The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

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Transcript of The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

Page 1: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

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Page 2: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

THE MTISLIMS OFSOUTHEAST ASIA

AFKJILANI

KHTI{E TAcI LIBBAS,Y

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ljirst Iilitiort

Publisher

Financed by

Cover Design

May 2005

Mahmudul HoqueThe Taj LibraryI I Anderkilla, Chittagong,Bangladesh.Email : pearl @simnibd.com

Syed Mohammad Ali

Kazi Mahmudur Rahntan

Acknowledgements

The lon,q desire to write a book on "The Muslims of SoutheastAsia" has practically taken in shape when my children speciallyMubasher Hussein (Portland, USA), Musharaf Hussein (Tokyo, Japan),and Munuwar Hussein (London, U.K.), have repeatedly encouragedme to -qo ahead sooner than later. I appreciate them for their keeninterest in my writing. But without the help of Syed Mohammed Ali,perhaps it would never have taken its final shape. My special thankswould go to him for his contribution towards the publication of thisbook. I am grateful to Mr. Aman Ullah who helps me by lending somebooks. I am also thankful to Dr. Waker (USA), Reza (USA) and Mr.Habibur Rahman who encourase me to write this book.

l7 llabius Sani 1426

27 May 2005AFK Jilani

Copyright reserved by author

Price : US$ -5 / ?rka 180.(X)

ISBN :984-742-007-6

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In tlre narne ol'Allah. thc Conrpassionate. the Mercitirl!

Preface

Ignorance about Muslimrs is not bliss. Dr. Habib Siddiquiwritesfrom Philadelphia. PA. USA. 'The Cornel survey also revealedsomethin-e that slrows how little the -eeneral run of US citizens knowabout Islam. Alrnost half (46 per cent) of the respondents could not

even answer two basic questions: what name Muslims use to refer toGod (Allah) and the name of the Muslim holy book (Qur'an). Did notwe know that people are afl'aid of thin-es they are ignorant abor.rt

ignorance leads to suspicion; suspicion leads to f'ear and anxiety, whichcontribute to hatred?'

'The Muslims of Southeast Asia' is written to hi,ehli-sht theconditions of MLrslims living in Muslim countries and non-Muslimcountries of Southeast Asia. Between Muslirn Banglaclesh and MuslimMalaysia there live Rohingyas of Arakan. acljacent to Bangladesh.Pattani or Thai Muslims are livin_s adjacent to Malaysia. There existcontinuous persecutions of Muslirn Rohingyas in Arakan State of Burrnahappcning sometimes mass exodus of Rohin.tya r-cfir-9ees to Ban-alladesh

like tlrc torced exodus of 1978 and 1992. Daily crossing of Rohingyasfrom Burrna's Arakan State to Bangladeslr in a small numbers is

-eoin_eon escaping thc bordcr -euards. Thousands are herded at Teknaf andkept at miserable concliti<'lns.

Troops piled aroLrnd I .300 MLrslim protestel s into trucks afierbreakin-g up a demonstration at Tek Bai in Narathiwat province onOctiber 25, livin_g 78 dead mostly fnrm suffocation. At least six otherwere shot dead at the protest and three men were found drowned in a

river nearby. The Thai premier's attempt to shif t blame onto Malaysiaand Indonesia for his failure to stop viole nce in southern Thailand u,as

a blunder that threatened re,eional ties, analysts are warnin-e. Drag-eingMalaysia and Indonesia into the debate over responsibility for southernrunrest cloud dama_se the ties with the majority Buddhist Kin-9clom.

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lronically. Thaksin threatened to walkout last ASEAN summit il'itbroachecl the tclpic of Muslim unrest in his country.

A -eroup <tf 144 academics fiom l8 Thai universities said PrirneN4irristcr''fhaksin Shinawatra should take responsibility fbr the deathsol 7li Mtrslints ancl askccl hirn to apolo_eizes filr it. An insurgency has

llrrrctl spolaclically tilrclccutlcs in southern Muslim majority area, whichrrst'tl to bc an inclcpcnrlcnl srrltanale until it was annexed by Thailand in|

()( )l

ln ('lrrnlrotlitr. llrt. Klrrrrt'r. R<luge tar-9eted the Cham Muslim(()nununrl,\' lrrrrl rrrrrrtlt'rt'tl ils rrrt'rrrlrcrs by the tens of thousands. Inl('( ('r1l \'('ius llrt'rt' lurs lrt'r'rr tlt'r t'lrrplrre rrls rendered by Saudi's NGOs:rrrtl lrlrrtl,'rl (r'i ol ('lr;rrrr \lrrslirrrs slrilt torvarcl to the strict wahhabist'rlol lsl:tttr lrr llrr'tiS Stlrlr'l)t'P;ttltttr'ttl.'l'ltc Muslim pOpulatiOn\l:ul(l\ ;rltoltl ottt' ttti lliott oltlt.

lrr l'lrrlipprnc's I\l rrslirrr t('\(.1\ lrr\t l11.1'11 lillrtirrr: lil-tlcclclestot':l;rlrlr:lr rrrr rrrtlclrcnrlt'rrt l\'luslirrr Sllrlt'in llrt'tr)rltlt-\,'s sotrtlt. l)caceirr ( r)r(l rr,rr .,igttccl b1' lire i.l()\'el'r'llt('r)l lrrrtl \lortr Nlrlitlrlrl l-itrcrittitlttI r(rnl (\lNLl") hcaclcrl l'r1' 51r','' MisLrri. lt:rilrrrt. l'r'ont thc part of ther'( ) \ ('r lr r('nl to lirlfill thc conclitions ol'lrt'r'olt l. N rrr M isuri's group revoltirf irn\t tlrt'!orrclnltrertt. The govcl'lln)r'nt clrrslrccl the rebellion. Thelr()\ r'ililr)('nl |clrchecl agreement iVitlr Mor.o lslanric Liberation Front(\lll .l ) rr itlr obscLvcls lrom Malaysilr. r

lrr .Sineapure the Muslints bcc()lltc rninority due to the heavynrisnrti()ns ol'C'lrincsc. Majority of Chincrsc rule the city state. 'fhcy

lrlc lvcll t'rrorrslr ucaclcmically and ecouontically. The arrest ot' 34M rrsli rns uccrrsctl o1' plannine terrorist attacks and a fl ag ovel Musl nns\\'carilrg hcail scurvcs at school have reignited concerns over t'ut'c undrcligion.

Malaysil's l)rinre Minister urged Muslim c()r.lntl'i('\ to curl.l

extrernist icleoltlgies ancl seek better relations with the u,csl. ,\lrtlrrllrrlrAhmecl Badawi. u'l.to cltairs the 57 natior.l ol'-qanizl(r()rl ol l,'1111rr'.'

Confet'ence. said MLrslinrs should work to correct thc u or'lt l's r r' nr )r iurt

and extrenlely darna-eing l)e[cepti()n' that theil count|ir'\ \ll1ll)' ,rr, il, ,r r\nland nilitancy.

nI

'lt is our duty to demonstrate, by word and by action, that a

Muslim country can be modern, democratic, tolerant and economicallycompetitive,' he told a gatherin-e of prominent academics and diplomats

fio the members of the OIC. 'We need to close the great divide that

has been created between the Muslim world and the west', Abdullahsaid. He said Islamic countries should promote dialogue wit the rest ofthe world and en-9age the westenl media more effectively bolster theirimage.

Eknreleclclin lltsanoglu, the OIC's secretary -qeneral, said

Muslims rnust 'vigorously pursue a dialogue among civilizations in the

face of thc grorving threat of Islamophobia'.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he wouldconsider becoming a -elobe trotting advocate for moderate Islam,promotin-9 peace in hotpots such as Middle East. Yudhoyono said he

wanted Indonesia the worlds most populous Muslim nation, to be amodel for moderate Islamic democracy. 'And of course, if e verythingis -eoing well, then lndonesia can be a good example, a good rnodel ofIslam that is compatible with democracy', he said.

Former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar lbrahim,wrote in his book.'The Asian Renaissance', that the Principle ofctv'.sctttrbu -the rniddle patl-r, which corresponds ttt thc Confucians Cluut

Irtr.q arrcl the -golden mean of Aristotelian ethics, reiltlbrces the moderate

elernents in the Southeast Asian MLrslim charatcter and shapes the

understancling urrcl practicc clf Islam. This ntoderation leads to pragmatic

approach in sociul. t'corrorrric and political lil'e. Southeast Asian Muslimspref'er to cor.lccntratc on thc task ol' cnsurin-e economic growth and

eradicating poverty. Tltey woulil strive to improve the welfare of the

wornen and children in their miclst. They do not believe it wor.rld make

one less of a Muslirn to plomote economic ,growth. to master the

infbrmation revolution. and to demand justice fbr women. Nor do theybelieve it wor.rld stren-ethen one's contmitmeltt to reli-eion by instillinganxiety amon-q people of other faith.

Moderation and pragmatism warrant that extreme emotions

be kept under ti-sht rein. Whilst reco-enizin-9 the le-eitirnate right of victims

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()l'opl)rcssion altd persecution to usc whatever lreans available tolibcrlrtc thcnrselves. the head must rule tlte heart, and passion mustlirr' rirr1, to sobriety. For if it werc otherrvisc. it rvill be a sure-fireIor'111111 , lirl violcncc and clestrr"rction. Reason ancl cornrlon sense ntustprt'r:ril itr olrlcr lirr us 1o vierv thin-qs in thc. propcr'ltcls1'lcctive tnd set

orrr prrolilit's riglrt.

'llrt' lrrtlorresiitn\ (()ut'tc(l radical ideolo-ey for a u,hilc dLrringllt,.'r'lrrlr Irosl t'olottilrl Pr'riotl. lrtrt Pt'uglnatisnt eventually won the clay.

Srrt r'r'ssir t' lVlrrslirrr lt'rrtlt'rs irr N4lrlaysia have always entphasized('( ()lr()nlr( lrrtrl srrt ilrl tlt'r t'loprnt'rrt lltlorrgh a tttodus vivettcli with thcrrorr l\lrrslilr rrrirr,,r'ilr ir tlrt'torrrrlr'\,. Irr lrlrst Asia the numberof poor

|r1'o|r11'llrrtlt,r|1rr'rllt()n) lS.) rrtrlli,,rt irr l()fi.5to l69rnillic'rnin l990,andl;rl]rrl,, )ut / i nlllr,rrr rrrllrr'rt';rr 'o( X) llrt'lntlortesilrrt tltotto, BliturckuIrrtr'.':,,r1 //,,r tt'rrilr itr llir('t\il\ ) rlt'lirrt': llrt' r'r':.iorr r'trltrrrlrlly. The( ulllr( ,rl lojt'rllt)( (' i\ llrt'lr:rllrrrlrr.k trl Sorrllrr'ltsl ..\silt.

I lrt' st'ctls ol' ntilitlrttcl/ iuc ('\ ('r'\ \\ lrr'r(' iln(l t'lrt'lt colrtrttrrrtit;,nnr'.1 (n\rrr'tlur( tltcYrrillnotgcnlrinirle :rrrrlnrrrltilll-i tlrrrrtr!.lrtliscontent:rrrrl :rlrr'rr;rli,rrr.,Sociul.jrrsticc is l'untllrrrrr.'rrtlrl irr Sotrtlrcltst Asia. Wc peecl

Ir, r( ;r\\('r'l llrc rrniverslrlisnt of'Islurrr. its r lrlrrs ol' jLrsticc, contpassionlr(l lr)lr'lrrrt t' in lr \\/or(l that is ),urnirr:' lirr lr scnsc o1'clirection and fbr1'('nulr(' l)r'il( e . ll'this coulcl bc achicr crl. l\ltrslinrs can tamely contributclo tlrt':lr:rPin! of'a new rvorlcl of pcucc. truncluility and happiltess.

AFK Jilani

Introduction

Muslim pilgrirns pntvccl lirr tsunami victitrs in Mecca. askinsAlrnighty Allah to qivc srrrlivors the colll'age to cope. Indonesia. the

world's most pollulorrs l\4rrslirn nation rvith 260 Inillion people was hithardest by thc r.trrtrrrrrl rlislrstcr. But 200.000 ltrclotresians, as usttaljourncyecl to holr l\'lr'r.'clr to pcllirnn annLral Haj-i. One Inclonesian ntan

spokc ol'his sur'pristr ovcr the dozens of stran-sers approached to otlerc()ncl()lcnccs lil'thc urofc Ihan 220.000 Indonesian who clied Dccember26.2004.

Mohammad Saleh. a teacher from Jakarta stoocl at Kaaba

Sharif and prayed. his hands raised and his eyes filleclwith tears. 'Oh

AIlah. I have lost a friend in the tsunarni. please pardon him and all the

victirns and give thenr places irt tlre paradise. Please mcnd all the brokenhearts and -qive them courage to overcome the griel'.' Inside the GtandMosqr-re, the pil-erirns circled the Kaaba. towarcl r"'hich Mr-rslit.us turnfbr prayers five times a clay. Pil,qrinrs circle thc Kaaba to start ancl

finish hajj rituals. u,hich can bc stretchccl over clal's but pcak rvitlt prayers

on Mount Arafat rvhere the Great Prophct clelivcletl his final senron.Trvo nrillion Muslims perfbrm the prlglirna-ge each year. a once-in-il-lifetirnc duty of all able-bodied Muslims who can allbrd it. Many go

repeatc-cll1,: it is lrclicvcrl lo clcansc thc soul and wipe every sin.

Tsunur.ni wavcs killcrl thousurttls of Indonesirn of Sun'latra worst

in Aceh. The sanrc ri,uvc killcrl thousands of Budclhist in Sri Lanka.When it hit the Pukhet isluncl o1'southwestern Thailand. it killedthilusancls of Christian tourists. It killed thousands of Hindus in southern

India. So Tsunami waves harclly discriminates the victin-r based ort religionbut strengthens amity anlon-s va|ior-ts religious -sroups.

On January 4. 200-5. the Wall Street Journal repolted that a

Muslim cleric. Mohamed Yunoos. hacl been helping the Tsr.rnmrni victimsin the Kararlanclal coast ot'Madlas. A Hindu fishertnan, Arun-ean hutr.sl

llom thc top of lr casheu, nLrt trce' titr .l-5 minutes as tlre rvavc ragcd.

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liruncl a sall'haven in a mosque run by Moharned Yunoos. Many bodieslay scutterecl but untouched by upper caste Hindus livin-e nearby fbrthc fi'll tha( the boclies are low caste Hindus. The Muslims helped tcl

rcnr()\'c thc botlics. The journal reported that Mr. Yunoos and his Muslimrvclllr.c Or g:rrrizlrtion helpe d the Hinclu victims of Tsunanti. His mosquers ()n ir srrrrrll lriil above the Bay o1'Bengal. The local Muslirns live in thest't lrrtlt'tl lrilltop flr away lirnr l{indu villa-ees. One Muslim alerted the

lor'lrl lislrt'r'nliut [o c()r]te to thc slrore when he saw the big wavcs wereto111i11.' llrc MLrslint oltlrrriz.c a relief work to assua-qe the pain ofI I rost' rr rr I trr'turratc I-l inclns I i vi ng by the shoreline.

I lrt' ( ire rrt Prophct ol'lslrrnr srricl that "All men are God's people,rrrrtl tlrt'orrt' lovcrl rtrost ['ry Ilint is thr'onc who serves His people best.""'l lrt lrrllr rnirtiletl rtutrt tloes rtol lrelrr.:'r.r.r(lgcs. tilr it is not the mark ofir 1'r('irt sorrl lo rcnrcnrbcr irr.jrrlics, lrrrl lo lirlgct thcnt." said Aristotle.l)r'rrrolrrliorr ol lJtrbri Mosrlrre b1' IJ.l l' in I)ccr'rnl.rcr. 1990. created\( ( lrlirrl('u(ls l)ctwcen llinclLr lrncl Mrrslirrr. ln l(X)1. llrc Ilincltr lanaticsrrr ( irr;rrrrrl lrtttcltct'ccl thousancls ol'Mtrslirtrs. llrorrtlr llrt'r'lrr.c victinrsol 111 1'.1 11r1iorrs by HirrclLr zcalots, tlte llirrtlrr vitlitrrs ol 'lsrrrurrni wcrclr, l1,,',1 I'i tlrt'Muslir.tts hcacled by Mohlrrrretl Yttrtoos.'lhc.5(X) nlen-lbers,,1 \1,'llrrrrt'tl Ylrnoos t.l.losque dccirletl l() itssunlc ir key role irr

rt lr.rl,r||I:IIiIll IIincltr victirns of 'fsururnri.

I lrt' lrrsic proposition goverrring rlcnrocracy ancl civil society is

tlrr'rlrlrrrlr ol rnan. That idea took ir long time to _grow. Abdala the

Sluir(('n. tlrt'sorrrcc of Pico's idea on thc di,enity of man was Ibn(-)ulirl)ir. tlrr' t t'lt'bnrtcd humanist ol'thc Abbasid era and author of the

Klrlrlrrtlrl lrrsrurrr or' "'l'lrc creation ol'nran". A century and a half afierl'it'o. llrt'irlt'rr ol tlrr'rlignity of ntan was expressed by Shakespcrare lnIllrrtrlt'l '\\'lr;rt lr pir'ec ol'work is a man! How noble in rcasott! Howirrl'i nitr'irr l:rr'rrltr I lrr lirlrrr. in nrovin_e. Hou,exprcss ancl irclnrinrble! Inacti()r) ltou Iil.r'rrrrrt'l! lrr lrpprchcnsion hclu, likc lr gorl !'l'hc bcaLrty clftltc u'or'lrl ! lltt';r:rr;rrtrrt ol lrnitnttls!"

'l'ltclt' t rrtt lrt' tttt rli!'ttit), ttt Povt't'l1'. sicktrcss. tleltrivatitrrt.illiteracyaurl igrr,)rirr(('Ir'1 s111'1 tlSl'r'esitlt'rrtllill('lintonbccuntctltcUN point rnitn lirr' l)()\l l\llnrnri rt'corrstlrrction lrs Aus(rllilt's lclttlcr'

visited Indortcsilr's lrlrttr.'rt'ti rt'!ion ol ..\cclr lirr lr llrst hurttl glirtrPsc ol'

l,l /

the disaster. No one cor"rld better ensure that the world does not for-eet

tlre needs of countries devested by the December 26, 2004, disasterthan Clintor-r, UN Secretary General Kofl Anan said in an announcementof his appointment of Clinton as Tsunarri envoy. Clinton, who said he

looked forward to his new role, also was tasked to helps resolve conflictwith rebels in the two worst-hcat coLlntricc._lnclonesia and Sri Lanka.

lndonesian sovcrnn.lcnt has rejected an otl'er by Aceh's rebelsto put demands for incle pcnrle ncc on hold in exchan-ee filr a ref'erendum

on Aceh's future . I)espitc tlrc government's rejection, the offer showsan encollragins rvillinsrrcss on the rebel's side to be flexible. The newoffcr frorn thc rcbcls ci-unc two days al'ter its exile leadership and the

-qovcmr-ueut ministers held their first face to face talk in almost twoye:u's. The meeting focused on smoothin_s the path of aid to Aceh'stsunami victims.

Although the talks achieved no fbrmal agreement, the two sidesagreed in principle that they would meet again in the few weeks todiscuss longer-term solutions to the 28 years old insur-9ency. Therejection of the offer by the rebels to put there demands forindependence on hold for five to ten years until a ref'crendum is littlesurpride. Indonesia's Plesident Susilo Bamban-9 Yudhoyono, has saidhe is willin-e to consider any solution that cloes not involve independence.

While leaders of other ASEAN r.nember countries have beencalling on Burma's,junta to release Ar.rng San Suu Kyi, Thailand's PrimeMinister J'huksin Shinlu,atnr has suicl their reasons for keepin_e thedemocracy icon trntlcr housc arrcst are reasonable. He said that therulin-e,qencrals wcrc conccrncrl u,ith the political instability Suu Kyi'srelease would cause, potentially leading the country to break ups.ASEAN rnembers suclr as Malaysia and Indonesia, after patientlybackin-e Burma's rulin-s -eenerals fbr years, have recently expressedfl'ustration at the failure to make appreciable pro-qress toward restoringdemocracy there.

Sin-eapore ur-eed Burma to stay the course on "NationalReconciliation". si-snalin-e the Southeast Asian ally's pret'erence fbrrefbnn afier Rangoon's secretive military flred Prime Minister Khin

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Nf irnl. I{rrrrsoon's nrilitary leadership has consolidatecl seniol general'l lrlrrr Slr'. t"s holrl on power and is seerr lcngthcning alreacly lons oddsorr Ilrt'rt'lr'lrst'ol'clemocnrcy icon Aung San SLrLr Kyi.

.\lirt('-o\\/llc(l M1,;rnmar Oil and (ias F.ntcrltr.isc (MOGE) and a( lrrrr:r Sirll.titl)()t'citll r'ottsortiLtrt.t signecl a prorluction shtrrirrg colttractlr't r'tIl,rtltlitrtlol oillrrttl gas.TheconsortiumconrpriscsCllrinaNational( )l l:lr, rrt' ( )rl ('.nrl'lrrr\' (CINOOC). Myanntar Ltd. ol' China. ChinaI lrrrn.,rrr ( .rrlllrr'lirr.r lrntl l:ngirrccrirru Crlrporation of China ancl Golden\.rr,rrr I'l('. l.l(1. ol Sirrl'trltrlrc.

l lrr' slltt;llotit's tt ill coopcrlrtc to eXplole Clil and -qaS

at blOCk\l.rrrr,rr:lr.rt'lrl.r'l't.r't'r'inglrlrotrl 7.7(r0scFrilckm(2,996sq.rnile)inNr.rrrl.l'rrr li,'r'r,rrr..\r'lrklrrr Stlrtr'. ()llitilrl sllrtistics show that BurrraIr.r" :r r, 'r.rl ol s / rrilli()n t'Lrbic li'r'r ol !lr: rt'st'r'r't's lrrrtl .1.2 billion barrels,'l r,,,t\(l.tl)l('tttttlt'oill'cscl'\'csittlltt'tounlt\'\l()ottsltot'clrrtcl nritjol',ll ltrrtt',tl lttttl .grrs lir'ltls. Bitrnrrr t';rrrrt'ti (r'l I rrrrllion llrrrr r'\l)ort of't){ ri rr (r \l('lr ol r1trs irr I'iscll 1,clu J(X)i l(X) I

lltrrtttlt is ottc ol'thosc tltlrt lop tlrt' list ol rrtlst lrurrrlrn ri_ghtsItrrrrrl llrt't'oLttttt'yhltsbcertgoittglrlrt'rrrlto11111li.t'thnicclcansingclfli,'11111''\ ir r;r('('ll succcss. As a rcsrrll. nor lt':s tlrlrrr lurll'ol'its populationIr.r', lrr't rr 1.r11'11 to l'lcc thc countrv lrrtl rrurkr'tlrcir rvay to Sar-rcli Arabia.l'.rl.r'.t.rrr. li;rrr.qlltlesh. Malaysil,'l-lririllrntl rrnil <ltherplaces of thc worltl.I lrt lirrrnr'\(' r'cginre t'crnains as l sick liort cittin_u up creaturcs aroulrd

()n illl(' l)tr'lr'tl 0l lttt()thct'.

