
various insurgent groups that were in the country.

INCREASING TREND IN VIOLENCE

Although separatist violence has occurred for decades in the southern


region, the campaign escalated in 2004. Over 4300 lives have been lost
since the year 2004 owing to Islamic insurgency. Buddhist monks
have been beheaded, children killed and civilians attacked. More
than 500 people have been killed in 2004 in three southern Thai
provinces. Massive killings occurred throughout the mid to late 2000s
and as of 2010, nearly 4,000 people had been killed due to insurgent
violence. The death toll has increased to 2,579 by mid-September 2007
and surpassed 3000 in March 2008. By the end of 2010, insurgency-
related violence had increased. In the first few weeks of January in 2011
nine Buddhists have been killed in Southern Thailand by Islamic terrorists.
In a separate attack four members of Thai armed forces have been killed.
Many Buddhists have left their traditional home in Southern Thailand in
order to escape the ongoing Islamic insurgency.

According to Lee Jay Walker (www.theseoultimes.com) writing to


The Modern Tokyo Times, under the title “Islamic Terrorists kill more
Buddhists in Southern Thailand”, states that Southern Thailand
resembles modern day Afghanistan and Somalia because in both
these nations the radical Sunni Islamists show their extreme
intolerance of other faiths. In addition to Buddhists, moderate
Muslims are also being killed by radical Sunni Islamic fanatics of
Southern Thailand. The methodology of killing is intended to spread
fear to all who oppose the Islamization of Southern Thailand.

GRUESOME NATURE OF VIOLENCE

Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Professor of International


Relations at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University says "The
gruesome fashion of beheadings of Buddhists by Muslim assailants
... is not normal violence…" "it is driven by deep animosity and
hatred." Muslim extremists believe that violence, including killing
civilians, is justified as a means to restore sharia or Islamic law and
maintain Islamic cultural identity. According to the adherents of this
brand of Islamist activism, they are engaged in a jihad or a holy
struggle against Islam‟s enemies, including even fellow Muslims who
have abandoned what the extremists view as “true” Islam.

HATE LITERATURE AGAINST BUDDHISTS

One approach that these extremists use in Southern Thailand is the


distribution of hate literature in the form of pamphlets, against the
Buddhists. They are meant to intimidate the local Buddhist
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community. They are also used a warning mechanisms. One such
Document states "Dear every Siamese Buddhist Thai who lives near
the police stations……I'll give you three days for you to leave my
land. Otherwise, I will kill, burn, destroy all Buddhist Thai
property……The Buddhist Thai will never live in peace. If you leave
the house, travel or go to work, you will die violently. I will wait for
you for 24 hours, in every direction" (Pamphlet No.22). Another
states "The Islamic warriors of Pattani announce the purpose that we
will never stop killing the Siamese kafir (infidel) and will never stop
destroying army weapons, the economy, politics, education and the
Siamese kafir society until we regain the land of Pattani and
establish the state of Pattani Darulslam. I ask for Muslim Malays to
be the witnesses." (Pamphlet No 23).

ISLAMIC INSURGENT GROUPS

In the 20th century, there were 5 main Islamic insurgent groups


responsible for terror attacks in Thailand. One group was called the
Patani Malay National Revolutionary Front-Coordinate, or BRN-
Coordinate. The second insurgent group was the National Liberation
Front of Patani (BNPP) which was the first organized armed
resistance group active in the 1970s and 1980s, but had become
defunct. The third insurgent group was the Patani United Liberation
Organization (PULO) operating mainly from exile in Syria and
Sweden where its supporters lived. It had a working relationship with
BRN. The fourth insurgent group was the Islamic Mujahidin
Movement of Patani (GMIP) formed in 1995 by Afghanistan war
veteran Nasoree Saesaeng. This group was linked to the Malaysia-
based militant organization Kumpulan Mujahidin which, in turn had
close ties with the Indonesia- based Jemaah Islamiya. The fifth main
insurgent group was the United Front for the Independence of
Patani, commonly known as Bersatu.

INVOLVEMENT OF FOREIGN MUSLIM NATIONS

In the last decade, there has been evidence that Islamic institutions
of foreign Muslim nations have been involved in promoting Islamic
radicalization and the doctrine of Islamic Jihad in Thailand. Thai
authorities knew for quite some time that many Muslim Thai activists
had been to overseas Islamic schools, where they came under
influence of hard-line Muslim teachers. Some were reported to have
joined the jihad against the Soviet Army in Afghanistan and returned
to Thailand as extremists.

According to Michael Scott Doran, a Professor of Near Eastern


Studies at Princeton University, this brand of Islamist extremism is
not a new phenomenon. The basic sentiment of today‟s Muslim
extremists has flourished in the Islamic world for decades. In recent
decades the newfound wealth of the oil-rich Middle Eastern Islamic
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countries and massive immigration of Muslims to the West, Islamic
fundamentalism has been on the rise and the dormant spirit of
Jihadism has been rekindled once again. This fervor has been
translated into various forms of upheavals and terrorism and world
peace has been put in jeopardy. In 2001 it was reported that of the
28 terrorist organizations in the world, 11 are Islamist and that there
were thousands of Islamist terrorists in more than 60 countries.

MUSLIM MADRASAS INDOCTRINATE THE YOUNG

Another approach that these extremists use is enumerated well by


Zachary Abuza in his book titled Militant Islam in Southeast Asia
(Crucible of Terror). It highlights the role of Islamic schools called
Madrasas in indoctrinating the younger generation. The author
comments that "In their pursuit of the creation of Islamic states, many
Southeast Asian jihadis established Islamic schools to indoctrinate,
propagate, and recruit. The leaders of many militant groups in
Southeast Asia, including the Laskar Jihad, Kampulan Mujahidin
Malaysia, and Jemaah Islamiya, returned from Afghanistan and
established a network of madrasas as the base of their operations
and recruitment." These radical Islamic madrasas, with unrestricted
material support from foreign Muslim countries, have begun to recruit
and brainwash many Muslim children and youth in Islamic Jihadist
movement and Islamic fundamentalism. This is a dangerous trend
and a great threat to peace and security of Thailand.

THAI MUSLIMS TRAINED IN FOREIGN MADRASAS

The extensive media reporting in Pakistan on the presence of foreign


students in Pakistani madrasas, which followed the reports of the
involvement of three British citizens of Pakistani origin in the London
explosions of July 7, 2005, has revealed the presence of nearly a
thousand Thai Muslims from Pattanis, in the Pakistani madrasas.
Until the Pakistani media gave an estimate of the number of Thai
students in their madrasas, the world was not aware of the large
number of Thai Muslims in Pakistani Madrasas. It is now known that
madrasas in Bangladesh also contain large numbers of Thai
Muslims. Many of these Thai Muslims have enrolled themselves in
the madrasas of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and
Baluchistan, which are the hotbeds of the activities of the Taliban
and the Wahhabi-Deobandi organizations of Pakistan. Some of them
have also undergone training in the jihadi training centres of the
Taliban and Gulbuddin Heckmatyar's Hizbe Islami (HEI) and have
been participating in the current Taliban-HEI-Al Qaeda offensive in
Afghanistan from sanctuaries in the NWFP and Baluchistan." South
Asia Analysis Group -- Terrorism in Southern Thailand by B. Raman,
Paper No. 1501, 15/08/2005.

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Thai authorities are investigating possible links between separatist
groups and Islamic terrorist organizations such as Jemaah
Islamiyah, which seeks a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia. It's
blamed for attacks including the 2002 bombing in Bali that claimed
202 lives.

MALAYSIAN CONNECTION

Thailand's Muslim youth often go to Malaysia to study, especially in


the northern state of Kelantan, where terrorists wanted by Thai
authorities have allegedly gone into hiding. Indeed, Malaysia hasn't
just served as a safe haven for Thai religious warriors. Until the late
1990s, Indonesian hate preacher Abu Bakar Bashir, now in detention
in Jakarta on charges of "planning to overthrow the government,"
taught at a Malaysian religious school, where he indoctrinated the
members of terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, who killed 202 people
in the October 2002 nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali.

Terror is everywhere. Although Indonesia recently reported the death


of dangerous bomb-maker Azahari bin Husin a member of the
notorious Indonesian terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah and
the man believed responsible for the 2002 attacks in Bali, among
other acts of terror, the whereabouts of the more than 40 suicide
bombers he trained remain a mystery.