\\ rtlr lltt'lrt'girtnin-gof the 20'r'centLlry the Rohingyas havc lrccn()l)l)r'('\\( (1. rt'1)r'q'ss1'11 lrrtcl extertlinated by the Burrnese regirnes ancll{lrklrirrt' pr'r rplt'. lltt' rr rlt'sI by the state peace ancl Dcycltlltprcpt Cguncil(.Sl'lX'). llrt'tlrit'l rclrs<ln is that they are Muslirns.-l-hcy have beencxisllttg llttottrlt lltit'k ltrtrl thin. keepint n() stonc trnlrrrnctl cxplorin-e allvcllLlcs lot lt lltslittn soltttirtn to tltcir lons-stlrrrtlinu pr.rlltlcrtr so as to livcpcltce lirli-1' lttttl ltottontlrl-y irt tltcir rrttccstllri ltonrclltncl ol'Alakurr rvitlrall l.turnun rligrritv lrrrtl riglrts.

Contents

Prefac'e i - rt'

Introtluctiou l' - r'iri

Mup, -sltov'inpi perc(tt!(t.q('rtl illtt'littt.: itt '\ttttlltctr.sl ,'\.titrrr trtrrtttt'ic.r' x -.ti

l

III5

24

-fL

4l48

53

59

7l19

87

99

1(/9

lt2l15

I z-)

t28

tyl4lr50

l-57

Chapter'

Chapter'

Chapter

Chaptc-r

Chal)ter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

ChapterChapter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter(-hapter

('llrptr-r

Chaptcr

Chaptcr

Chapter'

Chapte'r'

[]ibliog rupltv

I

2

3

4

-5

6

7

8

9

l0llI2l3t4t5l()

tlI l.r

l920

2l

lslltrtr irr Sottlltt'lrsl,.\sirt

l)olitit s rr Nllrllrvsilr lrrttl lttdottcsia

MrrlirysilIrrrkrrrcsil. u Nltion in Transition through Electiorts

M uslirns ol' Thailand's South

The Muslirns of thc Philippines

Muslirns in Carnbodia

Mahathir Mohamad

Mahathir's opening speech at the l0'r'OIC sunrrnit

Rohingya Cultute At A Glancc

Rakhine's settlements in the lands of Rohingyas

Arakan: A Silent Killing Field

Violence Against the Muslim Minority of Br.rrrna

Islam in Myanmar'

Rohingya! The burden ol'Sisyphus

Yodhoyoncr

Artu,'ar Iblahirn

Alrtlrrllllt Iladlwi'l'lrli

N4 rrslirrrs Mitssacrc

l)oliticirl unrcst in 'l'hai South

I'hc- Crcsccrrt Moort in Southc-ast Asia

AI"K.liluni

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Muslims in .\ttttlltcost Asian courilries

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Books b), the scune autltorT

The Rohin-eyas of Alakan, Their qr-rest fbr Jr-rstice'

2. A CultLrral History of Rohin-eyas

3. Hurnan Rights Violations in Arakan4. Auu-e Sau Suu Kyi. -The Lacly of Destinl,

Chapter 1

lslam in Southeast Asia

D.D. Legge and D.G.E. Hall are of the opinion that the Islamicinfluence after that watershed Arab peddlers became bearers of thefaith as well as merchants"

It is generally believed that within 50 years after the holyProphet, a mosque was built in Canton, and according to the legend ofthe Muslims of China, a Companion of the Prophet had died there andwas buried at Canton.

In his journey from China to the Levant in 1292, Marco Polostayed for five months at a city port of northeast Sumatra called Perlak.He observed, "That the people of Perlak used all to be idolaters, butowing to contact with (Arab) Saracen merchants, who continually resorthere in their ships, they have all been converted to Islam. The peopleof the mountains live like beasts."

Islam came to Southeast Asia borne on the seas by Sufis andmerchants. Conversion was by choice, not coercion, beginning withthe urban rulers and the trading community. According to T.W. Arnold,in The Preaching of Islarn, "there is evidence enough to show theexistence of peaceful missionary effbrts to spread the faith of Islamduring the last 6oo years. Preaching and persuasion rather than forceand violence have been the main characteristics of this missionarymovement."

According to history, Islam reached Arakan before 788 ADand it attracted the local people to the fold of Islam en masse. ManyArab ships were wrecked near Rambree Island while Arakan wasruled by the Kin-e Mahataing Sanda (788-810) and the crew and tradersof those ships were Muslims and they were sent to Arakan proper and

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The Muslirns of Southeast Asia

scttletl in villages. (R.B. Smarth Burma Gazetteer Akyab District,\trl I 1.l'}. 19.)

Since then Islam played an important role towards the

rrtlvrrrrccrncnt of civilization in Burma. From 1430 to 1784, the systemrrl uovcrrrnrent of Arakan was Muslim sultanate as was common intlrtrst'rluys. It was an independent Muslim kingdom in l4'n century

rrt t'o111i11-s to the Time Atlas of u,orld History. According to Dr. Than.ltrn

tlrerc were Rohin-sya Kings from the Mayu valley who used tovisit kinss of Ava as mentionecl in the inscription of 1442.ln Arakan

N{rrslinrs and Buddhist lived side by side for centuries with amity and

r'oneortl as one family and rulecl the country together.

According to history, lslitttr came to Burma through sea-borne

Srrlis uncl merchants. In the 8'r' ccntufy at the time of Pikthon, the kingol l'rrslrn. Arab traders used til visit Thltton and Muttanma in their

l()rulrcy to and fiom East Indies lsluncls. Mrttlrtgasaka and China (UKvr I'hc Essential of Burmese History p l-56- l-57).

'fhe Arakan chronicle gives rclL'rcrtcc to tltc trlrvcllittg ol'Muslimrrrvslics in the country during the Pagarr pcliotl.'lltc chl'oniclc 'Statestlrrrl tlrrlin-9 King Anawrahta's rule ( 104-l- lO77 ) "u lrcrt Itc (attclttlant oftlrt'krng) cntered the forests he found it Muslirtt sltitrt. ptlssessed ofrnlslir' rvisdclm, dead with marks o1'violcrtcc trlton hirn". (Dr. QanungoS lt "r\ llistory of Chittagong" Vol.l.l9tt6 q P, I I l-ll2).

r\ slrip was wrecked at Thaton, the port city of Mon, while kingMlrnrrllr rvls nrlins the Mon from Thaton and the Burmese were united

runclcr' ,,\rrlru nrhtlr lilrn Pagan. Byawi and Byatta, the two Muslimblothcrs cscrrpctl tlrc ship wreck and they were taken and adopted by

the nronk ol"l'hrrtorr. 'l'hc two brothers became famous for their strength

of evcn l'iglrting clt'plurnts with their bare hands. The king was afraidof these two Mtrslirrr rnighty men and Byawi was trapped with the

daughter o1'Martuhrr's I'r'intc Minister and beheaded. Byatta escaped

to king Anawlaltta's c()url uttcl was appointed as an army general.

With the help of Byalta. Arutwrahta conquered Thaton and Manuha

was taken as prisctner. B1'u(tu wlts lnarried to a woman from Popa.

They had two sons. Shwe f'yirre Gyi and Shwe Pyine N-eay. They

Islarn in Southeast Asia

helped Anawrahta and won a battle rvith Chinese. On their way backto Pagan, the two brothers were beheaded by Anawrahta as they refusedto put bricks on a Buddhist pa-q<tda as thcy wele Muslims. Anawrahtawas killed in a fight with a mystcrious macl brrl'l'akl.

Anawrahta's son Saw I-rl ulrs thc firstcr br<lther of RahmanKhan, the ruler of Pegu. Witlt rr rrrinol tlispLrtc. .Saw I-u fought Pegu.Rahman Khan with his urrtry' rvon Ilrc blrttlc arrtl S:rrv l-Lr was takenprisoner. Later Suw l.u wrrs killctl by Rahrnan Khan. BLrt he wasdefeated by ,Saw l-u's lralf brttthcr. Kyansistha. Thc daughter ofKyansisthl was in lovc with a Muslim prince. The ministers objectedthe marriage saying that the country would turn into a Kala state.

This peaceful and gradual Islamization has moulded theSoutheast Asian Muslim psyche into one which is cosmopolitan, open-minded, tolerant and amenable to cultural diversity. A prominent scholar,Professor Syed Mohammed Naquibal-Attas asserts. Islam transformedthe "essential character and world view of the Malay-Javanesecivilization" to one which is essentially "modern"- from the perspectivebased on magic, myth and superstitirln to that which is scientific andrational, in conformity with the spirit ol'the Qr-rran. (Al-Attas, SyedMohammed Nadquib, "Islam and Seculalisrl". Kuala Lumpur: lS TAC,r 993.)

The principle of 'awsatuba' rhc rniddle path reinforces themoderate elements in the Southeast Asia Muslim character and shapesthe understanding ancl practicc of' lslam. This moderation leads to apragmatic approach in social, econornic and political life. Moderationand pra,ematism warrant that extreme emotions are kept under ti,ehtrein. Whilst recognizing legitimate ri-ehts of victims of oppression andpersecution to use whatever means available to liberate themselves,the head must rule the heart, and passion must give way to sobriety.

With the fallin 1492 of the Muslim Kin-edom of Granada Islanriccivilization was severed from Europe, where it had established itselfduring the preceding eight centuries as an inte-9ral part of Europe.Dante's idea of the "universal community of the human race" wasinfact realized for centuries in Spain under Moorish rule. This period

Page 12: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

The Muslims of Southeast Asia

known as the 'conviencict', witnessed the generally peacefulcoexistence between the Jews. Christians and Muslims, where there

was f-ertile cross-pollination of ideas and knowledge dominated by a

climate of cultural vitality. Christians built their homes in the Moorishstyle and dressed in Arab clothin-e. Jewish and Muslim literature was

translated into Castilian ancl [-atin.

The new civilization ol-the Mughals was to rise in India and

bequeath to the world miracukrus works of art in the fields of architectureand music. The full flowering ol'thc Ottoman Turks was only beginning.At its height, the Ottoman linrpile was hold sway even to the verygates of Vienna until the last ccntrrly. In terms of size and populationunder its control, it was grcatcr tlrcn tlrc clominions of Alexander the

Great or Genghis Khan at the hcir:lrt ol'thcir respective power. And no

united empire had ever survived intrrct lirr rrs long as it did-600 years ofunintemupted rule.

Despite their grand achievcrlcrt(s. lrotlt tlrc Mtrglltls and the

Ottomans were to be mere peripheral l)()\\r('r.s ill tl)c r'rr)elging wttrldsystem. The Ottaman defeat in the decisit'r' Iutvrtl lJrrlllt' ol l.clltttto in1571 soon ended whatever hope there wrs t() I'ctlccttt tltc ingloriousexist of Islam from Spain. The Muslims prrinlirlly rvitttcssccl the gap intechnological strength upon the first encourtlcr ri'illt u tnodern Europeanpower when Napoleon set foot in Egypt rrr 1798. triggering the forwardmovement of European domination of thc M usl i rtt world. Almost withoutexception, Muslim nations have experienccd colonism. Many have notquite fully recovered from its traumatic afier-effect, as manifested inextreme attitudes towards the west. And antipathy towards the west

may have been justified in the immediate post-colonial years; there isno reasonable excuse for the persistence of such an attitude.

At the other extreme are the culturally dispossessed eliteclasses, who remain spell bound and enchanted with the west. Asiansocieties are stratified into two levels. There are downtrodden masses,

econornically and politically disadvantaged poor class. And on the otherhand, lordin-q over the oppressed majority, an advantaged classcomprising the old adstocracy, the military cliques, and expanding coterie

of equally con'upt opportunists.

lslam in Southeast Asia

While Islam was progressively marginalized in world history' a

similar process of intellectual decline and decay was -eradually setting

in. With the deterioration in economic activities over centuries of colonial

subjugation, povefiy and destitution began ttl surface in Muslim societies.

Patronage of learning suffered. The painlirl politicalconvulsions of most

countries under colonial rLrle clicl ntlt cncl with independence.

Independence promised much btt( tlclivcrccl littlc. In some case' the

new regimes surpassed thcir crstrvhile cololtial Inasters in politicalrepression. Yet, in Sor.rthcast Asit, thc l'r'cltzy tlf'l.rtlst-ctlltlnial rhetoric

was replaced by pragrtrltic approaclt. The eclucitti<lr of all children is

always accorclecl highest priority in the allocation of the nation's

resources. In acldition to government funded schools, Islamic stlcial

and religious organizations undertake massive educational programmes

for boys and girls. The scale of the efforts by the Muhammadiyah and

Nahdatul Iulama in Indonesia is quite unprecedented elsewhere in the

Muslim world.

The Southeast Asian region has been often cited as a case

where Muslims have come to terms with modernity. The number ofSoutheast Asian Muslims swells to surpass that of the Arab, Turks and

Persians. Their lack of historic greatness is a boon. The Arabs' Turks

or Persians are weighed down by their millstone of greatness. The

Malays are less haunted by the ghost of the past. They are more attentive

to present realities. The most successful Malay-Muslim Kingdom was

the Malacean maritime kingdom, which rose and fell within barely a

century. Intellectual and philosophical creativity in the Malay worldreached its hcight only in the sevcnteenth century in Acheh.

Extremism in all its lirrtns must be wholly repudiated. Tolerance

cannot be demanded f}om one community only. It must be mutual.

Reports of atrocities towards Muslims in other countries are received

with shock and despair in Southeast Asia. The seeds of militancy are

everywhere and each community must ensure that they will not

germinate and multiply through discontent and alienation. So,

participation and social justice is fundamental in Southeast Asia'

In the words of Dr. Muinuddin Ahmad Khan, "the coastal areas

of Southeast Asia are dominated bv the Muslims and the mainland

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The Muslinrs of Southeast Asia

countries dominated by the Buddhist and that the Catholic Christiansare predominant in the Philippine;that, on half of the total population ofthe region is Muslirn, one third Buddhist and one -sixth Christian; that,historically and traditionally, there has always been good relationsl-retween the Buddhist and the Muslims; that, Islam spread in the regionnot by imposition or compulsion of any manner whatsoever, but owingto the natural desire of acceptance by the incumbents; that, Islam cameto the region carrying good rnanners and boat-loads of commodities inhandl and that, religious tolerance is the excellence of the people ofSoutheast Asia; and that. a relisirtLrs man is regardedas agood man".

The population scttlcnrcnt of Southeast Asia follows thegeographical situation ol'thc rcgion. In this respect, the physicalgeography of Southeast Asia is larrtlscaltes of mountain and river valleysand seacoasts, both richly covclctl r.vith trophical rain forest, lush greenvegetation, rnany kinds ol'colorrllirl l'lrtrnlr uncl flora crowning withexquisitely beautiful envirorrrtre'r.rt. girrnt ri ve rs. ltrrgc natural water falls,long coast line with beaches, archipelagos untl islirntls. This geographicaldiversities produces also a somewhat conll'ontlrtion bct'uvccn the hill-men and Sea-farers.

On the hill-men's side, which may also lrc callcrl as 'mainland

countries' was settled by southward migrant pcoplcs nroving slowlyover thousands of years, dominated by the Buddhist population, whichcover Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Viet-Narn and Laos. On the Sea-

farers side, is the fertile volcanic crecent of the Indonesian-Philippinesarchipelago, which curves along the south and eastern parts of theregion as well as the humid forest-lands of Malay Peninsula, Borneo,and Mindanao stretching across the equator. This area may also be

described as scattered lands bounded by rich shallow seas. These landsare settled from the sea. Naturally, the Muslims, who arrived thitherseafaring, predominate in these areas. They live mainly in northernArakan, Southern Thailand and the adjacent Cambodian strip, Malaysia,Singapore, Indonesia and Mindanio. Catholic are the product of Spanishin the Philippines. The Chinese settled mainly in Singapore. Malaysiaand lndonesian cities dominate the whole region econornically. Thereare also sprinkling of Hindu population in Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia

lslam in Southeast Asia

and Singapore. The culture of tolerance is the hall mark of Southeast

Asian Islam. Religious tolerance has always been the rule of social

relationship and equally also a boon for social tranquillity and economic

progress in the region.

In the words of Anwar Ibrahim "The wave of Islamic revivalismthat began with the anti-imperialist struggles of the previous century

has gained further momentum in our time among Mtrslirns in Southeast

Asia. The energy potential must be properly directed so as not todeteriorate or be corrupte d into blind fanaticism which could precipitate

into violent clashes with other cultures. There are indeed signs, however,

that these religious cnergies, aligned with forces of social conservatism,

have served to marginalize the Muslims in the rapidly changing world.Thus, we need to reassert the universalism of Islam, its values ofjustice,compassion and tolerance in a world that is yarning for a sense ofdirection and genuine peace. If this could be achieved, Muslims can

truly contribute to the shaping of a new world".

Brunei

The future king of the oil rich sultanate of Brunei married a 17-

year old half-Swiss commoner at a wedding attended by royality and

dignitaries from around the world.

Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, son of Sultan

HassanalBolkiah-the fabulously wealthy ruler of 350,000 subjects-wed

Sarah Salleh before 2,000 people in a traditional Malay Muslimceremony at Brunei's giant main palace.

The sultan escrlrtecl the plince wearing a gold crown and a

Kris dagger tucked into his sash-to a golden chair on the dais. He was

joined by his bride, who emerged from a stateroom more than an hourbehind schedule.

The prince placed a hand on Sarah's diamond tiara as Muslimmarriage prayers were recited for the centuries old ceremony. She

wore and embroidered blue dress and veil and clasped a gold-and-

diamond bouquet. They then descended from the dais and kissed the

sultan for his blessing.

Page 14: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

The Muslims of Southeast Asia

The couple embarked from the 1,788-room palace in an opengold colourcd, ILolls-Royce stretch limousine for five-mile parade acrossthe capiral, ucconrpanied by 103 limousines and vehicles carrying familyr.r.rcrnt'rcrs lrs rr rnarching band played.

,,\ rrrrpic,l downpour soaked the couple even though footmennrrlkirrs rrkrngside their vehicle tried to shield them with umbrellas.'l'lr'Lrsrrnrls

o1' people. rlany rvho had lined the streets since daybreak,scrrrrictl lirr cover altcr cutching a glimpse of the motorcade, ,'I'mt'rt'rtctl t() collrc otrI lrntl scc this, because he will be my new king",srrirl rctircc Abrlul Mrrlik r\li. "Hc seems smart and sophisticated, evenllrorrglr I'r'c rrt'r,cr. lrclrltl lrirn or sccn him before".

lrlrrlit'r. lr .'I rrrrrr srrlrrrc s,trnded as Japan's crown princeNlrrrrlrit.. lllrlrrlrin's l'r irrt r'lrrrtl l'r'irrr.c Ilarrrlarof Saudi Arabia arrived.()tlrt'r r'rrt'srs rnt lrrtlc rlrt'Pr'1'ri1l1'11rs.l Iy;lllypgsia and the philippines,lrtttl l lrt' Pri rrrt. rrri rrislt.r' ol- 91 11 g11111 y1 1'.

'llrt't'rrrvrr prirrcc ulrs etlrrt'rrtt'tl lrr ( )xkrrtl lrnrr will be the 30'hstrlllrrr in lr linc strctchins back (r(X) t,r.'lrrs.

llis bridc, wh.se lather is u r.lrrr:rtt'r. lrl tlrt. l,rrblic W.rksl)t'Plrrlrncrrt is "known among her tcuclrcls lrrrrl ll.icrrtls lilr hcr.grace,rrr(t'lligt'rrcc and positive attitude," ircc.r'tlirrs t, tlrc ol'l'icial weddinslrooklt't.

Swcclish King Carl Gust of xvi saicl Brunei is a country whichis rnrrch nlorc open than one may imagine. Every sunday after his visitto thc nrosrluc. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah holds an open audience whereanyon(r crrn prcse nt his wishes and presumably his complaint also. The57 year.lcl Sr-rltan, who has ruled Brunei since 1967, visited everyvillage cach year, where there is every possibility of directcommunication with all his subjects.

Bru'ei's .bsolute ruler convened the tiny oil-rich Sultanate'sle-gislature fbr the first time in the two decades on Sunday to mullconstitutional anrendments expected to further stren-qthen his rule. ButSultan Hassanal Bulkiah promised the amendments would also b.n-emore openness and public consultation. "These changes will enable us

Islam in Southeast Asia

to protect the importance of the people and the country." Hassanal

said after swearing in the 2l appointed members of the state legislative

council. "We must start this process carefully. I will monitor the work

and effectiveness of the creation of thc state council . . .. And will decide

whether this process can be continr.red,' he added.

Brunei's absolute rttle cctnvened the tirly oil-rich Sultanate's

legislature for the first tinrc itt the two decades tln Saturday to mull

constitutional amendrttcrtts e xltccted to further strctr-Qthen his rule.

But Sultan I-litssuttal Bulkiah promised the amenclments would

also bring m()re opcnness and public consultation. "These changes willenable us to protect the importance of the people and the country",

Hassanal said afier swearing in the 2l appointed members of the State

Legislative Council. "We ntust start this process carefully. I will monitor

the work and effectiveness of the creation of the state Council .... and

will decide whether this process can be continued," he added.

Oil-rich Brunei is signalling a resolve to compete with itsneigbhours as it cautiously implements political reftrrms and takes steps

to diversify its economy, but analysts say the challen-ses are formidable.

Analysts have warned the absolLrte nronarchy risks economics

of Southeast Asia and communist rulecl Victnam if it fails to implement

reforms that will put the tiny kingcltlrrt on the radar screens of foreign

investors. In a surprise movc in July. BrLrnei's rttler Sultan Hassanal

Bolkiah unnouncecl hc was rccottvcning parliament. The hand-picked

body held its inirusunrl scssion on Saturday in which the key agenda

was a proposccl anrcnrlrrtcrtt crtlling lbr limited elections. While Brunei

is far from having lirll-l'lcclged democratic institutions, analysts firststep towards political relbrm.

Singapore

Singapore was originally a Muslim city inhabited by MalayMuslims till the occlrpation of British in 1819 A.D. It was then opened

up for the Chinese and lndian mi-9rants. Gradually, the Chinese out-

numbered the ori-einal Malay Muslim population. Although, one of the

smallest states in the world, Sin-qapore is a prosperous states and is a

Page 15: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

t0 I hc Muslirns ol'Southeast Asia

developecl an(l uclvanced state of the world, But the minority Muslimscomplain thut the rnajority Chinese fare better academically andecononric:rlly. The arrest of 24 Muslims accused of terrorist and al'lap irr Jirnuary 2002, over Muslims wearin-e head scarves at schoolshuvc reignited concerns over race and relieion.

The leaders of Buddhist Burma used to say that Malaysia andIrrrlonesia were once Buddhist countries and expressed their unhappinessbecause these two countries became Muslim countries. But they neversay about Singapore which was a Malay Muslim state now turned tobe Chinese Buddhist State.