Despite problems in Thailand and Malaysia, international observers


and Western intelligence experts are even more concerned about
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest country. With its 212 million
inhabitants, including 185 million Muslims, the giant island nation is
the world's most populous Islamic country.

Indonesian authorities have arrested more than 200 members of


terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah in recent months, but acts of terror
committed by Muslim fanatics have not subsided. Six hooded men in
black staged an especially brutal attack in 2005 on the island of
Sulawesi, where they beheaded three Christian schoolgirls in their
uniforms and placed one of the severed heads in front of a church
(MARCH OF THE EXTREMISTS, Attacks Threaten Religious Harmony in
Southeast Asia, By Jargen Kremb ,Translated from the German by
Christopher Sultan, November 21, 2005).

HATRED TOWARDS NON MUSLIMS

Extremist Muslims in particular appear to dislike all „infidels‟ -


Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Jews. Also, there is evidence that
some Muslims hate each other and murder each other. Sunnis
slaughter Shias, Shias slaughter Sunnis, both Shias and Sunnis join
together to slaughter Ahamediyas. Bloodshed, mass murder,
terrorism and violence appear to be a part of Muslim culture then
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and now (Islamic Terrorists Kill More Buddhists in Southern
Thailand, Assyrian International News Agency - Posted 1-27-2011,
http://leejaywalker.wordpress.com).

The history of Islam is a story of constant war and suppression of


other peoples in the world. The constant inclination of Islam has
been to wage war and capture foreign lands. Prophet Mohammad
himself led military expeditions and killed people with his own hands.
The Arab Empire was won and consolidated by Islamizing its
peoples using the fury of its faith in god who desires everyone to
submit to him.

Most of the Koran is replete with passages that call for war on
unbelievers and venomous hate of those who would not
acknowledge its god. The following quotation from the Koran will
illustrate the mentality of Prophet Mohammed. “Let those who would
exchange the life of this world for the hereafter fight for the cause of
god, whoever fights for the cause of god whether he dies or
triumphs, we shall richly reward him… The true believers fight for the
cause of god but the infidels fight for the devil. Fight then against the
friends of Satan…

NON-MUSLIMS ARE INFIDELS

The intention of Thailand‟s radical Sunni Islamists is to have a land


with no Buddhists and to create an Islamic Sharia state. The usual
beheadings of innocents is deemed to be justified on the grounds
that non-Muslims are infidels in accordance with the Koran and
Hadiths. This applies to the Koran for 9:29 states "Fight those who
believe not in Allah nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which
hath been forbidden by Allah and his apostle nor acknowledge the
religion of truth of the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) until
they pay jizya (tax on non-Muslims) with willing submission and feel
themselves subdued."

Verse 9:73 in the Koran also states "O Prophet! Strive hard (wage
war) against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites and be firm against
them. Their abode is Hell, -- an evil refuge indeed." While the Hadith
9:4 says "Wherever you find infidels kill them; for whoever kills
them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection."

Zachary Abuza, the author of "Militant Islam in Southeast Asia,"


states that Buddhists have been forced to flee in a "de facto ethnic
cleansing." He further continued by stating that "The social fabric of
the south has been irreparably damaged." Meanwhile Sunai Phasuk,
a political analyst at Human Rights Watch, comments that "Buddhist
monks have been hacked to death, clubbed to death, bombed and
burned to death." Therefore, it is clear that this Sunni Islamic
insurgency is following a path that involves the destruction of all non-
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Muslim elements within society or the complete subjugation of all
non-Muslims by the rule of fear.

THE ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE

The most notable movement in the region is Jemaah Islamiya which


is often linked with Al Qaeda and this Sunni terrorist Islamic
organization desires to create more chaos and hatred in order to
spread its influence and obtain its ultimate objective. This objective,
just like the radical Sunni Islamic objective in Afghanistan, Iraq,
Pakistan, Somalia, and other nations, is to create an Islamic Sharia
state and enforce the slavery of non-Muslims by a policy of total
subjugation based on fear. They have threatened parents to not
send their children to any school but the private Islamic schools.
They have forced businesses closed on Fridays. Suffis and
moderate Sha'afis have been routinely targeted. Also, it is noticeable
that more women are covering up in purdah.

Overall, it is clear that elements within Southern Thailand desire a


non-Buddhist land. The younger generation of Muslims are being
brainwashed against Buddhists. This hatred and alienation of the
younger generation began after many studied at international
universities throughout the Middle East. Funding from the Middle
East is being used to spread radical Sunni Islamic versions of Islam.
Although the hidden war in Southern Thailand by radical Sunni
Islamists is being aimed at moderate Muslims and Buddhists alike,
the Buddhists it is feared face complete annihilation and one day
Southern Thailand may end up like Afghanistan, Central Asia, and
other areas which once had thriving Buddhist communities.

A CHALLENGE TO THAI MILITARY

Growing violence is proving a challenge to the Thai military. "The


most dangerous battle in Southeast Asia's religious melting pot”,
says terrorism and al-Qaida expert Rohan Gunaratna, "is currently
being waged in Southern Thailand." Not a day goes by here without
an attack. On some days, state-run schools are set on fire and
teachers murdered, and on others unknown attackers in pickup
trucks target Muslim teahouses in drive-by shootings. A train carrying
military recruits was blown from its tracks in 2005. Armed assailants
armed with machine guns and hand grenades wiped out a nine-
member Muslim family because the father had worked as a police
informant.

INVOLVEMENT OF TAMIL LTTE TERRORISTS

The LTTE Tamil terrorists were involved with Muslim activists of


Southern Thailand during the latter part of the 20th century,
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especially in the Phuket area of Southern Thailand. There LTTE
Tamil terrorists were involved in heroin smuggling with the
assistance of Muslim activists. They used drug proceeds to purchase
weapons which were transported to Sri Lanka for terrorist activities.
In 2000, Thai government pledged to halt the use of Thailand as a
logistics base by the LTTE following the discovery in June 2000 of a
partially completed submarine at a shipyard in Phuket, in Southern
Thailand, owned by an LTTE-sympathizer. They also discovered an
unclassified paper by Canadian intelligence published in December
2000 that outlined the LTTE use of front companies to procure
weapons via Thailand.

DISRESPECT, DISREGARD AND INDIFFERENCE

Why do Muslims battle all societies they infiltrate? Also, why are Muslims
not accommodative of non Muslims living in Muslim countries, especially by
not permitting them to freely practice their religions? Why are there no
Muslim democracies? These are relevant questions for one to pose. The
fact is that in general, Muslims are more intransigent, belligerent and are
notoriously militarized, and thus are disproportionately involved in conflicts
in the world (http://www.thereligionofpeace.com). It is common knowledge
that although Muslims speak of brotherhood, there is strong disunity and
dislike among the various Muslim factions. Sunnis dislike Shias, Shias
dislike Sunnis, both Shias and Sunnis join together to harass the
Ahamediyas. All Muslims dislike all infidels - Buddhists, Jews, Christians,
Sikhs and Hindus. Buddhists, wherever in the world they live, are
accommodative of other religions. Also, unlike in the case with Muslims,
Buddhists, whatever may be the countries they belong to, whatever may be
the schools of Buddhism they observe - Mahayana, Theravada,
Vajrayana, Zen, there is no disharmony or animosity at all among them.

History reveals vividly how Muslims invaded many former Buddhist


countries and subjugated their people subjecting them to extreme forms of
violence and untold misery unless people converted to Islam. There have
been problems of a varied nature in all countries where Muslims form a
minority. Indonesia and Malaysia were Buddhist countries at a
certain time in history. With Muslim invasions most of the Buddhists
in these places were either killed or converted to Islam. More
recently in 2001, in the name of Islam, the Taliban destroyed the
world renowned monumental Bamiyan Buddha statues built in the 6 th
century, citing that these were „idols‟ which are forbidden under
Sharia law in Islam. These actions show disrespect, disregard and
sheer indifference towards people of other religions. Such attitudes
do not allow any community to assimilate with other communities,
especially with mainstream communities in countries where they live
as a minority.

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane


Vancouver, Canada
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Pictures of Muslim Violence against Buddhists in Thailand
http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/muslim-hate-squads-
killing-buddhists-in-southern-thailand-warning-very-graphic-photo-images/

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