Lee Hsien Long. thc clrlcst son of, first prime minister ofSingapore, swornecl in on l2 Arrstrst 2004 as new prime ministerofsingapore. At an evcning {urtlc. ccrclrony at a 134 year old colonialpalace known as the lstarra, Lec lirrrnt'tl lr ncw government of familiarfaces, including his 80 year olcl llthcr l.cc Ktr.rr Ycw and retiring primeMinister Goh Chok Tong. 1400 suesrs u,cr.t'invircd in a tightlychoreographed succession amid at thc Islrrlrtl's strrblc sitr.ration.

The elder Lee's new title is "ministcr n)clrtor'". 'l'hc ncw scssittnminister replacing Lee Kuan Yew is 63 olcl (ioh. llc is seconcl only toPrime Minister outranking the two deputy prirrrc nrirriste r. Forrner fbreignminister S. Jayakumar is now one of thc two clcputy prime minister.But there is no Malay Muslim minister holcling important post exceptminister for minority though they only are the Bumaputra- the peopleof the Soil.

Chapter 2

Politics in Malaysia and Indonesia

An international confercnce of Islamic scholars opened on 23'd

February 2004inlndonesia with better attacks from President Megawati

sukarnaputri on the US led invasion of lraq. In her opening speech,

she described the war in Iraq as "exceptional injustice" against a Muslim

country and acti1lns of big countries toward countries whose majority

populations are Muslims, said the president of the world's largest Muslim

populated country.

..The act of violence undertaken unilaterally against the Republic

of Iraq by the countries, which are now finding difficult to prove the

existence of weapons of mass destruction there, which is the sole

justification to lunch the biggest military attack at the beginning of the

21" century, is an evident picture of this injustice," she said'

The three day conference, attended by some 300 delegates

from 49 countries, aimed at promoting dialogue between the Islamic

world and the west in view of tensions over the US led global war on

terror seem by many in Muslim countries as targeting Islam'

After expressing condolences to the United States for the

September ll,200l attacks, shc said that she and her government

have sharply criticisecl its rnilitary operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The meeting is organised by Indonesia's Largest Islamic organization,

the Nahdhatul Ulama (NU), in cooperation with the government' NU

chairman Hasyirn Muzadi criticized the US led campaigns in both lraq

and Afghanistan.

"An attack against a country under any pretext will only bring

untold misery to innocent civilians," Muzadi told dele-eates. The attackers

also stand to lose; at least as far as global opinion is concerned, not to

mention if it is launched without the authorization of the United Nations"

Page 16: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

t2 The Muslirns of Southeast Asia

NU claims a following of 40 million Indonesian, Megawati alsocriticized the French governments' decision to ban conspicuous religioussymbols including Islamic headscarves at government schools, callingthe move injustice in a far smaller feature".

Western politics help fuel terrorism in Indonesia. The policiesof some western nations in the Middle East and else where are partlyto blame for the rise of terrorism in Indonesia and other countries, a toplndonesian official said. The main cause of terrorism in Indonesia wasreligious radicalism that manipulated religion for its own ends, said AsyadMbai, the security ministry's counter-terror chief. But also fanning therise of terrorism werc wcstcnt policies which" some times can makeradicals even more radical". lrt' suitl. "As long as this perceived injusticecontinue, hatred will continrrL'[() (()nlc to the surface and radicalismcan take place."

Mbai said he and other lrrtkrnt'sirrrr ol'l'icials, including. PresidentMegawati Sukarnoputri, had bccn rrskirr.r tlrcir counterparts abroad tocorrect "these injustices, double st:rntlrrr tls."

The Indonesia's-based an ll Qrrt'tLr l.rrrkt'rl .lt'rruurh lslumiyahhas carried out a string of attacks ()r'irtl('nrl)lr'(l lrttlrt'ks irr .southeastAsia in recent years, most notably thc llrrli lrorrrlrirrgs rvlrich killed 202people in October 2002. The Bali plottt'rs srrv tlrcy carried out theattack to avenge perceived injustices to Nluslirrrs rvorlclwide. They saythat if the Palestinians conduct a revcngc rre lion tlrcy are terrorists butwhen Israel bombs with their helicoptcrs rrrrrl urnroured vehicles, theyare not terrorists. This is what doublc strrrrtlurtl is.

First, the elections' big winncr', Mcsuwati Sukarnoputri, wasblocked from the presidency and instirllctl the most liberal of Islamicpoliticians, Abdurrahman Wahid. Then irr 2(X) I. the parties led the chargeto dethlone the incompetent Wahid, allou,irrg Megawati to finally becomePresident with an Islamic Vice Preside nr. Hamzah Haz.

In Kota Cede, a Javanese town on the outskirts of Yogyakata,the National Mandate Party, known as PAN, won the most votes in the1999 elections. PAN was founded by Amein Rais, the former chairmanof Muhammadiyah and the current speaker of the People's consultative

Politics in Malaysia and Indonesia

Assembly. Rais quickly tapped into Muhammadiyah's network of 30

million adherents for votes. In Kota Cede, Muhammadiyah is entrenched

like a second government, providing crucial social services and education

where the national government has disappoirttccl the poor. lt built the

hospital and many of the schools ancl tutlsqtres itr thc surrounding area.

Most of the imams of thc ntosques are traittcd and paid by

Muhammadiyah as well.

Rais stresses agitirt artcl again that PAN is an open party, not

just for religious Muslitns or Muhammadiyah fbllowers. When some

Islamic Partics tried to alter the national constitution to add Islamic

law, Rais helped squash the movement. "Political parties based on

religion don't have a promising future" he says bluntly adding that there

is a difference between piety and politics. He believes to stick in the

middle of secular and Islamic factions is the best way in Indonesia, the

world's most populous Muslim country.

One of the clerics radicalized by Suharto's repression was

Abubakar Bashir, alleged spiritual leader of Jernaah Islamiah, the

network of Islamic militants widely believecl to bc behind the Bali

bombings, he is now under arrest in Jakarta tln othcr charges. Smilin-e

till the end, Amrogi was the first suspect to bc collvicted over the2002

October Bali bombings. He wi.ls sctrtcrlcctl to cleath. Indonesia

continued to feel the burnt of lcrror rttlacks. A car bomb at Jakarta's

JW Marriott ltotcl in August clrtitltccl l'l lrves.

Indoncsian prosccutors lirrrnally char-eed cleric Abu Bakar

Bashir with ordering his lirllowcrs to launch a suicide attack on the

J.W. Waniott hotel in Jakarta last year. Prosecutors had said earlier

that Bashir would be charged with heading Jemaah Islamiyah, the al -Qaida linked group blamed for the 2002BaIi bombings. [t was unclear

whether those charges were among those filed Friday. Jemaah

Islamiyah has also been blamed for the Marriott attack, which killed14, and last month's attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in

which nine people died. The trial of the 68-year-old cleric could now

start within weeks. He was charged under the country's anti-terror

law which allows for the death sentence. "Bashir is charged with

motivating or orderin-e people to take part in terrorism, in this case

l3

Page 17: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

t4 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

felated to tl're J.W. Man'iott bombin-q," prosecutor Andi Herman said

al'tcr filing a 65 page char-ee sheet against Bashir to the South JakartaDistrict Court. Herman also said Bashir would be charged with storingcxplosivcs in the seizure of bomb making materials last year in CentralJava province. Washin-qton and other foreign -governments accuse

tsashir of heading Jemaah Islamiyah, and efforts to convict him are

being monitored closely outside Indonesia, the world's most populous

Muslim nation. Bashir, wlro wils in jail at the time of the Marriott attack,

denies any wrongdoing, artcl says he is being targeted for his campaign

to introduce Islamic law in lrttlonesia.

As Chief Ministcr ol' norlhcrn Ke lantan State and as spiritualleader of Malaysia's Islarnic l)rtrly. kttown as PAS (Malay acronym)Nik Aziz Nik Mat's voice is inrpossiblc to isnorc. "lslam is for everybody",he preachs, "I don't see any altertltlivt'to lslartr). In Malaysia, the

centre of the PAS is Kota Baharu. ;ts lltr'trrpitrrl <ll'Kclantan, NikAziz's home base. Here, wonten wclrt rvlttlt'tolrt's ltttil Itclttl scarves

as not allowed to mix sexes freely. Mtrslirrrs lttt'lrlrtt'ctl l'r'ttnr tlrinkingalcohol and shuttered the bars and niglrtt'lulrs. Wltt'rr thc call t() prayer

echoes from the city's mosques. Itlulltsr'ttl('ttl shtrt tl{'l' the store's

boorning stereo and patrons redr.rcc tltt'ir voicc to a whisper. KotaBaharu's supermarkets have sepanttc clrcckotrt counters for men and

women.

This is an environment seemingly custom-made for Nik Aziz,who wins votes more with piety than politics. Twice a week, Nik Azizjoins the l'aithful fbr the day's final praycr at the mosque he built next to

his house ancl then sits cross-legged and gave a lecture on Islam.

Hundreds o1-lirlkrwers come to listen. The 1997 Asian economic crisisand the instability it created for PAS to rocket to prominence. The

crisis led to a clash between Mahatir and his popular Deputy PrimeMinister Anwar Ibrahirn over how to tackle financial crisis. The disputeended with Anwar bc'ing jailed on questionable corruption and sodomychar-ees. Anwar was freed frcrm prison on 2"d September 2004 after

Malaysia's hi-ehest court overturned his conviction.

Chapter 3

Malaysia

Malaysia's per capita income is $ 3,906 with a total populationof 23 million in an area of 3. 28,550 square kilometres. Palm oil, naturalrubber, pepper and cocoa are its main exportable products-typicalequatorial item. And the economy consists of tarde, commerce, bankingand finance, manufacturing, transportation, information technology andthe fast spreading tourism industry. Malaysia's changing faces and itsgrowth in all sectors under the dynamic and able Leadership of Dr.Mahathir Mohamad, who retried after 22 uninterrupted years ofgovernance, at the end of October 2003.He was a true patriot undoubteda man with vision, determination and a clear mission that the Malaysianshad been looking for so desperately. Former Prime Minisrer-TunkuAbdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razzak- were ull capable persons nodoubt, but Mahatir's sense of patriotisrl und lris capability to arousethe nation at the right moment, injecting thc nragic ol'super love for thecountry, excelled all others by a wicle rrrursin. 'l'wenty two years laterMahathir's mission perhaps corrrplctcrl uncl he stepped down with allthc slory.

Mallysia is rrrorrntrrirrous. U1t to three fifth of the land is underevergreen rain filrests. Muluysia's tiu reserves are the third largest inthe world after those of Brazil and China. Its proven reserves ofpetroleum and natural gas are also important. Malaysia is unique inthat it is the only country that has territory on both the mainland andinsular regions of Southeast Asia. One half of it is more then 500 fi.above sea level.

Malaysia is one of the most racially, ethnically diverse nationsin the world with all major Asian ethnic groups. In this country, peacethrives as the various groups co-exist in harmony and tolerance. TheLargest ethnic group in Malaysia is the Malays. Islam is the religion of

Page 18: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

l6 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

Malays uncl sorne Malaysian Indians, and is also the official religion ofthc s(lrle . 'l-r,',o other large ethnic groups came to what is now Malaysiacltrrirru ctrlonial tirnes. They are the Chinese about357o of the populationrvho rrrir.rrrrtccl l}om south-eastern China and came to work in tin miningor rclrril trlrle. and Indians (Pakistanis and Sri Lankan Tamils) aboutl0',, ol tlrc population, came to work on rubber plantations. There are

sorrrc r-5 cthnic groups as well as smaller tribal subgroups; still anotheru'rn c ol'inrrnigration began in the 1970s because of an economic boom.

llrrrrtllccls of thousands of nrigrant workers, mainly from Indonesia,pourccl into Malaysia to fill manulacturing jobs.

Filipinos, Cambodians, Vic(namese, Indonesians and Bosnianshrrve all sought refuge in Malaysia al vurious moments. About 45,000l;if ilrintr Muslims who fled ethnic strilc in Mindanao in 1972 and 1974hrrvc lrccn locally integrated in tlte custe rrr Malaysian state of Sabah,

ruccorrlin-rr to UNHCR estimatcs. About 10.(XX) of the CambodianMrrslinrs who fled the Pol Pot regirrrt: hclirtrtirtg in 197-5 have been

1-rcrnrurrcntly resettled in Malaysia, with lrrrtrlirtg l'r'ortt t INHCIi to helpwith irrtc-eration, more recently, in thc crrr lv l()()0s [ ]Nll('lt brokcredrul irgrcement under which about lfi0 Att'ltrttst's t'cl'ttgccs l't'ttmIntkrncsiu received temporary permits to livt' irt Mlrllrysi:t.'l'ltctt, in MarchI()()t3. Malaysian forcibly repatriatecl urorrrrr| -5(X) Acchcne's, sparkingintcrrlrtional protest. The governrncrtl c'otttiltucs to deny UNHCRacccss ol'Acehene's asylum seekers in irnrttigration detention. About400 llosnian Muslims have also been ucceDted for resettlement inMalaysia.

Bccause whatever protection Malaysia offers to refugees is

not institutionalized but must be renegotiated for each group, many, likethe Rohingya. are overlooked or ignored. Such as ad hoc approach

also increases the potential for politicization of asylum based on the

relations between Malaysia and the country of origin, and increases

the potential for discrimination based on the asylum-seeker's nationalityor ethnic background. As for refugees recognized by UNHCR but not

by the Malaysians government, Malaysia provides no protection.Similarly, in terms of durable solutions for refugees, Malaysia generally

does not allow for local integration. Therefore, UNHCR must seek

Malaysia t7

resettlement in a third country for refugees like the Rohin-eya whocannot be repatriated. Although Malaysia does nor repatriare Rohingyato Burma, it deport them to Thailand, including Rohingyas recognizedby UNHCR as refugees. Mohammed Sayeed. a native of NurullahVilla-ee of Maungdaw Township of Burma is a Rohin-eya recognized as

a refugee by UNHCR. On October25, 1999, he was arrested at hishome and detained at the Lan-ekap immigration detention centre inPerak, reportedly in connection with his participation in a demonstrationin front of the Burmese embassy on September 9, 1999. DespiteUNHCR's intervention on his behalf, the immi,gration departmentrefused to release him until. June2J.2000. whcn he was resettled inAustralia.

According to "Malaysia's Treatment of undocumentedRohingya" documented by Human Right Watch, the Malaysiangovernment has not agreed to let the Rohingya stay on even a temporarybasis, and the Immigration Department reportedly declared in March2000 that "the Rohingyas or Myanmar have nevcr been accordedrefugee status." Without permission to live legally in Malaysia or anyway to get such permission, Rohin_eya are at constunt risk of detentionand deportation. Local police and immigration ol'l'iciuls -r:enerally ignoreUNHCR documents and arrest their bcurcrs. Malaysian expelsRohingya to Thailand because Burrlu u'ill not ucccpt them back andbecausc lkrhini:ya generally enter Mrrlrrysirr through the Thai border.At best, Ii.ohinryl cleportcclto Thailunillrc able to return to Malaysiawithout being rlctcc(ccl l-r1, 1'hli ol'l'icill ol by paying official a bribe. Atworst, they face clctcntiorr in'l'huilancl and deportation to Burma, Thaiofficials put thern in boa(s ancl sent across the Thai-Burma border at

Mae Sot. Burmese troops I'ired them. They hide in jungle along theshore until they could make way back through Thailand and eventually.to Malaysia. Returning refugees and asylum-seekers to countries wherethey could face persecution is a violation of the fundamental principleof non-refoulment under international Law.

The Malay Lan-9ua-ee is an Austronesian Langua-ee calledBahasa Malaysia, which means Langua_qe of Malaysia. It is thecountry's official Language. Chinese speak southern Chinese dialects,

Page 19: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

t8 TIre Muslirns ol-Southeast Asia

though a largc nLrrnber also know some Mandarin Chinese. Many Indianof lVlalaysiu Lrse'Tarnil'

'['lrc National Mosque, with a capacity of 5000 devotees, is

silrrrrtctl ar)r()llg flve ircres of beautiful galdens. The Mosque was builtirr l()(r.5. Rcccntly it was refurbished, and now f-eaturcs marble floors,rt'l'lcclion pools, fbuntains ancl a 73- meter high rninaret, sleek and stylishrrrrrirrst tlrc Kuala Lunpru'skyline. Its bri-eht blue jo-egecl looftop designed

irr thc shlpc ol' an eightccn-1.louted star, has the appearance of a pointlyop1'11911 niulti-tirlcl urnbre llrr-like roof, which symbolizes the aspirationsol' lrrr inrlcpcnrlcnt nrrtiorr.

In ('h irtlrlou n. ( )n(' ( irrr rr itrte ss the commerce first hand. Alongl)e tlLlirrg Str.eet. tlrt'lrelrrt ol ('lrirurlos'n. ()ne will see just about anythineancl cvclytlrirtg lrcirtu soltl. \'lrlrrt'lrrrvs lrc possible, as bargaining is

',r,clcome:cl.

Within 130 ycurs. KLrlrllr Liulll)ur lr:r: r:rou n to a rrodern city ofSorrthcast Asia with an arca ol l-l.l St1 lr.rtr :rrrtl tr Pol.rrrlution of tworrrillion people. It is a city of glcarninu sk\ st lll)('r\. l)ul it n'tlins trucl.ttll'tltc local colour tl-rat bas been vvipcrl ()ul in ()llrr'r .\si:rrt lrrlrlttr citicssuch as Singapore. Kuala Larnpurcal.nc irtlo lrt'inl rrt lltt'llttc lfi60s at

thc meetin-e point of the Keleng untl (iorrrlr:rk llrt' trrr rliscovered inArrpany attracted miners ancl Kuullr Irrrrrprrr t;rrickly became a

boomtown. Malaysia declared inclcpcrrtlt'nt'r' irr I ()-57 l}om the Britain

fiom Kuala Lampur Dataran Merdckrt (l:r'ct'tkrrn Square). The cityoff icially became the capital of Indcpcntlcrrt Malaysia.

Butit Bintang area is the paraclisc lirr the tourists. You can findhundreds of tourists roamin-9 here anrl there fbr scattered shoppin-e.

Half of thern are from Middle Eastenr countries. And it is tough to

overlook the invitations of the statf o1'thc rlessage centres where the

famous event was foot message costs you 25 R.M (one RM equates

to Taka l6 fbr half hour). The shops ancl fbod courts on this street

remain open Llp to 3 AM. In a short span o1'time tourism became the

second lar-eest foreign exchan-9e earner.

One of most ambitions projects ever undertaken in Malaysia isMenara Kuala Lumpur. A highly innovative combination of retail, leisure,

Malavsia l9

entertainment and most of all a hi-tech celttre fbr telecontmunicatiotrsrises to height of 421 m (i403 ft); a highly visible and prestigious

landmark. Bukit Nanas itself, where the towel is built, is 94 meters

above sea level. Menara Kuala Lunrpur was officially Launched by

YAB Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamllacl. tlte thc-n Prime Minister ofMalaysia, on October l '', 1996. It stancls Inajcstically amon-g the clor.rds

as the tallest structure in the worlcl.

The design ol'the tlecorated -slass windows at the top the toweris based on the Muclarnas clecoration of the Shah Mosque in Isfahan.

Iran. Muqanrus wiIS constructed in the arran-eement of glasses on the

domes ol'the lobby entrance to illustrate the 7 Layers of the sky withsun rays shinning fiom the middle. The natural surroundin-es of BukitNanas were cared for during the construction to enstlre balance indevelopment and conservation of the environment. In this etfort. a

100-year-old Jeluton-s tree was preserved at the cost of RM 430.000.

Four high speed lifts with capacity of 800 people per hour willtake you up the Kr.rala Lumpur Tower to the Obscrvation Platform in

one minute where a breathtaking 360 view ol'thc city by clay and ni-eht

awaits. The Tower head has total area o1'7.7(X) s(l nrctcrs and is 50 mdiameter-wide at its widest point. 'fltc trrol'ol' tlte tower head is a

restricted area from where the Malitccrr Stt'ltits ciLrt bc seeu in a clear

day.

Rccrlgnizing thc inrpor'{urtcc ol'tottt'ism as one of the principal

fbreign exchlrtgc clu'ncrs us u'cll lts lt nrajor sotlrce of employmentopportunities, the (iovcnrltcnI ol'Malaysia has placed -great emphasls

on tourism product devclollt'rcttt by cclntinuously upgrading the qualityof existing products as wcll as developin-g new products to capture a

big-eer'.

The BB-Storey Petronas Twin Towers rise like sentinels in the

heart of Kuala Lumpur. Costin-e US 1.2 billion dollatrs ancl urtiquely

designed. its height is,l5l.9 meter (1483 ft).2(X)0 rneters above the

sea Level. Gentin-e Hi-ehlands, a magrtiticent city ort the hillttlp. is -50 knt

fiom Kuala Lumpur. It ofIels tl-re boLrntifirl harvest of nature withinternational stiindard tacilities.

Page 20: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

20 'fhc Muslims of Southeast Asia

.Shlrre ol'tlre world tourism market. In this regard, a vast affayo1'tourisrn lrroclucls has and will continue to be offered to cater for theclive lse irrtr'r'ests and demands of tourists.

Irr 100 I . the country re_qistered 12.78 million tourist arrivals withtotrrrsnr rt'cciltts ol'USD 6.37 billion. Despite the September ll incidentirr tlrr' t Initccl States, Malaysia managed to re-gister further growth inrrrrrrist rrrlivals fbr the year 2002 with 13.29 million visitors with USD/ ol lrillron in tourisrn reccipts. This was an overall increase of 4.07o( ()rnl) u'c(l to the same pe riod thc previous year, thus consolidation theIorrrisn.r sector's position as thc second income spinner for the national('( ()n()nry afier manufactul'inll. 'l'hc sudden upsurge of tourist arrivalsrn l(X)2 was an unpreccrlcntcrl lecorcl. It showed a 4l7o increaser'rrrrrllurc(l to the arrivals u,ltcrr it ivus ut its lowest ebb for the yearltlt)fi rvlrich recorded only -5.-5 rrrilliorr irr.r-i vlls. Il'not for the9l11 2001irrt itlt'rtt und Bali incidents in l(X)1. Mlrllrysitr worrld have achieved theI I nrillion tourist arrivals tar,sct set by tlrt'(iovt'r'rrrrrcnt undcrthe EighthNlrrlrrl,sia Plan for 2002. The contirrtrirrg tr.t,lrtl ol rt'uistcring at lcastont'nlillion tourist arrivals eaclt nrtlrrlll t'orrlrrrtrt'rl irrto carlylO( ) l l lowe ver, owing to the unprcccrlcntetl I'lrrlrrrl sitrur(iorrs like thellrrrl Wrrl and Severe Acute Respilatoly ,S1'rrtlrorrrc (SARS) scare,N4rrlrrlsil registered 10.58 million visitols uslirrst tJSl) -5.81 billion inIorrisrrr rcccipts. Today. with the Ilacl Wrr rrntl SAIIS aside, tourrsmpic'kt'tl rrp with resounding success. Thc pcriorl ll-orn January to May2(X)-l registered 6.5 million visitors. This is a corlrlendable achievementslrori,irrs a percenta,qe rise of 67.9 percent compared to the same periodlast ycur'.

Mcetings, Incentives Conventions and Exhibitions(M.r.c.E)

During 2003, Malaysia played host to several internationalconventiclns ancl cxhibitions. namely the Non-Aligncd Movement (NAM)Sunrmit conl'ercnce (20-25 Feb): the Organisation of IslarnicCont'erence ( O I C ), Lan-skaw i International M ari ti rne Exhibition (LIM A)and the ASEAN Ministers for Culture and Arts (AMCA) Meet. -l'he

year 2004 will saw Malaysia playin_e host to more international

Malaysia ll

conventions and seminars. These include the [naugural CommonwealthTourism Ministers' Meet and the Global Meet & Experience 2004 t<t

be held from 5 to I I Seotember.

Education Tourism

The increase in the number of institutions of higher learning

and twinning programmes with foreign universities provided the

foundation for the -erowth in education tourism. Cunently, over 40,000

foreign students have re-eistered with institutions of hi-eher learnins inthe country. For 2005, the government is targeting 50,000 foreignstudents.

Education tourism has become popular as reflected by the

demand for tours to visit schools to enable students from other countriesto gain knowledge of the school education system as well as experiencethe Malaysian schools atmosphere. which is unique with the socialinteraction of the various ethnic groups.

Events & Festivals

Malaysian has embarked on a nunrber of I'r'icnclly and highlyspecialised campaigns through the hosting ol'sclcctecl major world-class events such as Formula One- Malaysirrrt (iluncl Prix and the GolfTravel Mart 2003 and World Cup Goll' l9()(). In addition, their annualcalendar ol'cvents showcases rnorc tllun (r00 interesting year-round

attractir-lns. A two-ycar extensivc rkrnrcstic campaign called Cuti-CutiMalaysia, filst introrlucctl in 199(). \\'as le-launched on l7 February

2004 to 2005 is ainrcd rrt stinrulrrting clomestic tourism. Malaysians ofall walks of life celcbratc a valicty of festivals throughout the year

because Malaysians of clil'f'crcnt faiths and beliefs place a great deal ofimportance on their respective religious festivals. The best known are

Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Eid Mubarak), Deedpavali,Christmas and the Iban harvest t-estival of Gawai and the Kadazandusn

Kaamatan. For the past years, visitors to Malaysia were feted to the

pomp, splendour and pa,qeantry of Citrawrna or "Colours of Malaysia"which is usually held in the months of May and June. This wholesometreat is savours to savour the best of Malaysia through a cultural

Page 21: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

)') Thc Muslinrs of Southeast Asia

extravasanza via thc s()ngs, dance and cuisines of the different statesir.t thc coLrrttry.

'lirrvards 2005

Irr thlrt context. the tourism sector will assume an even greaterrole irr stirrrrrlating the growth of the Malaysian economy during thel:rr'lrtlr IVlllaysir Plan (2001-2005). Tourist arrivals are expected toLtr'()\\ llt ltn irvcl'ilgc f'atc ol (r.9 llcr cent per annum to reach 14.3 millionlrr l()()5

'lirtrr.isrrr rt'c'cipls lu't' tlrrgeted to grow at average annual rateol t) 5

".,, tr'rrt to rt'rrtlr l{N119.5 billion (USDD 8 billion) in 2005. To

Irtlrit'rt' tlrt' tlrrlt't. tltr'( irrrt'r'rrrrrt'rrt r.vill continue to undertake moreclli'r'lrvt' lour isnr llr( )n r( )lt( )n t'lli rrl s logc'111ar with, Malaysia airlines andltit .\silr ;ts rr t'll il\ l()ur ;u'r'ttt it's

IIrtit]' irt l)ivcrsilv

,\s l ntrrlti nrciul urrrl rrrrrlti ctrltrrnrl r'orrrrlr'1'. Mlrllysia showcaseslr klrlt'itloscope ol'coklurlirl cust()nts lrntl n'li!.iorrs. 'l'hc Mirlays, the('lrirrt'sc. lnrlian, Eurasians ancl othcr intligt'rrorrs gr'()ul)s rctain andnurlur('thcir inclividual customs. tracliti<lns untl lili'stylcs. Ncvertheless,llrct' t'rist in pcrf'ect harmony as the lll.llulrl trllcllrncc. ucceptance andr'clt'bnrtion tlf the rnulti-ethnic colnntunitics arrtl cultures in MalaysiaIrlc llrrits that have been successfully inculcutccl thrtlughout Malaysia'shislor'1,. 'l'hcse multiple facets of Malaysia are what make Malaysia socoloLrrlirl rrnd fascinating to others. Hence, the country is marketedrunclcr thc "Malaysia Truly Asia" branding to the world.

The le ligious celebrations throu-ehout the nation are more thanjust songs and dances. It is deflnitely not about shorving ofT but atestament of corrrmon sense and love for peace. Despite diverse culturaland traditional backgrounds, the people of Malaysia have been able tocoexist peacefLrlly in unity and harmony. The Malaysian leaders' realisticand pragmatic firrmulation of _government policies have enabled thecountry to overcome problems of imbalance that usually exist in a pluralsociety. Nowhere in the world is there a country like Malaysian with itsbeautiful landscapes rnatchin-q the diversity of Malaysia's cultural

Malal'sia li

heritage. The great mountains and idyllic tropical islands. the palm fringcd

beaches and the million-year old rainforests add to the country's

boundless charms. It is one of the f'ew countries in the world that has

brought about socio-economic transformation of the society within a

span of two decades after independence. Malaysia has not only

registered rapid development. br.rt is also seen as a rnodel worthy of

emulation by other developing countries

Page 22: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

Chapter 4

Indonesia, a Nation in Transition to Democracy

i\lthough hunclred of ethnic groups have been known as theirrrliscnorrs ol'lrrcklrrcsia tilr hundreds and thousands of years, Indonesiatlitl rrot crist in its prcscnl lirrrn until the turn of the 20'h century.

As lristor'1,socs. irr l()(r7. Suharto unseated Sukarno as Presidentirr tlrt'spt'r'ilrl st'ssiorr ol llrt' l)rrrvisional People's Consultative Assembly( M l'lt,S ). t onsolrr llrtirrl lr is l)( )\v('r' trncler a new regime called the New( )r'rlt'r'. Srrlr:rrto lrrrrrrr'lrt'rl rr "r't'lirrrt. clclrrrsing" against the Old Order.

..\ l tt'r' :t r orrlrrrt'rr Str k:rr no :tnrl Srrhlrlto ruled the country for 53\'('irr \. l)olit it lrl t'llrrr st's rlrpit ll1, t'r'olvt.. ,S rrlurlto had hand-picked as hisVit t' I'rt'sirk'nt ll ll()lll)(rliticlrl scit'rrlilir' lrtlviscl. 8..1. Habibie, wholrt'trrrnt'l)r'csitlcrrt whcrr Suhurl() \virs lirrr'ctl llorrr his ol'l'ice in Mayl()()li llltbibic lcltealed lnany unl)()ltrrlrrr t'rlic'ls ol lris l.llcrlcccssor,provitlctl lilr rule of law and rcspcct lirr'lrturrlrn ri!lrls, lrntl initiated a

r:t'nttittc rlctnocratic process firr clroosing lr l)lrrlirrrrrcn( lrnrl a Prcsident.'f lrt'clcctiorr ttlok place in 1999.

I.orty eight political parties c()ntcstc(l tirr -500 parliament seats,witlr l(X) othcr legislators added to accontn.loclate disfranchised groupssuch as the rnilitary, police and other prof-essionals. The Parliamentclcctccl Abclurrahman Wahid as President and Megawati Soekarnoputri,thc rlaughtcr of Sukarno as Vice President. Wahid was accused ofincompctcncc and impeached in July 2001, and in October, Me-sawatisucceedecl as President.

In Ausust 2002, the Indonesian parliament, the House ofPeople's Relrrcsentatives, approved an amendment providing fbr thepopular election of the President and the Vice President of the Republicof Indonesia. As a result, the year 2004 as "the GeneralElections 2004of Indonesia" will be remembered as and interesting and exciting year.It has a significant meanin-e for the people of Indonesia as a milestonefor implementin,s the mandate for the 1945 Constitution, to establish a

In<lorrcsia. ir Nation in 'l'rarrsitiorr to [)crnocllcy lr

rnore clcrnocratic, credible and stron-q -govefnment, for a moclcl fol lr

tlcrrocratic election conducted by a large number of electorates whoalso live in a large country.

The maintaining of the unitary Republic of Indonesia as well as

its territorial integrity is of utmost importance for Indonesia and need

the full attention of the successive President. It would be well to realizethat the task ahead is formidable. The Indonesians realize that these

elections are part and parcel of democracy.

The elections are providing an opportunity to begin again, the

momentum to undertake pragmatic reforms and translate the manyhopes into reality.

It is by far the largest Islamic nation, Muslim comprisin-e 877o

of the population. Over whelrningly moderate, this dominant reli-giousgroup joins Christians, Hindus and others in embracing a seculargovernment.

An Election Commission (KPU) controls the uniform nationwide process. A constitutional court composed of three membersappointed by the president, three by the Parliamcnt and three by the

Supreme Court, to settle quickly all disputes arising from the electoralprocess and its judgments are final.

For one thing, voters numbering nrore than I 47 million and theywere spreading over 17,500 islands, sornc -5tt-5,000 potling stations. There

were 24 political parties to be choscn from. Logistical andcommunications problcms were e nollnous. Adding to confusion was a

new and elabor-irte clcr'tiorrs syste ln.

These elections unclcr thc supervision of Election Commission(Komite Pemilihaan Unl-rrn/KPU) r'equired almost I billion ballot papers,

2.3 million ballot boxes ancl over -5 million workers.

Compared with the previous General Election 1999 with 48parties, the General Elections 2004have 24 parties which have certifiedto flledcandidates fbr many for the thousands of national and re_sional

representative offices. The General Election 2004 are expected to be

participated in by all Indonesians throu-ehout Indonesia those livin-eabroad.

Page 23: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

26 Thc Muslinrs of Southeast Asia

Legislative Election

Orr 0-5 April 2004 Indonesian flocked to the polling stations andclcctccl -5-50 r'cltlesentatives to the National Parliament from amon-q7.7(r.5 crrrrrlirlrrtcs contesting for the election as well as 128 rnembers (4pcr provincc ) oLrt of 940 aspirants tbr the new Regiorral Reprc'sentative('otrrrcils rrrrtl some -50.000 contesting for election to 1,838 seats in otherlr' giorrtr I rcprcscntlrti ve boclics.

'l'u,o cluys uhcacl ol'thc General Election campaign, politicalprrr't,v lt'lrtlcrs sisnctl lr I)ccllrr.lrtion of Peaceful Election Campaign at(lrc I:lccliorr ('ornlrrissi.rr hrriltling. Prior to signing the declaration,23lcirtlers ol Polilir';rl P;rrtit.s. lurtl relrtl rlrrt a three-point Declaration ofl't'lrt't'ltrI l .lt't lt,rtt ( ;ttlt|r;ttl'tr.

'llrt'lirst porrrl ol tlrt. l)r'r'l:rrrrtion crtrplrasizedthat all politicalpltr-l ics Itt ittg lirtrvlrttl tr t lrrrrPlri-.rr lrrorrroting a sense of calmness,s('(unl\ rrrrrl pt'lrct'rlrtrirrg tl)('(illltl)lirlrr pt'r'iotl in thc fbrm of speech,rturss glrl lrt'r r rrg ltrtrl ltol rt iclrl lrtlvr.r't ist'rrrt'rrl.

'l ltc sccotttl ltttirtt strcsserl thlrt politie :rl plrltit's rt'lrch lr consensus{o t'orrlrol their ntasses, particularly [() t('sllitin llrr.nrsclvcs. uv<tidirttri.gtrt's. intirniilation and provocation inclrrrlirrr: llrltrssrr.rcnt. Iibcl, andrttttttutl irrcrillirtation in whatever firrm cltrring Iht' cotrrsc ol'oolitical/elccl itlrr clrrnpai gnin-e.

'l'hc third point emphasized rhar political parries abide by andadhcrc to all existing rules and regulations and ready to acceptappropliutc legal sanctions when violating the rules durin-e the politicalcampaigning.

Bclirrc si,ening the Declaration, on 29 December 2003. 24political party leaders also signed an understanding with National Policeat Police Heaclquarters. This joint understandin-s ernphasized onconductin-e General Elections without violation of law.

Leadership of political parties have the moral obli-earion rosLrpport and create a peaceful campai-en emphasizin-e on the spirit ofto_getherness and tamily relationship in line with the tradition and cultureof the Indonesian people that love peace. They should brin-s abolrtpeacefirl General Elections and that each and every political party is

lnclouesiii. a Nation in Tlansition to Denr()cracy )1

irnbued with three kinds of spirit, notably spirit of fraternity, spirit ol'

togetherness and spirit to render a solution. The General Elections are

also expected to -eive an example of -eood behaviour.

Following the April2004 parliamentary elections, the couft made

rapid investi-qations and gave decisions in 213 disputed cases, l5 ofwhich changed the identity of the victorious candidates. There is almost

universal respect for the fairness and integrity of the KPU and the

court, and all of the rulings were accepted without dissension.

One of the most remarkable facets of Indonesia's rapid and

successful adoption of a democratic government has been theunequalled involvement of domestic observers in the electoral process.

More than 200,000 volunteer observers were recruited, trained and

deployed during the 1999 election, and like-number have helped tomonitor elections this year. Their role is recognized and welcomed by

the election authorities, and they have developed a private vote tabulationor quick count, a system that is so objective and accurate that theirelection results are accepted as definitive- subject, ofcourse, to officialtabulations in extremely close or contested elections.

Election of the President & the Vice President

The Presidential and the Vice Presiclcntial Elections of 5 July

2004 were the first ever direct election ol' the plesident and vice-president in Indonesian history and reprcsent a land mark in Indonesianpolitical developmcnt. This is fbr the llrst tirre that the President will be

elected directly, when previor.rsly thc legislature selected the President.

If no candidates win ntclre than -507c of the votes, plus at least20Va of.

the votes in at least half of Irrckrne sia's provinces, a runoff between the

top 2 candidates will be held on 20 September 2004. The successful

candidates will be announcecl on -5 October 2004, and the new President

will be inau-eurated on 20 October 2004.

The election of the Indonesian President and the Vice President

was part of the Indonesia's General Elections 2004, with 153.357,307

re-eistered voters to cast their votes in 561,393 pollin-e centres. ThePresidential and the Vice Presidential candidates are partly determined

by the results of the Le-eislative Elections held on 5 April 2004.

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28 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

Indonesian election law provides that presidential candidatesmust be nonrinated by-but not necessarily be members of -a party orcoalition what win at least 5Va of votes in the parliamentary elections,or 3% ol'thc -5-50 seats (that is, 17 seats) in the House of People'sRcprcscntati ves.

As a result, Political parties to nominate candidates are:

Furrctional Groups Party (GOLKAER)/leader: Akbar Tandjung,I nckrncsian Democratic Party-Struggling-(PDI-P)/leader: Megawati.Stre krrrrrolrtrtri. LJrritcd Dcve lopment Party (PPPy leader: HamzahHaz,l)e rnocnrt I)lrty P[)/ lcatlcr': l)rol'.Dr. Budhisantoso, National MandatePrrlty-l'AN/lt'rrtlcr : r\rrrit'n Rrris. National Awakenig Party- (PKB)/lerrrlt'r'. r\lui Alrrltrlnrhrnrrrr Slrihrrb. Prosperous Justice Part-(PKS)/lclttlt'r': I lirlrryrrt Ntrr Wrlritl.

'l lrt' clrnrliillrtcs lirr llrt' I'rt'srtlt'rtliltl itttcl the Vice Presidentialclrrttlitlutcs urc as lilllorvs.

Wiranto (tbrmel Chicl'ol' Alrttt'rl lort't's). lrncl ShalahuddinWrhid. nominated by GOLKAR. Mcgrru rrti Sot'krtt ttol'rtrtri (irtcuntbent

Prcsiclent of Indonesia), and Hasyittt Mtrzrtli. rtorttituttctl by PDI-P.

Arlicn Rais (Head of People's Consultutivc Asscrrrbly), uncl SiswonoYodo Husodo, nominated by PAN. Susikr llarrrblrng Yuclltoyono (former

Coordinating Minister for Political and Sccurity Altirirs), and Jussf Kalla,nominated by PD, and Hamzah Haz (incumbent Vice President ofIndonesia) and Agum Gumelar, nominated by PPP.

Campaigning formally stated with a ceremony in the shadowof Indonesia's independence monument in Jakarta. Before the flag off,all the presidential candidates signed their names on a stone plaquewhich read: "ready to accept victory or defeat". Then candidates'convoys set off to different parts of the city to carry the message tothe electorate.

On 05 July, about 86Vo of eligibly voters cast their ballots and

the process was saf-e. Secrecy of the ballot was fbund to be properlymaintained in87Vo of polling stations.

Indonesia. a Nation in Tlansition to Denrocracy 2L)

For security reason two thirds of police personnel (170,000policemen) were deployed and it will continue till the runoff on 20September,2004.

UnofTicial results show that. the top candidate, with 337o of thevotes, is former General Susiolo Bamban_e Yudhoyono, known as SBYand President Megawati with 26Vo in the second place. Since therewere no Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates obtainin_9 morethan 50Vo of majority votcs and at least 20Vc of votes in half ofIndonesia's 30 prclvinces, the second round of election will be held on20 September 2004.

The final result of the General Election of the President andVice President will be announced on 05 October 2004, to be followedby inau-euration of the elected President and Vice President on 20October 2004.

Despite much differences among the candidates and intensecampaigning throughout the enormous archipela-so, there have been noreported instances of violence. It is worthy to note that in -general, thePresidential and the Vice Presidential Elcction wcre he lcl successfully.Comments from foreign observe and NGOs arc cncourilging. To mentionsome of the comments are: Carter Ccnlrc u,lto lccl (10 rnembers in theirobservation mission said that thc elcction u,us. "lair and honest andtranspare nt", "thcrc were sonte problcrrrs ltut no pattern of cheating orillegal uses ol'thcsc lxrblcnrs lirr' [rcncl'it of any particular candidate";further in mentionccl tlrat it is u ntilcstone and very significant step fordemocracy worldwide.

Australian election obscrvers said "the conduct of the first directpresidential election in Indoncsia has generally enabled Indonesian tocast their votes fi'eely and fairly. The election was another si-enificantstep in Indonesia's democratic transition". Australian MP Chris Gallussaid "lt has been a privilege to observe the presidential election and tosee the Indonesian do democratic process at work."

The people of Indonesia are providin_g a dramatic exarnple ofpeacetul political chan_ee, and firmly ne-eating the claim that Muslim

Page 25: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

-flrc Muslims of Southeast Asia

socit'ties iil.c anti-democratic. In a press statenlent, the Eulopean Unlon( l:t I )'s I'rcsitlcncy has con-Qratulated Indonesia fbr havin-e successfully

,,rsurrizccl u clirect Presidential and Vice Plesidential elections on 5

.lrrly 2(X)4.

Indonesian president-elect Sr,rsilo Banlbang Yudhoyono on

Suturday delivered a ltlrtg-awaited victory speech, promisin-q to

irtrrnediately tackle corrul-rtitln and regional conflicts. Ytrdhoyono urged

Ilclonesians to unitc beltiltd him and thanked outgoing President

Me-qawati Sukarnoputli lirr ovcrseeing the country's transition to fulldemocracy.

"With great hunrilitv. I u,ill carry this precious mandate from

the people with the gfcittest se Itsc ol.r'csllonsibility and carc," Yudhoyono

said. Yudhoyono said he rvoultl ilt)n()utlcc his clrbinet line-up on October

20, the day of his induction, unrl rvortltl gt'l tktrvn to work immediately

solve the country's plessing llrtll'rlctrts.

"We will imnlediately tltkc slt'ps lo l;1. 11r.' the tltsk o{'solvingrCgiOnal COnfliCtS. We will Start ltll ltclirt'tltt\('il!ilitl\l t'trttttptiott. We

will undertake immediate mcasurcs Io stitttttlrtlt'lltt't'r'otlottt-V." hc said.'flte new government wor.rld also rcvit'ri llr('l(X).i sllrle btrclgct ilt itsl'irst days in office, the former ge Itcrltl srrltl.

IndOneSia, One Of the wrlrlcl's nl()sl r'().'tll)tiott-protre COuntl'ieS,

has also been beset by separatist conl'lict irt ,\e clt lncl Papua provinces

as well as sectarian violence in the Mllrrktr islrrtttls and central Sulawei.

Yuclhoyono won the September' 20 ltrcsir['ntiirl e lection run-off a-sainst

Me-qawati but delayed his acceptitncc spcech until she publiclyacknowled-9ed his v ictory.

The tbrmer General on Thursclity bccame the undisputed winner

afier Megawati's camp declined to lorlgc a conlplaint against the polls,

eftbctively concedin-e def'eat. Lttcal artd international observers have

cleclared Inclonesia's first direct prcsiclential elections fl'ee ancl fair.

Yuclhoyono sworn in as the country's first directly elected president on

October 20 atier lte rv6n a presiderttial election run-gff on September

20. def-eatin_e incurlbent Presidelt Megawati Sukarnoputt'i by a lar-ee

lrargin.

Indonesia. a Nation in Transition to Dernocracv

Yudhoyono said Indclnesia's rvas on the threshold of a new eraand appealed tcl the nation to stancl t()gcther. "This era offersgreat promises but also serious challcrrgcs. Wc rtrust be ready fbr thatand meet this call of history. Lct Lrs Lrn jtc to rvork together for a betterIndonesia." he said. "For thctsc \\'ll() \,()te(l lirl thc other candidate, Iwish to say such is the reality ol'tlcrnocnrc),. 1'helc is tirne to contpete,there is a tinre to unite." "l pronrisc to bc a llrcsiclcnt lilr ull lnclonesians,to -qive rny best to all lrrtloncsiurrs and to stancl atrovc all". he said.Yudhoyono on Friclay rvurnccl hc nrrry intplcment unpopular.policics butpredicted his terrn rvotrlrl bc a "beautiful period" if the nation workstogether.

Tackling economic problems should be the top priority ofIndonesia's incomin-9 government under Sr.rsilo Bambang Yudhoyono,accordin-e to an independent survey released today. The survey by theIndonesian Survey Insrirure (lSI) showed mosr of 1,200 peoplequestioned across the country in October viewed that the economywas the most important issue in the -governntent's first 100 days inoffice. The survey also showed that thc public hacl in general a hi-shlevel of confidence in the incomin-e lovcrnrncnt's ability to overcomethe principal hurdles it would face. "Econonric ploblcnrs were the mostimportant and flequently statecl issLrc lirr' lntlorrcsiln voters", the ISIsaid in a statct'r.lcl.lt.

An cstintulctl 4l .l pcf ccllt ol'thtlse- surveyed stated that theprice of basic cornrnotlilies rvclc thcir utt.nost concern, while 21.9 per-

cent cited difl'icultics in l'irrrlirr!..jobs as the most pressing issue. Some7 .7 per cent responclcrrts cite cl cxpcnsive education as the most ur-gentissue while 5.7 per cent suicl collLrption wats their main concern.

"Generally, the public srrongly believed that the SBY-Kalla_governrnent can overcolne varitlr,rs econctrnic, political and lar.r,problemstacin-e the country," the I-SI said, refering to Yudhoyono by his initialsand his runnin_9 mate Yusuf Kalla.

-ll

Page 26: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

Chapter 5

Muslims of Thailand's South

'l'lrc sluyirtg ol'ovct hundred suspected Islamic militants in'llrrrilrrrrrl's south blorrsltt l-rlooclshed in the area to an unprecedented

rrt'ri lt'r'e l. brrt is plrrl ol lr sclltratist stru-9gle that has been simmerin-e

lirl tlt't lrtk's. " l |11'sor ('r'llnlct)[ ltrtlbably sees this as an opportunity to

tlt'r'lrrrt'lr lirs( lirrrt'sttttt'ss irt torttlrlllitlg the separatism", said Sunai

l'llrsrrk. lr polrlrt rrl rrnltlr sl. l ltt' sclxtt'ittist movement took root in'llrlril;rrrtl's srrrrllrt'r n l)r()\'in( ('\ ttt':tr N4lrlltysitr. Yala, Pattani, Satun and

Nlrr:rtlririrrt irr tlrt' lt)(r( )s :rntl /os. u itlr trlt to 20. 000 armed guerrillaslrt'lorrlrrrs t() \'ir\l rrrilitilr knorr tt lrs lltr' l'ltlluttti United Liberation( )r lrrnislrlion (I'I Il.()).

I lrlrilanrl is ttvcrrvlrclrrrirr!tlr' lJrrtltllrist. lrrrt llrt'soulltcnt ltrclvinceslr;rvt'Mtrslirtt tnajol'itics ltntl ltrc ltolltrl:rlt'tl lrr t'llrrrit' Nllrllrys *'htl spcak

lr tli:rlet't kttowtt;ts Yawi. Thc ItUl-()'s tttissiorl u lts sitttple ttl cstablish

lr MLrslirn homcland where thcy u,tltrltl lrt'lrt'e lhrttt the clictates of'l lrrri sclroills. which emphasisecl lJtrtltllrist tt'rrt'ltirt-tl and the centralgoVt'r'nnrcnt they have accused o1' ttnlitiI' tl'clttt.llcllt.

1'heir complaints were justified. The central government in

Bangkok never bothered to develop the south while rest of the country's

econ()nry was growin,g l0 per cent for a decade from 1985. Even today,

the south has virtually no industry, the infrastructure is abysmal and

tourisrl is undeveloped, despite extensive natural beauty. The three

province account tbr only I -5 per cent of the country's gross domestic

product. PULO took its name from what is now Pattaini province, an

area that was clemarcated as an independent rcgion when Britaingoverned nei-qhbor.rring Malaysia, but was later claimed by Thailand

as part of its kingdom.

Despite its substantial membership. the PULO's offensive never

led to bloodshed of the ma-enitude seen recently, when at least 107

Muslims of Thailand's South

rnilitants and five security personal were killed. Instead, its ragtagguerrillas fought sporadically with the army and police in remote areas.

By the late 1980s the separatist movement had dissipated aftera government amnesty. Many former guerrillas who had been living inthejungle accepted offers to reintegrate into society and lunch business.But a wave of violence erupted in December 2003, signalling renewedunrest in southern Thailand. This time the attacks took their battle tothe streets of provincial towns. Then a sudden outburst of violence onJan 4, 2004 when unidentified attackers raided an army camp inNarathiwat, killing four solders and stealing hundreds of weapons-prompted authorities to declare martial law in some areas. Thegovernment acknowledged that the violence was the work of separatistmilitants. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has rejected thesuggestions they are connected to international terrorists. Thaksin haspledged to bring prosperity to the south. But quick infusions of cashand political gestures may not be enough to assuage the decades oldgrievances of Thailand's southern Muslims.

Thailand's government ruled out the prospect ol'United Statestroops being deployed in Muslims South. 'Thcrc is no reason for theUS to deploy troops. We can mana_qe thc siruation," said Deputy PrimeMinister Chavalit Yong Chaiyudh. Thc clcbare was rriggered by USDefence Secretary Donald Rums lclcl's statement that he hoped USforces would be hunting terrorists iu Southeast Asia pretty soon.

On April 9 about l-5.(X)0 MLrslims held a prayer for peace. The30 minute service was lccl by 1-hailand's Muslim spiritual Leader SawatSurnalyasak at the central mosque in Narathiwat province. Muslimsfrom Narathiwat, Yala, Pattarri, Songkhla and Satun, converged on themosque in the provincial capital. The mass prayer asked for blessingfrom Allah for a quick end to the unrest and for peace and calm toreturn to the local communities. At Bangkok airport ahead of Sowat'sdeparture to the south, Sawat said he wanted to see all Thai Muslimsunite to stop the killings.

In April 28 hundreds of troops fanned out across southernThailand to restore order after a day of carnase in which securitv

tt

Page 27: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

3-5r.l Ihc Muslirns ot Southeast Asia

lirrct's slrot tlclrcl nrore than 100 Muslims. Army chiefs ordered twot'rtrrr lrrrltrrlions of soldiers into the three southern provinces as the'l.rrrrrl ol snriles' digested what newspapers described as one of the

lrlorrtlie st rlays in Thailand's modern history. 107 Muslims militants and

livc solclicrs died in the fighting while they attacked around l5 army

rrnrl police posts. The reports of suicidal attackers and pictures of the

bloocly corps of li-ehtly armed men splashed across front pages of the

Ncwspapers have sparked concerns a Muslim separatist rebellion that

rocked the region in the 1970s and 1980s has returned with a vengeance.

General Pallop Pinmance presided over a bloody shootout at a mosque

in the provincial town of Pattani.

In the mosque shootoul tr'oops stormed the centuries-oldbuilding, killing more than 30 lllcgctl sunmen holed up inside. Not allwere gunmen. An angry crowcl girtlre lctl to watch as soldiers draggedtheir bodies from the bullet-riclclletl rnosc;ttc. Ilangkok pledged moneyto repair the damage to the centurics-olrl lr()s(lt.tc A rniclclle aged Muslimlawyer, who declined to be named, sltitl :ttrtltoritrcs in the preclttminantly

Buddhist state had ridden roughshcd ovcl lslrurtic scnsibilitics "solcliers

and police killing Muslims in the Irtost;ttt' ts ttot .gootl. 'l ltc ttttlsclue is a

holy place for Muslims, just as the tcnrple is rt srtt t t'tl plrrcc lirl Uuddhist",

the lawyer said. "Those who died Inust lutvt'lrclicvctl thcy were dyingfbr their religion," said Ahmed Somboorr litrrrlrrng ol'l)atlalti's Universityof Prince Songkhla. "They must huvc lrrtl att ideology beyondseparatism, otherwise why would thcy attlck with their bare hands

and swords".

It was the worst bloodshed in thc []uildhist country of Thailand.

Human rights groups and Muslim preacltcrs accused security personnel

of using excessive force against the poot'ly armed militants, and localresidents said civilians also were killecl.

-fhe actin-e United Nations Hi-eh

Commissioner for Human rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, demanded to

investi-eate the carnage. Under U.N. treaties, security forces are'required to refrain from usin-9 fbrce exceeding that strictly required by

the exi-gencies of the situation". Ramcharan said. In southern Pattaniprovince Friday. hundred prayed at the Kreu-Sae Mosque, 425 year

old holy place where Thai security forces killed 30 Muslims alleged to

Muslims ol' Thailand's South

be militants. There should not have been deaths, the security in char-ee

could have waited and caught them alive instead. Seventeen so-calledrnilitants were arrested in Wednesday's carnage includin-e an Islamiccleric. Thailand's Prime Minister visited the bullet-riddled mosque andappealed for unity. Thousands of curious and an-ery Muslims have srnceflocked to see its pockmarked walls, sonte handin-s out leafletscondemning the 'barbaric' government. But there was no public protestagainst Thaksin, who chatted and shook hands with many Muslims."Let's start over." Thaksin told hundreds of onlookers on the last dayof a tour aimed at mending relations with Buddhist Thailand's Muslimminority. But people are not happy that so many people were killed at

the mosque.

About 80Vo of the Thai people in Pattani, Yala, Satua andNarathiwat are Muslims and they are reputed to be amon_9 the strictestMuslim people in the world. They have their own spoken languageYAWI, which is slightly different from Malay. However, their writtenword and its meaning are not different, but the pronunciation of Yawiand Malay differ. The children learn Yawi fl-orn their parents. TheThai Muslims teach theiryoung children Yirwi anclgivc lessons in religion.When the children grow up they have to go to corrpulsory schoolswhere teachin,e is in Thai. However, at thc sarnc time they go to PorNah (Madarasah), thc reli-qious school whcr.c instruction is in Yawi.

Although thcy learn to writc both Thai and Yawi, they pay moreattention to learn Yawi. Aftcr t'inishirrg school, when they apply for thejobs, they never get the job. lirr it is claimed they are not competent. Assurely, not all of them are str"rpicl, they have come to believe that it is theGovernment policy not to ernploy Thai Muslims as Govemment officials.There is little advantage in learning their children secondary school.

Well-to-do parents send their children to study in Malaysia,Indonesia and Middle East. When they return, they become religiousteacher or reli-qious leader (Toh Imam). Formerly, the parents tendednot to report to officials that their children had reached school a-ee.

Thin-gs have started to change and they have come to believe that tolearn Thai Lan_euage is -eood, so that. they will not be cheated.

Page 28: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

The Muslirns of Southeast Asia

'l-hesc southern people think, they are Malay; because theyhavc thc sunrc lan-9uage, religion and culture as in Malaysia. But byorisin tlrcy ure really Thai. The area they now live in had belonged tol-lrrri kirrstk)llr lnore than 700 years ago when they were Buddhist.'l'lrev bccirrrrc. Muslims about 550 years ago. First, the lord of Pattanilrt't'rrrnt' N4uslinr and subsequently his people fbllowed the suit. Theiu.r'r \\'ils irrclcpcndent whcn the British governed neighbouring Malaysia.

Wlrcrr thc chiltlre n qo to learn in the religious school, Por Noh,tlrt'r' lrt'lp thcir'(t'rrt lrcr.s in lirr.ntirrs. gardening and tapping rubber. TheyrrIrY giVt'llririlrs ()r.nl{)r)('-v lo thcir teachers (Toh Kru). The course inl'or N,rlr llrrs rr,' lirrrit irr tirnt.. ()rrc can study one year or ten years.

Irr torrn. nrr)\t l)(.oplt'r.rrrr sllclrk Thai. In villages they can not\Pt'rrl' 'llr;ri l\l,rsl .l tlrt'|t'.lrlt' irr tlrt'st'Mtrslim Southern provinces,rrrrtlt'r:lrrrrrl 'l lrlri. lrrrt lllr'\' t lrrrn.l :Pt'lrk. lrt'crrrrsc they rarely have the()l)l)()rlrrnrl_\ lrrrtl llrt'_\, lr|t' ;rsl)lilrrt'tl rr lrr'rr llrt'_1, r-'.1trt,,rt pronounce Thaicollt'tll\'. Wlrr'rr orre spt'lrkirrS llr:ri. rrsks llrr' rr,lry (o g(), they maytrrttlt'r'stlrrrtl untl show tlrc rvlv. bLrt u rll rrol syrt.lrk. lret'lrrrsc llrey rarelyrrse 'l lrlri in convcrsltion. In tltcil t.r't'r'_ttllrr' lilt'. llrcl trsc Ylrrvi. Il'youorrll'sJreuk'fhai. it is like bcin-rr in a lirrci!rr (()untry rr,ht'rr v'isiting theseMtrslinr 1'llovinces. If you take a bus or (lrri. thc conrlucttlr willspeak toyorr in Yrwi first: if you do not unrlerstrrnrl thcn thcy will speak Thai.

The Muslims of Thailand's south clre ss themselves accordingto the teachings of their reli-eion. For men, they have to hide the part ofthe body from sromach to half of their calf. Ir is that the religion says,should be covered. So the men wear sarong. They wear Islamic stylecap, at least when they go to the mosque.

For women, the body tiom the neck to the ankle should becovered by clothes. So, women wear long sleeves bkluse and saron,greachin-e to the ankles. When they go out on the street they will covertheir heads with a thin cloth. The Thai Muslim women dress themselveslike Indonesian and Malaysian wolnen, because their religion startedf}om Indonesia and came to Thailand through Malaysia.

Besides Yawi and Thai, there is one other language used inthese areas. It is called the Romanise, because they use the Roman

Muslims of Thailand's South

alphabet to spell according to the sounds as pronounced in Yawi. InYawi, the words for language and race or nationality are pronouncedalmost the same. Bahasa means lan-euage, and Bangsa means race ornationality. As these words are up for a long time and now ''Bangsa' isused both for language and race or nationality. So they think themselves

as Malays as they speak a version of Malay.

The Muslim south of Thailand is isolated from the rest ofThailand-the change in religion and language that fbllowed religiousconversion. There have been very limited opportunities for them toadvance except within their own communities. In the marriage withThai is not so common among Muslims. The isolation is compoundedwhen other channels for advancement are blocked. As there are nojob opportunities for Thai Muslims, no advantages could be gained bylearning Thai and progressing through Thai education system. Withnowhere to go, it is no wonder that the Thai Muslims became moreinward looking, and more and more identified themselves with the newintegrated Malaysia emerging to the south. It must be rememberedthat prior to British rule, the Malaysian peninsula contained many small

states and it is only recently that these have been inte-erated into one

nation. Since they have long felt to be ignored by Thailancl and blockedfrom successful participation in Thai Socicty, the Pattani UnitedLiberation Organisation (PULO) is clctcrmined to establish a free

Muslim homeland.

The general question as to what the government of Thailandconsider to the Muslim south is a vital topic, quite often brought dup fordiscussion as a problern parallcl to and comparable with the Mindanaoand Eritrea? Moreover, is it befitting on the part of the government ofThailand to assume an attitude towards the Thai Muslims of the Southem

region similar to the attitudes assumed by the government of Philippines

towards the Muslims of Mindanao and by the government of Ethiopiatowards the Eritreans? Erithreans gained Independent. But still oftenborder disputes occurred. The present situation in South Thailand is

rather a mixed-up one that cannot be determined whether reli-eiouslyconnected. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said 107 "bandits" and

five soldiers and police died in the fighting. Critics were quick to question

Page 29: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

3938 The Muslirns of Southeasr Asia

the insistence of Thaksin and his cousin, army Chief General ChaiyasidhShinawatra. the dru-es and crime rather than religious or separatisticleolo-uy luy at the root of the violence. "What the two leaders do notsec or pretend not to see, is that this is not about addiction or banditrythis is about a fanatical ideology that none of us knew existed on sucha -erand seals," the Nartion newspaper said in a fiont page editorial.The confusion is that. qr"rite often the ordinary bandits work in the cloakol'the separatists and the re.al separatists take an action similar to ordinarybandits.

The Muslints ol 'l'lrailand's south claimed that Muslims weretreated uneclually by tlre .q()\,clltment. There are many reasons. Forexanrple , the sovt'r'rrrrrcrrt ol 'l lrlrilurrd crected a huge Buddha image as

a landrnark ut Kuokorrs. Nrrlrllriii rrt. in the midst of the Muslim area.And worsc still. the (()n\ttrr( ti()n t'rpt'ntlitulc was partly appropriatedll'orn llte rubbcr-tax collcctctl rrrosll\, llorrr lhc MLrslim people.

The trarts-rrrigratirln ttl thc nolllr t'rrslt'r'n Iltrtlclhist and theirresettlement in the Sor"rth is anothcr clrsc irr tlrrr.sliorr. l'lrt'intenti<ln ofsuch an assimilation pro_grantntc is rlcsisrr('tl lrr llrt' qovcrnrnent.Ironically, those immi-grattts thernsclvcs. irrstclrtl ol be int irssirnilationhad been assimilated to the mass of the pcoltlc by convcltirrg themselvesto Islam. The question arises whether suclr clcpnrvccl actions weretestimony to a conspiring and mmlicior-rs ;lolicy ol'thc Thai ,qovernmenttowards its Muslim citizens?

In fact, these projects are the products of some particularelements, especially sorne elites who were parts of the governmentmachinery. They were both religious f-anatics misunderstancling andunder-estimatine the Muslirn people. Such elernents ntight bc ran_9in-9

trom the local officials to the top bureaucrats. They u,ct'c ltot at all themajority. There have been many Muslim sympathizcrs tulolts Buddhistcivilians as well as many local Buddhist officials in the South. whohave long worked devotedly fbr the comrlunirics in spitc of their religrousdifference from the indi-genous people.

There have been many electecl MLrslinr Ieaders cif thecomrnunities in spite of Muslims being handful in those places. In 197_5

Muslims of Thailand's South

elections, 5 Muslims were elected to the Provincial Assemblies in the

north-easteln provinces of Thailand in spate of infinitely small proportion

of Muslims living in those provinces. ln Chiengmai, the main province

of the North. the Muslim candidate was electe:d mernberof the National

Assembly in 1975 general elections:apparently Itis constituency is not

at all a Muslim area. On the other hancl. in thc Muslirn dominate areas,

such as, in the south many Bucklltist candidatcs won the Muslim vote.

During the late 1990s therc was a Muslint fbrei-gn nrirlister in the cabinet

of the Thai governrnent and the speaker of the Thai Parliantent was

also a Thai Muslirl.

In tlte words of DIt. MuinLrddin Ahmed Khan "The government

of Thailand and the Muslim citizens of the great country, there is a

-qood case of national integration. It is a case of fruitful and patrioticcombination of the government policy of patronization of the Musliminstitutions and that of a planned development of the Muslim SouthernProvinces

- It also shows that, although the government policy

provides the base for all progress, mere existence of such a policy is

not enough. It has to be acquired by the people concerned. It success

is dependent upon the liberalism and stateslnitnsltip ol-the government

and the willingness of the people conccnrccl to lall in Iine with the

government policy. Lastly, it shows that thc prolongccl static economtc

situation. under which the Southcrn Provirtccs have been lingering forso long, probably sincc tltc tirne ol'thcil'intcgration into the central

control of the' 'I'lrui s()vcnrnrcnl. is bcginniltg tcl tell upon the patience

and fortitude of tltc Mrrslirtt poyrttlittion, wltose only remedy appear to

lie in a rapid econonric tle ve lollnrcnt l)r()gralnme."

Thailand thrcatcrtctl to sltut clown some Islamic boardingschools accusing thenr of bcins used as tfainin-g camps for separatist

fighters. The government has claimed armed -qroups used schools as

bases to launch attacks that hatve continued unabated since January.

2004, prornptin,s the -sovernrnent to impose martial Law in solne areas.

Twenty one schools ale under threat in total all of them in the three

worst hit provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. reported by the

Nation newspaper.

Page 30: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

40 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

The Thai army commander, General pallop pinmance stooddown in the wake of a damning report which determined that he orderedan assaulr rn the historic mosque in pattani on 2g April killed 32 Muslimsinside the mosque using excessive force.

Thai officials torture the Muslim prisoners

'fhai security forces have tortured prisoners in the Muslim-

'rir.rity s.uth as part of a brutal campaign to stamp out a separatistrebclli... .lrici'ls and human rights activists claimed. Thaitana'sNirti.nul lltrrnirrr Rights ('ornrrission has documented allegations ofsusl)ccts bcilrs lrlintllirlrletl. bculcn, strangled, electrocuted, humiliatedancl rrrinlrtt.tl rrPorr l11, st;rtt' irrtcr.nrgirtrlrs. The government_funded buti'rlcPc'tlt'rrr c'rrrrrrissi,rr slritl (hc lrilr'gccl abuse related to five Muslimrlrcn-()nc ()l wlrorrr lrlrs srrrt.r. lrt't'rr r.r'lclrscrl-held over an attack on antilitirry :tt.ttts tlcptlt itt.lltttturry tlrlrt slllrlkcrl lr wlrvc of southern seDaratistunfcst tllirt has lclt rnore tlrun 2.50 PcoPlc tk'lrtl.'fhai politicians andrirlrts gr,ups said they believccr trrc rkrctrnrcrrt is.nly a fraction of theatrLrsccl rneted out by Thai lirrces .pcratirrg rrrrtle r. rr'rr-tilrl I.w in someof the country's worst trouble spots.

on the eve of national horiday for thc 'r'hai qucen's birthday,two people were killed in southern Thailand ancl spread chaos's with astring of arson attempts were arrested in more than half a dozenincidents- a religious teacher and a student at a traditional Muslim schoolor pondok. A gunman riding a motorcycle shot and killed rat Thepaso,70, a government informant in pattani province, while he ,rus *uikinghis farm buffalo home. Earlier a porice officer was killed in rhe sameprovince.

Chapter 6

The Muslims of the Philippines

Islamic community leaders denounced a wave of arrests ofsuspected Al-Qaeda-linkecl terrorists, accusing the Philippinegovernment of usin-e minority Muslims as "sacrificial lambs". President

Arroyo said officials haclprcvented a 'Madrid-Level' bombing of Minilatrains and shopping malls. The relatives of Redendo Cain Dollosa, whoallegedly admitted to a February fery bombing that claimed more thanl00lives, said the men had been abducted, framed and tortured. Dellosaclaimed he signed a confession to stop being tortured. "We are nowcalling on our brother Muslims to unite and condemn these arrests,"said Abdulbasti Marangit, an Islamic preacher in Manilas's Qutapodistrict, one of the largest Muslim communities outside of the traditionalIslamic homeland in the Southern Philippines.

Philippines is an archipelago marking the south-eastern borderof Southeast Asia. It comprises about seven thousand islands stretchingover an area of 114,000 square miles. It is hcmmecl on the north andwest by the China Sea, on the south by the Mindenao Sea and on theeast by the Pacific Ocean.

Philippincs has a tropical climate; and like Singapore and

Indonesia, it has equatorial clirnate. Its natural resources and agriculturalpotentialities are immense.

Anthropologically the Filipinoes are classified as belonging tothe Malay-Polynesian stock. Presently, the population of Philippinesmay have reached the mark of 40,000,000, who live scattered in over300 islands which are habitable, speaking 87 local dialects. Its officiallanguage is Tagalog, but in actuality English has become the linguafranca and the language of all official and business transactions.

According to the local tradition, the Arab traders visitedPhilippines in the latter part of the l3'h century A.D. with theircommodities and introduced Islam therein.

Page 31: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

t)+-)/11 The Muslirns of Southeast Asia

"lslan ca'le ro the philippines in l2g0 A.D. accordins to thehistorical rcc,rds" says Ahmed D. Aronto, a prominent Muslimicholarof Philippi'cs. "The first Muslim who canre to the philippines wasShcril'Mlrctlum" continues he, "he was a famous.iurist. He was followedby rvu'cs .l'Arab traders and missionaries to spre-acl Islam amon-{ thel)irgirn rurlivcs".

"-l'he Arabs. later on folrowed by Incrians. Ir,nians and MalayMLrslirns irrtcrrlarriccl rvith the natives ancl alscl established rulingrlynlrsrics in dil'l'crcnt islrrncls. The most tlnrous of thcnr was SherifAlru lJlrkr. rr I)r.irrce ll'orrr lllrtlrirnraut, who established the sr-rltanate of.Srrlu lrn<l sllrr'tt'rl rr llorrrishinq Muslim Kin-qdom that lastcd up to theA ttterir'lrrr lt't:i rrr(' i rr l,lti I r ppr rrt's". I

'Ilrc SPrrrrislr N'lrrilr'llrrrr rt';rt lrt.tl l,lriripPirrcs in l52l and foundedthc Mlrrilrr ilr l-571. rrlritlr rrrrrkt'tr rrrt' lrt'girrrring of the spanishcolorriztrtion in tlrc l,lti lippint,s.'

In Ilt9ti. the Arre 'iclr. l)t'rr t'r' (.irl)rlrr'(.(l ivllrrrila ancl thel)hilillpines changecl hands li'onr rlrc SPrrrrislr to ll11' llnilcrl .stutcs ofAtnerica. In l94l it was crnqucrcd by thc.rrrPrrrrt.st'rrrrtl i' r9-16, it-uained independence fi'om the Unitcd Statcs. ,

Ahmad D. Alonto states that since trrc a'ri',.r .r'thc Spanish in1521, a continuous war ra-9ed betrveen the Spanish colonizers and theMuslim natives for over 400 years and Spain lailecl to subjugate theMuslims. Even after the Philippines was conquered to the United Statesat the end of the spanish-American war of l g9g, the Muslims continueclto resist the Arneric:rns till l9l I . when their resistance graclually bnrkcdown.r "But after they we.e finally subdued by the Anreric,lrs andplaced under the administrative control of the govcrnlr.lcnt. coupleclwith their centuries of isolation fl'om the rest of the Muslirn r.vorld aswell as their backwardness, their concern about rclieion bccarne ver-yscaltty and fbrrnalistic" .-i

America-rrantecl independence to thL'I)hirippircs in l946". sayshe, and in effbct. the independence of the philippines le-ually eliminatedall vesti-ees of the petty Mr-rslim sultanarcs inclLrdins the Sultanatc ofSulu". ('

The Muslinrs of the Philippines

Guy Hunter says, "Both geologically and by their flora and fauna

the Philippine islands belon-e to the Malay world', particularly to the

curve from Java through Borneo, Quite possibly nrost of the populationmoved in along the curve; they are clcscribecl as Malay and Proto-Malay (lndonesian) with some aclnrixtrrlc ol'Ncgritos, Vedda, andPapuans".

"At least from the eirrlicst ce ntr.rries ol'the C'hristian era. Indianinfluence was reaching tlrc Plrilippincs, and through tlrc -ureat period ofIndonesian empires (A. D. 7(X)- I .5(X)) it had reached at le ast to Manila.Islam followed closcly. antl was felt in Mindanao in the fitieenth century;it has retrined thc allcgiance of about three-quarters of a million (7,

50,000) inhabitants of the Southern Philippines". 7

"Three hundred years of Spanish rule naturally left a deep markon the Philippines, and today there are thought to be at least 200,000Filipinos width mixed Spanish blood, who form much of the Philippineselite".8

"The most striking characteristics of the Philippines are the

deep and near-universal influence of the Catholic Church; the markedlyAmerican

Emphasis on the free capitalisnr arrtl Anrerican-type democraticpolitical lif'c: and the immensc clcvckrl.rrrrcnt ol a systerr of private profit-making collegcs anrl univelsitics"."

Reli-uion-tlosc. the popullrtion ol'the Philippines are classifiedapproxirnately as firl I or.vs :

Ronran CatholicProtestantMuslirnsOthers

lU/r,l5IoI lo/o

4c/a

E,conomically the Philippines is pro-eressin-u fast. Both rnagricr.rltural developrnent and industrialization, it hits gone considerablyahead of many of the Southeast Asian countries. But her economy issupposecl to be dominated by fbreign interests. especially AmericarrJewish and the Chinese.

Page 32: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

The Muslims ol Southeast Asia

Main Problems of the Muslims of the Philippines

The Muslims of Philippines are educationally backward andecononrically impoverished. They occupy one of the richest regions onthe f rrcc ol'thc earth, but their capacity to exploit the natural resourceso1'tlrcir rcsiorr is circumscribed by unto wards political situation intowhich thcy arc continuously dubbed by the majority Christian(.orrrrntrrrily.

Accorclirrg to tlrc Muslirn Filipinos themselves, developing a

[)r'ol)('f cclrrclrtiorr s)'stcn] lir| thc youn-qer generation of the Muslims istlrc rrrrrrrbcr orrc ploblt'rrr llrcing the Muslims leadership of that country."'l'lrc ProPt'r' lrr)tl t.r'r't't l t'tlrrt'lrtiorr ol'thc Muslims", says Alonto, "islhc rrrosl r'lli'r'tir('nl('lul\ rs it uill rrot only strengthen theirfaith butrvill lrlso nrist' llrt'il s.t r:rl. rrr.r.lrl lrntlt.(hrriclrl standard; thus creating a{ootl irnlrlt'ol lsllrrrr irr llrt'rrrirrtls ol non Mtrslirus. As of now, the non-M trs lirt ts irr tlrt' I'h iliPPirrt.s lrrt' lrllt'rrt lr, lr rs irrl' l;1i111 irr their own religions.ll tlrt'Mrrslirns irr llrt'rrrerr r'otrlrl tlt'rrrorrstrirlt'llrt'c()rrccI lslamic wayol lilt', il rvoulcl bc thc bcst vclriclc convincirrg tlrt'rrorr-Muslims of thetr.Lrllr ol lslarn". r{l

'l'hc second important proble rn is thc ltnrrluction ol'good Islamiclxroks,.iournals and newspapers and circLrlatiorr arnong the Muslims ofrrll regions. This could be done by pronroting the numerous Muslimassociatior.rs, cultural centres and the few educational institutions whichhave grown up in Manila, Marawi and elsewhere, such as:

a. Muslim Students Association of the philippines, Manila.b. Women Muslim Associarion of the Philippines, Manila.c. A_eama Islam Society and Majlis Shodra, Marawi City.d. Mindanao Young Muslim Association, Parang. Carabato.e. Julu Muslim Fraternity, Jolo, Sulu.f. Jamiah al-Philippines al-Islamia (lslamic University of the

Philippines), Marawi City, Branches ar Malabun_9,Tamparan, Lumbatan, Baloc, Lanaw.

g. Philippine Muslim College, Jolo, Sulu.h. Mindanao Islamic Institute, Datu pian-q, Catabato.i. Islamic Cultural Centre and Mosque, Manila.

The Muslims of the Philippines

Thirdly, devising ways and means to help proper exploitation ofthe natural resources by the Muslims within their own areas.

Fourthly, developing a system of contact and communication

between the Muslims of Philippines and the Muslim Communities ofthe outside world in order to break their sense c'rf isolation.

Seventeen Muslim militants were sentenced to death by a

Philippine court for kidnap and murder. The defendants, including four

who were tried in absentia after a prison breakout in April, were all

members of the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group. They each received three

death sentences on l3 August 2004, plus life imprisonment for the

murders and abductions on the southern island of Basilan in 2001. It

was the first mass conviction of members of Abu Sayyaf group. The

group seized three Americans and a group of Filipino tourists and resort

workers from the western island of Palauan and brought them to Basilan

in May 2001.

They then seized more Filipino hostages in Basilan, killing several

of them when they found they could not pay the ransom- Many Filipino

hosta-ees were fieed after ransoms were paid. Howcver, an Amertcan

was be headed and another was killed whe n tro<l1ls stornled on them in

Jun 2002. AII capital punishment tnust lrc rcviewed by the Supreme

Court. As they were led out of the coLlrt. solrre ol'them shouted defiantly,

"Allahu Akbar' God is great. Bashir-Matt dan-{an Said." lts times,l am

still happy. Tell that to yolrr sovcrnrnent. Philippine troops, with US

training and support Itirvc wcake necl the Abu Sayyaf in recent months

but the group remains activc in the southern islands.

Malaysia on Saturclay sent a team of peace monitors to the

Philippines to supervise a ceasefire between government forces and

Muslim separatist rebels in strife-torn southern Mindanao Island. "The

peace pact between the two parties will hopefully bring economic gains

and political stability as well as improve the quality of life in the area,

and conrribute to regional security." Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak

said at the airport.

"The team can contribute to the peace process and socio-

economic development in Mindanao. Hopefully it will help free the

.4<

Page 33: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

The Muslims of Southeast Asia

Mindanao people f}om the conflict that has gone on for so long," Najig,who is also Dcf'ence Minister, said.

'fhc tcam of 50 military, police and government officers will.join an aclvunce party of eight military officers and a policeman whodepartctl lirr the Philippines on Sept. 10.2004. The

-eroup is to handle

ctrrrrlrlrrints of violations of a 2002 ceasefire signed between thePlrilippines ancl thc 12,000 -strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front(MIl-li). rvhich has lrecn rvaeing a26-year separatist rebellion on thislargcly-('hristiun rrrclri pclagtl.

ArrnctI I'orc'cs ('lricl (ic:rtcral Mohamad Zahidi Zainuddin toldthe Bcrrrirnir lr('\\'s lrlr('ncy tlurt lhc Malaysian team was expected to be

in thc srlrrthcrn l'lrilillllrrrcs lirr rrlrorrt ir ycar.

()lhcr' ()r'glrrrizlrtiorr ol lsllrrrrit' ('onl'crcnce members, whichincluclc Incloncsia. 13artglaclcslr rrrrtl Mitkllt' lrrrstcnr countries, would beinvitecl to takc part in thc pcitcc tttissiott. lrt' slritl.

"Only Malaysia is spearhcltrlirrg tlrt' rttissiort rtl prcsent and

Brunei has indicated that l0of its rcprcscntltivt's rvill joirr lhc rnorritoringteam but it's yet to be confirmed," he saitl.

Only 60 members of the peace nronitorirtg team would be

deployed in the southern Philippines at any tirnc as determined by the

Philippine government, he said.

Philippines armed forces chief General Narciso Abaya had said

that the arrival of the Malaysian team "will enhance or bolster" the

peace talks. Earlier peace negotiations have been hampered byallegations from both sides of ceasefire violations.

Malaysia has previously hosted peace talks between thegovernment and rebels. The leader of the Philippines largest Muslimseparatist force has welcomed the arrival of Malaysian ceasefiremonitors in a bid to end a bitter and lengthy conflict with -eovernmentforces.

But Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahimhit out at what he said were elements in the military and government

whoweretalksbypaintinghisgroupastenorists.TheMalaysianteamarrived in the Philippines traveled to the southern island of Mindanao,

the centre of the rebels 26-year insur-9ency to set up an lslamic state.

The Muslims of the PhiliPPines

Ahrnctl [). Alonto: '-l'he Philippines Muslims: A Brief Account"' Paper

read in tlrc l'akistatt History Cont'erence. Karachi' circa 1965' p' 2'

Lucian W l)yc: Sotrtheast Asia's Political Systems' 1967'p'23'

tbid.

Ahrned D. Alonto. oP, citY. P. l.Ibid. p. l.Ibid. p. IGuy Hunter: South-East Asia: Race. Culture and Nation' 1965' pp'34-34'

4146

Ibid. p. 34.

Ahrned D. Alonto; oP. cit.' P.7

Page 34: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

Chapter 7

Muslims in Cambodia

Cambodia lies to the south-east of Thailand and to the west ofSouth Vietnam, separating it from the South China Sea on the eastern

side. It is however, open to the sea on its south-western border. It issituated adjoining the South Thailand.

Accordirrg to thc estinratc of 1975, the total population ofCambodia was 7.-5 nrillion. Out ol'this over half-a-million (500.000)

were Muslinrs.

'fhc nra-jrlrity ol'tlrc Mtrslirrrs ol'Karnpuchea were thedescendants of cham race ol'('hlrrnplr kirrsrlorrr srl well known in the

legends and fock-lores of Sorrthcrrst r\sirr inc'ltrrling Bangladesh,flourished fiom about the 2"d century A.l ). irlorre lltt' t'ltst coust o1'whatis now South Vietnam. The Chanr acccptctl lslrrrrr irr tlrc -5'r'centuryA.D, and changed the way of their lilc to lslrrrrtic lrrrrlilion.

According to the reports of Dato Ahtnucl Nottlin irr tltt' lslarnicHerald of Malaysia (Vol. 3. Nos. 6-7, October/ Novcnrlrt'r'. l()77. pp. 8-

15), the largest concentration of the Kampuchean Mrrslirrrs was inKampong Cham area where they numbered about 300,(XX).'l'lrcrc were

59 mosques situated in the area.

The Kampuchean Muslims have a language of thcir ou,'rr rvrittenin Arabic script

Muslims under the Communist Regime

Infbrmation collected by Nordin from the huge nurnber ofrefugees, who have escaped to Thailand from Kampuchca after the

take-over of that country by the Khmer Rou-ee regime of the Comrnunistfrom the hands of the Khmer Republic, which took place on the l7'h

April, 1975, indicate that since then the Muslim people have been drivenout from their homes on the pretext that the move was only temporary

Muslims in Cambodia

to enable the government to reorganise and re-build the villages. As

soon as they moved out, their properties were placed in the custody ofthe soldiers" (p. 10)

Since 17'h April 1975. the Kharncr Rouge regime enforced their

policies of revolution on the people .'l'llcsc irrclutlctl:

l. "Many Muslinr leadcrs rvcrc killeclincltrdins KadhiYusofof Kompong Khejor irt Pursat, and Khaclhi lsa ol-Kompong

Angkuban, Ktltt'tptttrg chatn."

2. "Muslim youth above 15 have been forbidden to live withtheir parents. Instead they were forced to live with non-

Muslim youths; and as for the young men and women,

they were simply encouraged to live together as man and

wife, without having to go through any marriage formality'"

3. "The Muslim have been forbidden to speak their own

language-cham language; because the language is identified

with Islam. Those found using the cham language have

been publicly humiliated" (p. 9)-

It is reported that after the communist take over about 25'000

people escaped from Kampuchea to Thailand, out of which 10,000 are

Muslims. The Muslim refugees werc tnoved to the refugee camps in

Malaysia.

It is reportccl that ott thcir takeover, the Muslim people were

broken up. They wcrc lt()t allowed to mix and meet among themselves.

Each Muslim family would be tbrced to live among l9 non-Muslim

families and to eat together with the non Muslims (p. l0).

Many Muslim ex-government officials were killed. Mosques

were closed down and no one was allowed to go in for prayers.

"On one Friday, in mid-June, 1975, while the Muslims were

performing Friday prayers in the mosque" at Kompong Deras in

Keruchma district, "a communist leader in charge of the community at

Tebor, by the name of Berum Samet, appeared with a number of his

men. Forcing the people to stop praying, he asked them to listen to

49

Page 35: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

The Muslims of Southeast Asia

what he had to say. The speech went on for so long that, some people,fearing that the Zuhar prayer time would be over left the meeting inorder to perform the prayers and returned as soon as they finishedpraying".

"Little did they know the fate in store for them for performingthcir prayers. The communists immediately seized the Muslim leaders,such as, the Kadhi, Imam Tabib Ahmad, Tuan Syahid Ali and othersand after gathering them into the middle of the crowd, shot them dead"(pp. l0- I l).

"Sincc july, 197-5 families were broken up; young boys andgirls anrl srnlll chiklrcn wcre forcibly separated from their parents.Tlte parertts \\'crc n() lorrgt'r' to bc responsible for them; since theyhave bccrr pluccrl irr tlrt'r'lrt'rll'ccrtlrin <lrganiz.ations which were madercsponsiblc lirr lhcrn." (p. lll

"A more terriblc l'atc has be I'ullcn our Muslim girls. Thecor.ur.r-nrnist soldiers were ellcouragcd to tukc any girls they liked as

thcir wives without any marriage frrrnrality.'l'lrc grrls wcre fbrced toslave fbr them devoid of human f'eelings. '['hc younr nten, olt the otherhand, were free to choose their own wivcs arrd could approach anygirls directly without having to go thror.rgh the ir parents or a marriageformality"-just like the Free Society of U.S.S.R.

"When the Muslims in Kompong Deras could no longer bearsuch harsh rule, they petitioned local Khmer Rouge leader, asking thatthe young Muslim men should be allowed to marry the Muslim girls.Unfortunately, in consequence of their action, they were arrested andmade to dig their own graves along a ditch about 400 metres from thevillage. A mass killing then took place with the people being shot andtheir bodies thrown into the holes in a grisly fashion"-(p. I I ).

"Muslims have also been forced to move f}om their originalvillages to live in new areas together with non-Muslims-one Muslimfamily to 20 non-Muslim families. They have also been forbidden tomeet or assemble in a group and any form of worship and religiousobservance is strictly forbidden" (p. l2).

Muslims in Cambodia

"When I was forced to enter the communist indoctrination class

in November,I975,I learnt that:

l. the communists' aim is to destroy the Muslim religion in

Cambodia;

2. no religious group would be allowed to maintain its identity

and to practice its religion;

3. names of Kompongs indicatin-e any leligious or outside

influence, have been abolished. New names have been

given to them. All religious books have had to be surrendered

to the authorities. All Kadhis and Imams have lost theirpositions" (Statement of a refugee pp l2- l3d).

"On the l" February, 1976 at about 7 p.m. a unit of Khmer

Rouge came to Kompong Rakapram, Kompong Cham and asked the

people to gather to hear an announcement. Soon afterwards, the leader

of the part by the name of Berum Samit, responsible fbr propaganda,

community development and art in the area, rose to declare open, the

meeting. He began by asking everybody to observc silence in memory

of the Khmer Rough soldiers who havc cliccl in battle".

"He then said that what he wlts goittg t() llnnounce was withthe approval of the government of the l)cnrocratic Republic of Cambodia

and of local District Contmittcc. In his attltouncelnent, he said that, at

the request of the govcnrmcnts ol'srtutli Arabia and other Muslim nations,

the government ol'lhe Dcnrocrittic Rcpublic of Cambodia had agreed

to let all those Muslirns wishing to leave Cambodia and go to any Muslim

country; and in orclcr ttl l'acilitate the movement and transportation ofthose people, he askcd ttrat, they gather in their respective Kompongs;

so that, trucks would be sent to pick them up and their belongings and

take them to Thailand en route to the country of their choice."

"Having said all this the Khmer Rouge leader closed the meeting

at about l0 p.rn. He asked Kadhi Mohd Zain to register the names ofthe Muslims wishing to leave saying that the trucks would be sent to

pick them up on l5'h February".

5l

Page 36: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

52 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

"On the appointed day about 7 a.m.25 trucks arrived in theKornpong. In one of the trucks there was a public address system, anda cassette, playing music. The particular track, stopping in the middleof the kompong began to call out to the Muslims to assemble and to beready to board the trucks"

"At 1l a.m. rhe trucks started to leave the Kompong and spedtowards Battambong Half-way in Pursat, at about 5 in the morning ofl6'h February. the convoy stopped for a few hours to allow thepassengers to relieve themselves and eat their meals. At about g o'clockthe Khmer Rouge s'lrlicrs ordered the people to get on the trucksagain in order to rcsunrc the.journcy. when the convoy reached a roadjunction, with onc roacl lc,tlirrs l. l-iaj, 7 of the trucks took that roadwhile the other ltl prrcecdetl r.rvrrrcls the Railway Station at MongResei. Here they were askcrl t. t'rrrrsli'r themselves to the bullockcarts, each family riding in onc .l'rlrcrn. 'l'hcy were taken to KompongKocha and across the hill, towartls Kornltonn Gurah Kerala."

"From what I have heard, th.sc Mrrslirrrs l'rve bccn lirrced toseparate-the children from their parents lnd ultcr thcy lrrrvc bccn lrrokenup in this way, they were sent to live with tlre n.rr-Mrrslirrrs- l0 Muslimsto I 00-250 non-Muslims."

"This was obviously a trick played by rhc Klrrrrcr. l{ouge tobetbol the Muslims into leaving their homes; so thar. tlr.y wcre to bebroken up and dispersed, to live with the non-Muslirns" (pp. l3-14).

"As we entered the year 1977, our religion is rro rnor.c. Eventhe Muslim women can no longer be recognised as Mrrsrirrrs. sincethey have been forced to dress differently. By 1980, I li'.r. rhc identityof our people as 'chams' and as 'Muslims' will be l.st filrever"(statement of another refugee, p. l4).

Chapter 8

Mahathir Mohamad

Malaysia's former Primc Mitristcl Mahatlrir Moltarnad hacl

towered over his country's politics lirr ntot'c thlttt tu o dccacles. Whilehis colourful reputation abroacl stcttttttcd li'ont ltis l'r'eclttettt barbed

comments about the west but esscrttiully pra-gmatic ptllicics at horne

had won him much popular support and helped transtbrm Malaysrit

into an Asian economic tiger.

During the process he turned hiniself into Asia's longest servingleader and retired after being in ofllce for 22 years. Throughout his

rule Dr. Mahathir had taken a tough stand against those who opposed

him or threatened his power. Anwar Ibrahm, once his deputy and heirapparent, Mahathir abruptly dismissed him from his cabinet post and

accused him of sodomy and corruption.

Dr. Mahathir had been accused of using the US led war on

terrorism as an excuse to neutralise Islalnic political opponetrts at home.

Some of suspected militants had becn itrrcstecl without trial under the

much-criticised Internal Security Act. Hc was furious when he himselfwas subjected to rigorous security cltccks at a US airport. He said

American "anti-Muslim hysteria" hlrl lccl to him being treated like a

terrorist. And hc saicl thc uttacks on Alghanistan and then Iraq coulddegenerate into a carnpaign against the developing world as a whole.

Since Mlhlthir became prime minister in 1981, governmentpatronage in employment and higher education have created a Malayrniddle class, inclLrding some billionaires. But the ethnic Chinese minontyis still seen as having disproportionate wealth, and he had frequentlyaccused his f'ellow Malays of being complacent and unwillin-q to workhard. "l feeldisappointed", said Dr. Mahathir, "because I have achieved

too little in my principal task of making my race a successful race, a

race that is resnected".

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5554 l'he Muslims of Southeast Asia

Mahathir Mohamad's political career began in 1946, when atthc agc of 2 I he joined the newly founded nationalist organisation UnitedM.lays Nationalist organisation (uMNo). He studied medicine at theUnivcrsity of Malaya and for seven years ran a private medical practicein his home state of Kedah. He became an Umno member of parliamentin 1964. But in 1969 he lost his seat and was expelled from the panyafter releasing an open letter attacking the then prime Minister, TunkuAbdul Rahman, for neglecting the Malay community.

Exiled to the political wilderness, he developed his ideas in acontroversial book entitled "The Malay Dilemma". He wrote that theMalays had becn rnargirr.lised during the coloniar era and castigatedthem fbr apathclically accepling their second-class status. It set thetone fbr future attacks on wcstcln noe-colonialists and others he seesas bent on subjugating M.l.ysiu irrrtl rhrcatcning its success. 'The MalayDilemma' struck such a clrorcl witlr yo.urger uMNo Leaders that hewas irrvited back into the party. rc-clcctccl to parliamen t in 1974, andappointed minister of education. Wirhin lirur ycars he had becomedeputy Leader of Umno, and in 198 I he becamc prirnc nrinister.

Dr. Mahathir set about putting his ideas into pr.acrice, followingthe example set by Japan, transforming Malaysia lhrnt an cxporter ofrubber and tin into a manufacturer of electronic equiprncnt, steel andcars. Defending Asian and Malaysian values, he criticisetl western asdouble standards and own a following among developing countries.His prestige projects included the world's tallest building-the petronas

Towers-and the transformation of a palm oil plantation near the capitalinto the world's first "Multimedia Super Corridor"- a cybcr-l.rowcrhouseintended to rival California's Silicon Valley.

With the onset of the Asian economic crisis in I997, he blamedforeign currency traders, including the financier Gcor-uc Soros, f orwhat he termed a worldwide Jewish conspiracy. His firmous openingspeech at the l0'h OIC summit held on l6 October 2003 at putrajaya,Malaysia's administrative capital with the words "Muslirn nations mustclose ranks". But the speech was not liked by some western Leaderswho took exception to his saying that the Jews control the world.

Mahathir Mohamad

Peter Jennings, the ABC anchorman, called him a "loose cannon"'

The spokesmen for the Israeli government and the US State Department

were equally harsh in their criticism, the later calling the remarks

contemptuous and derisive. Mahathir dtlse not deserve such myopic

and hasty judgement from anyone. and surely not from those who

epitomize hypocrisy.

The term Anti-Semitism is used t() protect Jewish and the word

fundamentalism is used to malign Muslim by the west. The west has

difficulty even in uttering the word 'Jews' in public in fear of the stick

of Anti-Semitism, let alone voice any form of criticism. Even the casual

mentioning of the word has almost become a taboo. The swift

condemnation of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad recent comment about the

Jews having disproportionate power with respect to the member is an

example of this phenomenon. As expected, the western intelligentsia

became hysterical with accusations of "anti-Semitism", whilst remaining

oblivious to Israel as it conducted its raid inGaza, killing many innocent

civilians.

Mahathir's statement was nothing more than an observation ofthe reality and certainly there were no deliberate scorning of the Jewish

people. The statement acknowledges the achievement of the Jews in

gaining power and influence in society despite their persecution in recent

history and their relatively small population.

The usage of the term "anti-Semitism" is perplexing to see

Europe's desire to extinguish the guilt that it has accumulated due to

centuries of anti Jewish progroms in European cities, which culminated

with the Nazi l{olocaust have sought to remove the burden of European

crime by handing over land belonging to Arabs to the Jews. On the

contrary, history has proven the hospitality and the magnanimity of the

Muslim and Arab people towards minorities including the Jews. Instead

of progroms, ethnic cleansing and holocausts, the Jews experienced

the golden age in Andalusia (Spain) under Muslim rule' an era

unpzralleled in their 5000+ years of history. Even the noted Orient list

scholar Bernard Lewis whose writing are not known to be

complementary towards both Muslims and Islam has noted in many of

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The Muslims of Southeast Asia

his books and articles that Jews prospered and were safe in Muslimlands, at a time when 'Jew-Baiting' was Christian-Europe's favouritepastime!

When the unparalleled, genocide Catholic-Spanish Inquisitiontook place, Jews found sanctuary in the Islamic cities of Istanbul andFez. So, for how long must the Palestinians pay for the Jewish Holocaust,which was a Christian-European crime? for how long will the stick ofanti-semitism be used to silence any criticism of Israel's daily violationof human rights? For how long will the media remain complicit in shieldingthe Zionist-lmperialist lascist apartheid state know as "Israel " by theselective usage of tcrrninoklgics. "rcporting" and "commentaries"?

Consider the swili responsc irr clcl'cnce of the Jewish communityin sharp contrast to the recent contntcllts macle by an obscure USGeneral based in the Pentagon, who lvrrs clcrrrly rlaligning Islam andthe Muslim. What an irony! Since not a Mosrluc irr thc world has neitherstatue nor icon in contrast to Churches. It is also untusins to note thathe claimed that George Bush was appointecl by (itxl. 'l'hc rlaily nraligningof the Muslims using terminologies like "funclarncntalisnt". "cxtrclnism","militant" etc have become the norm. The Daily 1L'lcgraph (20th

October. Tim Walker) about the expected protests in response to GeorgeBush's visit to the UK. The protestors were described ls anti-Waractivists, which included "Militant" Muslims.

Dr. Mahathir wanted to mean that if only 6 milliorr.f cws couldbe a world power, then a nation of 1.3 billion Muslims coulcl not beundermined. Mahatir said, "Divided, the Muslims coulcl rlo nothingeffective to stop the Balfour and Zionist transgression. "Thc Europeanskilled six million Jews out of l2 million. But today thc.lews rule thisworld by proxy. Ariel Sharon said on l5'h November.lggtt, "We shallreduce the Arab population to a community of woodcutters and waiters.Ehud Barak, former Israeli Prime Minister, called Palestinians beaststhat walk on two legs.., and grasshoppers' heads smashed against theboulders and walls.

Mr"rslims see how Palestinians have been uprooted from theirancestral homes and how Israel sets the apartheid wall and violates,

Mahathir Mohamad

with total immunity, human rights and international laws, committing

war crimes that few dare commit. Who would have thought that the

children of Hdocaust, Hitler's gas charnbers, would one day perfect

the art of mass murder and ethnic cleansing through a slow but sustained

process? Humanity cries, "How could you ckr this heinous crime when

yOU yOurselves were once the victints o1 srrcl-r lllonumental crimes?

But who listensl Yet, the genttcitlal tnatliac Sharon is rewarded

handsomely for his demonic activitics and is trcittccl as a 'celebrity' in

the white house.

Ariel Sharon ort 3 October 200lsaid, "Every time we do

something you tell me Arnerica will do this and that... I want to tell

you something very clear. Don't wony about American pressure on

Israel. We the Jew people control America and the Americans know

it". It is therefore, clear that the Jews control the world through the

US. Since the demise of the USSR over a decade ago, the US becomes

the only superpower, and their greed to rein over the whole world has

been increasing day by day. Wherever Bush goes, protesters against

globalisation shows Bush grabbing the globe gleefully with greedy looks

and smiles. As the US is fast taking the whole world into its grip, the

'Jews' control over the world through the [JS becorning easier.

"Westerners don't understitttcl hirrl"' Zakatria Wahab' then

Mahathir's press secretary told thc tirlle rttagazine's correspondent John

comely. The Westerner shoulcl have clefinitely understood that Mahatir,

in his emphatic speech. Itas sinccrcly attempted to do more than what

westerners havc been rkring to suppress Islamic terrorism. In one ofthe paragraphs ol'ltis spccch, Mahathir said, "we fights without any

objective, we are acting in'ationally, without any goal other than to hurt

the enemy because they Iurt us. Natively we expect them to surrender.

We sacrifices livcs unnecessarily, achieving nothing other than to attract

more massivc re taliation and humiliation". He asked, "ls there no other

way than to ask our youn-q people to blow themselves r"rp and kill people

and invite the massacre of nore of our own people"?

In his speech, Mahathir invited Muslims to learn fl-om the Jewish

example, to use 'brains' rather than emotions'. and doing irresponsible

51

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-58 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

(hings thar hurt Muslims today's worrd . He was also very criticar aboutscctarianism among certain sectors of the Ummah, especiaily the Uiama,.n mundane matters that led to Musrims' rack of interest in science andtcchnology. Mahatir has been a lone Muslim Leader who had the gursto say the right things' when Muslims .eeded such so dearly. He hasbeen Independent, courageous, statesmanlike and visionary.

He said, ,.We also know that not all non_Muslims are againstus' some even see our enemies as their enernies. Even amon! theJews there are many who do not approve of what the Israelis aredoing. we must not antagonize everytne. we must win their heans

and minds. We must win rhern tn our rld" not by begging for help fromthem but by the hono.urable that we struggle to t.tp-ourrelues,,, asSaladin did, he opined' Hc warrred t,mmJ to be patient, disciplinedand avoid foorhardy acts. Hc saia, "T<rday if they want to raid ourco,untry, kill overpeoplecl destr.y.ur vill.gcs and towns, there is nothingsubstantial that we can do ...our rnry rcacti.n is to become more andmore angry. Angry people cannot think propcrly.,,

Chapter 9

Mahathir's opening speechat the 10'h OIC summit

Muslim nations must close ranks

ALHAMDULILLAH, AllPraise be to Allah, by whose Grace

and Blessings we, the leaders of the Organisation of Islamic Conference

countries are gathered here today to confer and hopefully to plot a

course for the future of Islam and the Muslim ummah worldwide.

On behalf of the Government and the people of many races

and religions of Malaysia, may I extend a warm welcome to all and

everyone to this Tenth Session of the Islamic Summit Conference in

Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital.

It is indeed a greathonour for Malaysia to host this session and

to assume the chairmanship of the Organisation of the IslamicConference (OIC). I thank the members for their confidence inMalaysia's chairmanship.

May I also take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to the

state of Qatar, in particular- His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin KhalifaAl-Thani, the Emir of Qatar for his outstanding stewardship of our

organisation over the past three years.

As host. Malaysia is gratified at the high level of participationfrom member courttries. This clearly demonstrates our continued and

abiding faith in, ancl conrmitment to our organisation and our collectivewish and determination to strengthen our role for the dignity and benefit

of the ummah.

I would also like to welcome the leaders and representatives ofthe many countries who wish to become observers at this meeting

because of their substantial Muslim population. Whether they are

Muslims or not, their presence at this meeting will help towards greater

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60 The Muslirns of Southeast Asia

understancling of Islam and the Muslims, thus helping to disprove theperception of Islam as a religion of backwardness and terror.

The whole world is looking ar us. Certainly 1.3 billion Muslims,one sixth of the world's population are placing their hopes in us, in thismeeting, even though they may be cynical about our will and capacityto even decided to restore the honour of Islam and the Muslims, muchless to free their brothers and sisters from the oppression and humiliationfrom which they suffer today.

I will not enumerate the instance of our humiliation andoppression, nor will I oncc again condemn our detractors and oppressors.It would be an cxercise irr futility lrecause they are not going to changetheir attitudes just bccausc rvc condemn them. If we are to recoverour dignity and that <lf lslrrrn. .ur rclision, it is we who must decide, it iswe who must act.

To begin with, thc (iovcrnrrrcnts of all the Muslim countriescan close ranks and have acomrnoll slurrtl il'll()t ()ll lrll issues. at leaston some major ones, such as on Palestinc. wc lrrc rrll Mrrslirns. we areall oppressed. We are all being hurniliatctl. Ilrrl *,,c r'h. lrrrve beenraised by Allah above our fellow Muslims to rulc .ur c.unrrics havenever really tried to act in concert in order to cxhibit at our level thebrotherhood and unity that Islam enjoins upon us.

But not only are our Government divided, the Muslirrr urnmahis also divided, and divided again and again. over the lasr r4(x) yearsthe interpreters of Islam, the learned ones, the ulama have intcrprctedand reinterpreted the single Islamic religion brought by l,rophetMuhammad s.A.w so differently that now we have a thousantr

'crisronswhich are often so much at odds with one another that wc ol'tcn fiehtand kill each other.

From being a single ummah we have allowed oursclves to bedivided into numerous sects, mazhabs and tarikats, each morc concernedwith claiming to be the true Islam than our oneness as the Islarnicummah. we fail to notice that our detractors and enemies do not carewhether we are true Muslims or not.

Mahathir's opening speech at the l0'h OIC summit 6l

To them we are all Muslims, fbllowers of a religion and a

Prophet whom they declare promotes terrorism, and we are all theirsworn enemies. They will attack and kill us. invade our lands, bringdown our Governments whether we arc Strttnis ttr Syiahs, Alawait orDruze or whatever.

And we aid and abet thertt by attacking artcl wcakening each

other, and sometimes by doing thcir bidciing. acting rts thcir proxies to

attack fellow Muslirns. We tl'y to bring down oltr Govcrnnlcttts through

violence, succeeding to wcake n and impoverish our countries.

But this is not all that we ignore about the teachings of Islarn.

We are enjoined to read, lqra i.e. to acquire knowledge. The early

Muslims took this to mean translating and studying the works of the

Greeks and other scholars before Islam. And these Muslim scholars

added to the body of knowledge through their own studies.

The early Muslims produced great mathematicians and

scientists, scholars, physicians and astronomers, etc, and they excelled

in all the fields of knowledge of their times, besides studying and

practicing their own religion of Islam. As a result the Muslims were

able to develop and extract wealth from thcir lands and through theirworld trade, able to strengthen their clcl'cnccs, protect their people and

give them the Islamic way ol'lif'e . Aclding, as prescribed by Islam.

At thc tirnc thc liuropcans of the middle Ages were stillsuperstitious anrl buckwllcl, the enlightened Muslims had already builta great Muslinr civilizati<ltt, respected and powerful, more than able to

compete with thc rcst of the world and able to protect the ummah fromforeign aggression. 1'he Europeans had to kneel at the feet of Muslimscholars in ordcr to access their own scholastic heritage.

Thc Muslims were led by great leaders like Abdul Rahman III,Al-Mansur, Salah El Din Al Ayubi and others who took to the banlefields

at the head of their forces to protect Muslim land and the ummah.

But halfway through the building of the great Islamic civilizationcame new interpreters of Islam who taught that acquisition of knowledge

by Muslims meant only the study of Islamic theology. The study ofscience, medicine, etc, was discouraged.

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62 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

Intellectually, the Muslims began to regress. With intellectualregression the great Musiim civilization began to falter and wither. Butfor the emergence of the Ottoman warriors, Muslim civilization wouldhave disappeared with the fall of Granada in 1492.

The early successes of the Ottomans were not accompaniedby an intellectual renaissance. Instead they became more and morepreoccupied with minor issues such as whether tight trousers and peakcaps were Islamic, whether printing machines should be allowed orelectricity used to light mosques. The Industrial Revolution was totallymissed by the Muslims.

And the regression continued until the British and Frenchinstigated rebellion against'l'urkislr rule brought about the downfall ofthe Ottomans, the last MLrslinr worlcl power and replaced it withEuropean colonies and not indcpcnclcnt st:rtcs ;rs promised. It was onlyafter World War II that these colonics bcclrrnc indcpendent.

Apart from the new nation statcs wc irlso acccpted the Westerndemocratic system. This also divided us becurrsc ol'thc political partiesand groups that we form, some of which clairrr Isllrrrr lirr therrselves,reject the Islam of other parties and refuse to acccl)t thc rcsults of thepractice of democracy if they fail to gain power lbr the rnsclves. Theyresort to violence, thus destabilizing and weakening Muslirtr countries.

With all these developments over the centurics thc ummahand the Muslim civilization became so weak that at one tintc there wasnot a sin-ele Muslim country which was not colonized or heecrnonies bythe Europeans. But regaining independence did not help to srre ngthenthe Muslims. Their states were weak and badly administerecl. constantlyin a state of turmoil. The Europeans could do what they Iiked withMuslim territories. It is not surprising that they should excise Muslimland to create the state of Israel to solve their Jewish problem. Divided,the Muslims could do nothing effective to stop the Balfour and Zionisttrans-gression.

Some would have us believe that, despite all these, our life isbetter than that of our detractors. Some believe that poverty is Islamic,sufferin-e and bein-e oppressed are Islamic. This world is not for us.

Mahathir's opening speech at the l0'h OIC summit

Ours are the joys of heaven in the afterlife. All that we have to do is toperform certain rituals, wear certain garments and put up a certain

appearance.

Our weakness, our backwarclncss and oLrr inability to help ourbrothers and sisters who are being oltpressetl urc part of the Will ofAllah, the sufferings that we must enclurc bclirrc cn-loying heaven in

the hereafter. We must accept this I'atcthat bcfalls rrs. Wc need not do

anything. We can do nothing against the Will of Atlah.

But is it true that it is the Will of Allah and that we can and

should do nothing'? Allah has said in Surah Ar-Ra'd verse II that He

will not change the fate of a community until the community has tried

to change its fate itself.

The early Muslims were as oppressed as we are presently.

But after their sincere and determined efforts to help themselves inaccordance with the teachings of Islam, Allah had helped them to defeat

their enemies and to create a great and powerful Muslim civilization.But what effort have we made especially with the resources that He

has endowed us with.

We are now 1.3 billion strong. Wc have the biggest oil reserve

in the world. We have great wealth. We are not as ignorant as the

Jahilliah who cmbraced Islarn. Wc arc familiar with the working of the

world's econ()lny arrcl l'i nanccs. We control 50 out of the I 80 countries

in the world. Our votcs can rnake or break international organizations.

Yet wc sccrn rrore helpless than the small number of Jahilliahconverts who accepted the Prophet as their leader. Why? Is it because

of Allah's will or is it because we have interpreted ourreligion wrongly,or failed to abide by the correct teachings of our religion, or done the

wrong thin-es'? We are enjoined by our religion to prepare for the defence

of the ummah. Unfortunately we stress not defence but the weapons

of the time of the Prophet. Those weapons and horses cannot help to

defend us any more. We need guns and rockets, bombs and war planes,

tanks and warships for our defence. But because we discouraged the

learning of science and mathematics, etc, as givin-e no merit for the

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fhe Muslims of Southeast Asia

akhirat. t.clay we have no capacity to produce our own weapons forour clcl'cnce.

We have to buy our weapons from our detractors and enemies.This is what comes from the superficial interpretation of the euran,stressing not the substance of the Prophet's sunnah and the euran'sinjunctions but rather the form, manner and the means used in the l.'Century of the Hijrah.

And it is the same with the other teachings of Islam. We aremore concerned with the fbrms rather than the substance of the wordsof Allah and adhering only to the literal interpretation of the traditionsof the Prophet. we nray wlurt to rccre ate the first century of the Hijrah,to practice what wc think to bc thc trtrc lslarnic way of life. But we willnot be allowed [o ckl so.

ourdetractors and c'cr.rics u,ill tukc rrclvu'tage of the resultingbackwardness and weakness in orclcr to tkrrninutc us. Islarn is not alltimes just for the 7'h century A.D. lslurrr is lirr rril tirncs. And timeshave changed.

Whether we like it or not we havc to clurnlc. rrot lty changingour religion but by applying its teachin-rls in rhe contcxt ol'a wurld thatis radically different from that of the first ccntury or rhc IIiyrah. Islamis not wrong but the interpretations by our scholars, who lrrc not prophetseven though they may be very learned can be wrong.

We have a need to go back to the fundarnental tcachings oflslam to find out whether we are indeed believing in antr practicing theIslam that the Prophet preached. It cannot be that we arc ail practicingthe correct and true Islam when our beliefs are so dir-ltrcnt fiom oneanother.

Today we, the whole Muslim ummah are treated with contemptand dishonour. our reli-qion is denigrated. our holy places desecrated.Our countries are occupied. Our people starved and killed.

None of our countries are truly independent. We are underpressure to conform to our oppressors' wishes about how we shouldbehave, how we should govern our lands, how we should think even.

Mahathir's opening speech at the l0'r'OIC sumrnit

Today if they want to raid our country, kill our people, destroyour villages and towns, there is nothing substantial that we cln do. Is itIslam which has caused all these'l Or is it that we have tailed to do ourduty according to our religion? Our ortly reaction is to become more

and more angry. And so we find soutc ol'our pcople reacting irrationally.

They launch theirown attacks, killing.lust uboLtt attyl-rocly including fellowMuslims to vent their anger ancl ll'Lrstratiott. l-he il'Govcrnntcnts can do

nothing to stop them. The enenty rctuliatcs alttl puts Inorc llrcssure on

the Governments. And thc Govcrnrne nts have no choice but ttt give in,

to accept the directions ol- the enemy, literally to -9ivc up theirindependencc of action.

With this their people and the ummah become angrier and turn

against their own Governments. Every attempt at a peaceful solution is

sabotaged by more indiscriminate attacks calculated to anger the enemy

and prevent any peaceful settlement. But the attacks solve nothing.The Muslims simply get more oppressed.

There is a feeling of hopelessness among the Muslim countries

and their people. They believe that things can only get worse. The

Muslims will forever be oppressecl and clclminated by the Europeans

and the Jews. They will forever be porlr, backward and weak. Some

believe, as I have said this is the Will ol'Allah that the proper state ofthe Muslirrs is to be poor atrd opltrcssed in this world.

BLrt is it trLrc that wc slroulcl rlo and can do nothing for ourselves?

Is it true that 1.3 billion people can exert no power to save themselves

from the hunriliirtion and oppression inflicted upon them by a much

smaller enenry'/ Cian they only lash back blindly in anger? Is there no

other way than to ask our young people to blow themselves up and killpeople and invite the massacre of more of our own people? It cannot

be that there is no other way. 1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by

a few million Jews. There must be a way. And we can only find a way

if we stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan,

to strategise and then to counter attack. As Muslims we must seek

guidance from the Al-Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Surely the

23 years struggle of the Prophet can provide us with some guidance as

to what we can and should do.

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66 The Muslints of Southeast Asia

We know he and his early followers were oppressed by theQhLrraish. Dicl he Iaunch retaliatory strikes? No. He *as prepared tomakc stratcgic retreats. He sent his early foilowers to a chrrstianco,r{fy ancr hc himself later mi-qrated to Madinah. There he gatheredfirll.wc.s, build up his defence capability and ensured the security ofItis pt'o1llc.

At Huclaibiyah he was prepared to accept an unfair treaty,lrsrri'sr rlrc rvishe s .r'his corrpanions and followeis. Durin-e the peacethrrt lirll.wccl lrc c.'srlirratcd his strength and eventually h1 was ableto e

'tcf Mcccir lrrrd cluirrr it lilr Islam. Even then he did not seek revenge.

A.rl thc PcrPl. r| Mccca irc('.r)tecr rslam and many became his mostp.wc'ful s.pp()r.r('l's. rlcrc'rrtlirrs the Muslims a_eainst all theirenemies.

'flrat bric|ly is thc sr.r'y .r tlrc srr.ugrlc ol'the prophet. we talkso'ruch about lilll.wing thc surr'ulr.r'thc l).rphet. we quote thei'stances and the traditions pr.r'Lrscry. []rrt rve irctuaily ignore all ofthern.

If we use the faculty to think that Allirh lrrrs sivc Lrs then weshould know that we are acting irrationalry. Wc trllrr rvith.ut anyobjective, without any goar other than to hurt the c.cr'y bec.usc theyhurt us. Naively we expect them to surrencrcr'. Wc slrcri|ice livesunnecessarily, achievin-e nothing other than ro attract rrr.re nrassiveretaliation and humiliation.

It is surety time that we pause to think. But wilr this be wastlngtime? For well over half a century we have fought over parestine.what have we achieved? Nothing. we are worse off than bcfbre. Ii'we had paused to think then we could have devised a plan, a strategythat can win us final victory. pausing and thinking car'iy is not a wasteof time. we have a need to make a strategic retreat and to carmlvassess our situation

We are acrually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simplywiped out. The Europeans kiiled six million Jews out of l2 million. Buttoday the Jews rule this world by proxy. They

-eet others to fight anddie for them.

Mahathir's opening speech at the 10"'OlC sunlnrit 67

We may not be able to do that. We may not able to unite all the

1.3 billion Muslims. We may not bc able to get all the Muslim

Governments to act in concert. But cvctt il'rvc catl get a third of the

ummah and a third of the Muslim statcs to ltct toge the1, we can already

do something.

Remember that the Prophet clirl not have ntany lirllotvers when

he went to Madnah. But he unites the Attsars and tllc Mtrhalirins and

eventually he became stl'ong cncltlgh to clct'encl lslattl.

Apart fi'om the partial unity that we need. we must take stock

of our assets. I have alreacly mentioned our numbers and our oil wealth.

In today's world we wield a lot of political, economic and financial

clout, enough to make up for our weakness in military terms.

We also know that not all non Muslims are against us. Some

are well disposed towards us. Some even see our enemies as their

enemies. Even among the Jews there are many who do not approve ofwhat the lsraelis are doing.

We must not antagonise everytlne. We Inust win their hearts

and minds. We must win them to our siclc not by beg-ein-e fbr help from

them but by the honourable way that u'c struggle to help ourselves.

We trust not strettg(hcn thc cllellly by pushing everyone into

their camps through in'csponsiblc ancl un-lslamic acts.

Renrertrber salah lrl Din and the way he fought against the so

called Crusaclc|s. King Richard of En-eland in particular. Remember

the consideratencss of the Prophet to the enemies of Islam. We must

do the same. lt is winnin-g the strug-ele that is important, not angry

retaliation, not revenge.

We must build up our strength in every field. not just in armed

mi-eht. Our countries must be stable and well administered, must be

economically and financially stron-s, ildustrially cotnpetent a1d

technologically advanced. This will take time, but it can be dtlne and it

will be time well spent. We are enjoined by our religion to be pattent.

Innallahamaasabirin. Obviously there is virtue in being patient.

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68 The Muslinrs of Southeast AsiaMahathir's opening speech ar the l0'r'OIC sunrnrit 69

would want to sencl more young men and wonlen to make the supreme

sacrifice. But where will all these leacl to'l Certainly not victory. Over

the past 50 years of fighting in Palcstinc \\/e have not achieved any

result. We have in fact worsened ottt-sitttittitltt'

The enemy will probably rvclcornc the sc 1trrl1.rosills and we will

conclude that the promoters arc u,ot'kittg lirt'tltc cllclll)'. Ilut think. We

are up against a people whO tltink. 'l'hr'l strrVivctl 2.(XX) ycltrs ol'pogroms

not by hitting back, bLrt by thinking.

They invelrtecl itrttl succcssfully promoted Socialisrn'

communism, human rights and dernocracy so that petsecutittg them

would appear to be wr6ng, s9 they rnay enjoy equal ri-ehts with otftcrs.

With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries

and they, this tiny community, have become a world power' We cannot

fight them through brawn alone. We rnust use our brains also'

Of late because of their power and their apparent success they

have become arro-qant. And arrogant people, like angry people willmake mistakes, will forget to think.

They are already beginning to nrake Inistakcs' And they will

make more mistakes. There rnay be witttlows tlf opportunity fbr us

now and in the future. We must seiz-c thcsc oppt)rtunities'

But to do so we mtlsl gct otrr ltcts right. Rhetoric is good' It

helps us t() cxp()sc thc wrongs perpetrated against us, perhaps win us

some sympalhy 1p{ supl)orl. lt Inay stlcngthen our spirit, our will and

resolve, to l'acc tltc cttctttY.

we crrn itnrl $,c shor-rlcl pray to Allah S.w. T. for in the end it is

He who will rlctcr.rninc whether we succeed or fail. we need His

Blessin-es and I lis hclp in our endeavours.

Br.rt it is how we act and what we do which will determine

whether He w()lld help us and -sive tts victory or not. He has already

said so in the Quran. Again Surah Ar-Ra'd verse I l.

As I said at the beginnin-g, the whole world is lookin-e at us. the

whole Muslirn ummah is placing their hopes in this conference of the

But the defence of the ummah, the counter attack need notstart onl)/ after we have put our houses in order. Even today we havesuff icicnt assets to deploy against our detractors. It remains for us toiclentily them and to work out how to make use of them to stop theca.rase abused by enemy. This is entirely possible if we stop to think,t, plan, to strategies and to take the first f'ew critical steps. Even thesef'cw steps can yield positive results.

We know thar thc Jahilliah Arabs were given to feuding, tokillin-e each other sinrpry because they were from different tribes. TheProphet preaclred thc b'rtherrrood of Isram to them and they wereable to overconrc thcir lratrcd firr cach other, become united and helpedtowards the establishrrc'( .r'tlre src.t M,srim civilization.

Can we say tlurt whrrt tlrc.f rrhillialr (the ignorant) could do we,the modern Musli's cannol cl.'.) il'rrrt uil .r rclrst sorne of us can do. Ifnot the renaissance of our great civirizati'rr, ar lclrst cnsuring the securityof the umrnah.

To do the things that are suggestecl will not cvcrr r.ccluirc all ofus to give up our differences with each othcr. Wc nccrl onlv to call atruce so we can act to-eether in tackling only certuin p*rrrrcrrrs .,f .,r,n*oninterests. the Palestine problem for example.

In any struggle, in any war, nothing is more ir.nl)ortant thanconcerted and co-ordinate action. A degree of discipri'c is ail that isneeded. The Prophet lost in Jabal uhud because his fbrccs br,ke rank.we know that, yet we al'e unwilling to discipline ourservcs and to giveup our ire-9ular and uncoordinated actions. we need to be brave butnot foolhardy. we need think not just of our reward in the afierrife butalso of the worldly results of our mission.

The Quran tells us that when the enemy sues for peace wemust react positively. True the treaty offered is not favouratle to us.But we can ne-qotiate. The prophet did, at Hudaibiyah. And in the endhe triumphed. I am aware that ail these ideas wiil not be popular. Thosewho are an-ery wourd want to reject it out of hand. They would evenwant to silence anyone who makes or supports this line oi action. They

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70

Chapter l0

Rohangya Culture at a Glance

Rohingyas are not solely desccncletl llrrm rnigrants' people butare the localindigenous people livine in Arakan sincc thc dawn of thehistory that laterembraced cultural and reli_gious reforrnation to upgradetheir ancient tradition. The l'irst group to leave its mark upon the cultureand civilization of Rohingya werc the Arabs, who came to Arakan fortrade. The appearance of Arabs in Arakan in the 7'h century was farmore of a cultural phenomenon than an ethnic one. They brought Islam,which as a resurgent force vastly influenced and inspired the localpeople of Arakan to accept Islam. The Persians, Turks, Pathans,Mughals and other Muslim immigrants who came into Arakan in thecourse of time were also merged with the local populace. These variousmigrations and local converts led to the admixture of blood and cultureto form one common racial and linguistic classification to be known as

Rohingya; a term derived from Rohan-e, the ancient name of Arakan.

Coins are considered to be the rnost perfect, authentic andinformative source of history. Thcy are beyond doubt the primary andthe most important source firr the study of history and cultures. Thecoins found in Arakan bekrng to those of Mrauk-U are Muslims. Itcontains the narnc ol' thc king title, date and faith. For trade andcommerce coins wcrc usecl as medium of exchange. The introductionof coins by the Alukancse sultan is an important turn in the socio-economic history of Arakan. Ma Huan, a Chinese official writes inl406AD "'l-he currency of the country is a silver coin called TangKa... is one inch and two tenths in and is engraved on either side."Accordin-e to Van den Mendere, the Dutch factor in Arakan, prices inArakan and Chittagong were always given in Tangas and were worthtwo shillin-es each. In striking the coins the policy of inscribing lslamiccreed (Kalima) and the Muslim names of their kin-us in Persian characterwas followed, and because in the court of the Arakanese kings Muslim

T'hc Muslirns of Southeast Asia

leade.s ,r' Isr,rnic nations. They expect us not just to venr ourfru.str.ations arrcl anger, through *o.a, ztnJArlah's t'r".'rin-e;. ihey expJct us to d;';o:;:ffi:,i:'j[,#J::li:is.y we cannot do anything' we the readers of the Muslim nations. wecannol say we cannot unite even when faced with the destruction ofour reli-9ion and the ummah.

We know we:an. There are many things that we can do. Thereare many resources that we have at ori dirporul. What is needed ismerely the will to do rt.

As Muslims, we must be -erateful for the guidance of our religion,we must do what needs.to be cl'ne, willingly and with determination.Allah has not raisecr us' trrc reacters, uuou"ln. others so we may enjoypower fbr ourselves ,nly. .l.he_

'rwer we wield i, fo, ou. p.Jitl, fo,the umrnah, for Islanr. Wc nrust i,,,u" rn" *ii

j udiciou slf, r;;;;;;i;, concerrecr r y, n'uu r irtl T:T,in:r1ffi ilffJI pray to Allah that this l0,h Conlercncc ol.thc, OIC in putrajaya,Malaysia, will give a new and positive dirccrr'n to us will be blessedwith success by Him, Almighty Attan, n.ai,nan, Arahim.

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'7772 fhe Muslirns of Southeast Asia

mrnrsters were uppointed, modern Arakanese Rohingyas believe forcertain that those Arakanese kings were Muslims. There is no evidencethat they were not Muslims. We can call them Rohingyas, as theywerc the kings of Rohang.

Generally Rohingyas are comparatively brood shouldered, thanthe Rakhine and Burmese people but a bit darker in complexion. Theyare bronze coloured and not yellowish. They have not so high cheekbone as that of ribeto Mon-qoloid and jaws are proportionate with theirfaces. Eyes are not narrow and shallow like the Rakhines and Burmese.Their hairs are mostly straight but a f-ew have curly hair. The nose ofthe Rohingya is not as llat as the Burmese or as sharp as that ofEuropean stock. The pcoplc of Ar-akan might have been proto-Australoid or Negrito rroup ol'Ncolithic clescendants. These pre-Aryanspeople are the lcal ancl I'irst occLrprrnts ol'the Iuncl and had been therefor thousand of ycars until thc Aryuns untl othcr pcoples came. Manymodern scholars including U Aung'l'ha oo urrcl LJ Sun 1'ha ALrng believethat the Rakhines were Aryans.

Generally, there have been zrrransccl rrurrriugcs arnon-e theRohingyas since ancient time. The wedding ccrcrnorrics arc held bythrowing a dinner party as far as possible. The splcnd.ur.l'trre mariageprocession is really an enjoyable scene to be obscrvccl by the villagefolks. The members of the groom party would porre to the village ofthe bride in-group singing, dancing and ofcourse ringins rhe traditionalgong, a musical instrument. Womenfolk would sing "l-towlla" usingmouth organ. The bridal party would bring betel-leavcs and nurs, avariety of snacks 'pira' and yogurts in earthen pots depcnding on theaffordability of the guardians as gifts fbr the local village .Society knownas 'Samaj' who would distribute them to every household. Generallythe bride lives with the in-laws. When the bride is pre-9nanr. the parentsof the bride have to send "hadi" -special food for the pregnant withpresent for the groom. The head of the newborn is shaven after Jdays, which is called "fuit". Silver equivalent to the "fuit" hair's weightis given to the poor as charity. Within fbrty days of the birth. a goat fbrdau-ehter or two goats for a son is to be served arnon-g the relatives.Sunnat or the rite of circurncision is perfor-med for the son only. The

Rohansva Ctrlture at a Glance

carring ceremony will be held for the daughters. The first trmernenstruation, which marked her arrival at pLrberty, was celebrated

ceremoniously. The Rohingya would say that she has seen the flower.The Burmese used to call menstruation- the blossom of seasonal flower.Nowadays. there is no freedom fbr marriagc rurons of Rohingyas only.

Rohingyas have many incligcrtotts spor(s atttl galrtes. which are

usually held during wintcr ltttcl sLu.t.ut.tcr. Attttttt-tI lltcrtr "Bttli Khila"(traditional wrestlin-u) is vcry popular'. Many Rohin-uya wrcstlcrs helped

allied forces during the re sistunce Inovernent against thc .lapaltcse fbrthe Independence of Bulrna. As part of indi-eenous games, Rohingya

wrestlers participatecl irr the Union Day celebration held annually in

Burma, which has been disbancled after the Ne Win takeover.

Buffalo fightin-e is traditional recreation for Rohingyas. The

owners of the buffalo have to serve the onlookers with "Bini-bat"(glutinous rice) and Doh Pira (a kind of winter steamed rice cake).

Many people from surrounding villa-ees would come to see the fight.

Hunting is a part of Rohin-eyas traditional garne. In early days

people would organize huntin-e and hundreds of peoplc would join hunting

deer. Such mass huntin-e has one meaningful object, which is all the

participants would have equal facility ancl f eelin-e while in hunting. The

meat would be distributecl among thosc rvho went fbr hunting. Huntingat night with thc he lp of Kanyan oil l'ire putting in a bowl carried by aman on his hcacl is callcrl "Dalu hunting". The carrier of fire wouldlead and a gunnun with a tlozctt or ntore followers would follow one

by one behind thc light. Whcn they see a deer, the gunman wouldshoot. Then thcy cru'r'y tlrc prey and share the meat among them.

Every cornpact village or a part of it formed a (samaj) or civilSociety with the rr()sqlle as its centre and it is a uniting force for the

convenience ancl rcgulation of social lif'e of the inhabitants of the area.

The eldest, pious, intelli-qent and influential man in the area is elected as

the head of the Samaj. He will decide all disputes with the help ofothers. Samaj plays very important role in marria-9es and funerals. The

samaj also help building or roofiug the houses of poor. a-eed, infirrn tlrwomen.

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751A The Muslims of Southeast Asia

Thc rnale Rohingya traditionally wears a shirt with long sleeves

callecl "Bazu" covering the upper part of the body while the lower part

is cove red with a rectangular sheet of cloth stitched from side to side

called 'longi'. The adult female Rohingya normally wears long sleeved

garment known as 'suli' to cover uppcl part of the body while the

krwer parat is covered with a 'Tami' . A scarf known as 'romal ' , whichcovers the head and shoulders, is traditionally used. "Burka" traditionalveil would be put on while going outdoor.

Since ancient time, Rohingya mainly depends on farm produces

and there were record yield before Burma's independence and Arakanwas granary of the South East Asia. At the time of paddy transplantationandreaping harvest, many villagers joyously would join by singing songs

and the owner wor.rld make spccial snacks. Local elders would be thereas spectators. The pactdy tntnsplanting competition is also popular among

the Rohingyas. The paddy is separaterl frorn straw with the walking ofthe cattle over it. After reapin-q the paddy plants, the farmer wouldspread them in a space centering a post. At the post five or six cowsare tied with a long rope, and a f'armer drive the cows with a song"bowl bowl, lalay lalay" welcoming the blossorn of tnangoes. The mouthof the cows is tied with small baskets so that the cows would not try toeat the straws and paddy. Then the straws are taken with i stick bending

at the end, which is called 'Hos-sha' by the Rohingyas. The stick,which is used to carry the bundles of paddy is called 'Fu-sha'. Thestraw rope, which binds the bundle of paddy, is calleci 'zuna'

The Rohingya farmers used 'dawlun' for husking paddy. It ismade of solid wood and bamboo and in two parts. Upper side has a

hollow space in the centre to put the paddy and is like the hub of bicycle.

When it rotates, the paddy fallen under would -qlin. During the winterseason, the melodious sounds of 'dawlun' with sweet rhythm prevail ineach and every Rohingya village. The dawlun drivers sing song, whichis rhymed corespondin-e the sounds of dawlun. Besides, Rohingyavilla-qes echo with the pounding and squeakin-e sound of Dhehi seesaw-

the wooden object used by women fblk to separate chaff from the

rice. Dhehi is an indi-qenous rice clearin-e instrument pressin-9 one side

by tbot and the other side pounding on the rice in a big wooden bowl.

Rohansva Culture at a Glance

Chaff is used for animal feeds and oil is also extracted fiom it. Dhehiwas so popular among the Rohingyas that there are proverbs withdhehi. For example 'dhehi must husk paddy even if it goes to Mecca'.Another proverb is that 'whose father was eaten by crocodile, willafraid even when he sees a dhehi-seesaw.

Dhehi (seesaw), far a (stone platc use fi;r cruslring chilli), daw(sword), dooola (basket) etc. are esscntial thin-qs fbr a Rohingya family.Lamba daw (long sword). speirr, axe, spacle and bows ancl arrows are

kept for hunting. "Gotta dula" baske.t with neck and nets are commonfor catching fish. Luh, tawya, dup, sai, etc. are the instruments thatRohingya used to catch fish traditionally. An oval shape canopy fromhead on the back to loin is known as "Zohor" and 'Tala' (thatched hat)are used by Rohingyas in rainy season. specially while working in theirfarms. Most of the rural folk sleep on the locally made mats, calledcharas and fairis.

About 57o of Rohingyas are fisherman. Arakan's 360 mileslong coast is rich in fish as the Bay of Bengal teams with fish of manyvarieties. Rivers of Arakan with their many tributaries and connectingcreeks is the breeding ground of fish. Hence, fish makes their way intoland tanks, lakes, watercourse and e vcn paddy fields, during the wetseason of the year. It is a common sight in the hot months of April andMay when the water tanks and lakcs are to their lowest, to see manyRohingya villagers delving in the nrud for fish. Srimp culture along theNaf riverside run by Rohinuya produces best quality shrimps. Bordertrade of shrimps lrom Maungdaw to Bangladesh amounts a significantpercentage ol'llanglaclcsh shrimp export. Similarly salt production ofArakan is mainly consurned by Bangladesh. Shrimp culture and shortperiod paddy cultivation was first introduced by the Rohingyas in Arakanwhich later sprcad throughout Burma.

Generally, Rohingya family is consisted of joint family- fromgrandfather to grand children. While the adult male members of thefamily are out for earning, the major portions of household activitieshave to be performed by the female. They prepare food, look after thechildren, cleanin-e and washing. -eardening, farming, rearin-e cattle and

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'l'hc Muslims of Southeast AstaRohangya Culture at a Glance

caretaker re-qime gave crushin-g blorv to the Rohingya traders,businessmen, and shopkeepers in Arakan causing them great financialloss. Many of them were arrestcrl und scntcnced to lon_9 termimprisonment after seizing their cash urrrl gootls. In 199 | Bo Naing Ooalso carried out a reign of terrol' rvith tlrc coclcnlrrned "Pyi Thaya"operation dispossessing the Rolrirrgl,lr tnrtlcrs. [rusincssmen andshopkeepers. An estimatccl (housirrrcl hlrrl bce n dcluirrcd ancl torturedthem. A few of thenr cliecl irr custorly inclLrding a ncwly nrarriedshopkeeperof Akyab. AII the ir be lon_tinrs were taken away incluclin-e

the ornaments and valr.rablcs. Due to intolerable perpetual scverepersecutions, Rohingya youths nowadays leave the country and have

since been taking refuge in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, Thailand,Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The majority of the Rohingya's houses is built of wooden pole,bamboo walls and thatches or palm leaves roof. Kitchen's floor is mostlymade of polished mud. The house of the riches is built with costlywood and roof tinned. Normally birth room has been detached, and the

cowshed, kujah (haystack) fire wood stock rtxrrn ancl poultry farm wouldbe found in the compound. A separatc r<lonr known as Gular Ghor willbe built for receiving the guest.

Like other southe:ast Asians. rice is staplc food of Arakan.Normally thc Rohingyu rvoukltukc ricc.l'ish, vegetables, milk, chiliesand meat. Rohingyl hirs lhcir incligcnous snack called "Pira" generallymade of molasscs. coc()nut, r'icc powder, oil, etc. Seasonal 'pira' are

made and distributecl at its I'irst rnaking at home to neighbors. Steam

rice cake 'Dohi pira', 'LLrri pira' 'Fakkon pira', Gurapira', Madhu Bhat'a kind of fermented cooked glutinous ricc and powder of germinatingrice, 'Bini-swan' which is a kind of glutinous rice cooked in green

bamboo, etc. have its own peculiarity and taste.

With the change of atmosphere resulted in relentless economicpressure and human rights abuses, the Rohin-qya have been deprivedof holding functions according to their suits and which on the otherhand has been diminishin-q their traditional practices. Striking gong duringcelgbrations would be seen no more, ceremonious rice crushing,wrestling, and other bi-e gatherings like boat racin-s locally known as

t7

por-rllry. rnilking, spinning and so on' Looking after the grand parents

and orplrans is the tradition of Rohingya Society' Chastity is women's

nllrin virtuc. They preserve it even at the cost of their lives. Rohingya

\\,onrcn tlbserved purdah (seclusion) and do not come out of their houses

rut clay time without a burkah (viel)'

The nearby hills secure the people an abundant supply of

|irewood,materialstorhousing,roofingandfencingtheirhomesteadwith(Zawli).Aseethroughbamboofencewithrectangularholesknownas ,.Tinyarrra' has been erected to demarcate their vegetable farms.

TheRohingyahasthetraclitionoffencingtheircompoundwith;bamboowall and a gate is nornrally kept. Thc nearby streams and rivers supply

them with pt"nty of rvrttct'lil'irrigation, drinking and fish breeding'

All Rohrngyas ar.c Sunni Muslinls and are strict followers of

Islamic traditions ancl culturc. lrt cvcr.y villagc-, there is at least a mosque'

It is used firr basic religious cclttcrttiott il'thcrc is ntl Maktab (primary

religious school). A resihousc (krt.wlt rts I)hrtt'ttt. (ihor) would be built

in front of the mosque in every villagc rvhcrc thc tlcvotees can take

rest before and after salah. They fingel trtsbilt. rt lotrg at.nber rosary

with ninety-nine beads on which they courlt tltc Most lJcrtutil'ul names

of the Almighty Allah in the course of the supcrct'()s1r[()r'y prayer they

always perform after the ritual prayer'

In the month of Ramadan, like others in Muslittl world' they

take fasting and pray at night 'Tarbhi' prayer after the last 'lsha prayer'

prayer of itre day and it is led by a Hafiz who can rccitc the Holy

burun by heart. An estimate put that Rohingya has about l(XX) in Arakan

and 3000 abroad such Hafiz-e -Quran who lead the praycr cspecially

in the month of Ramadan.

Fromthetimeimmemorial,theRohingyalearnecltradingandaRohingyawouldnotbeeligibleformarria-eeuntilarrdunlesshe-madethree voyages for trade. Otherwise, he would be looked down by the

Society and eli-eible female. Hence, Rohin-eyas are better than their

sistercommunity,Rakhineintradeirndbusiness'Itwasaneyesoreforthe successive military rulers. From 1958 to 1960' Captain Htin Gyaw

inchargeofMaungdzrwtownshipaclministrationunderGen.NeWin's

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78 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

.Ghati khella" buffalo fight have now become a memory only' Race

withoLtt their own language, culture and tradition has no strong

fountlation. Putting the Rohingya in a state of depleting their ancient

traclition is nothing but a calculated erosion of their ethnicity under the

inf-luence ofjunta's Burmanigation policy'

It is, therefore, imperative for all the Rohingya to be acquiesced

tothedangeroflossofcultureandtradition,whichcharacterizetheiridentiry

Chapter ll

Rakhine's settlementsin the lands of Rohingyas

In the most prosperous arcas the Governlncnt has established"Model Villages" populated by Rakhine and orher Buddhist minoritygroups. Now many parts of Arakan, including the border areas,Rohingyas have been relocared to be populated by the Rakhines ofboth inside and outside Burma, under the so-called "human barrierpolicy". Islamic Holy places, historical monuments and relics have beenreplaced with monasteries, pagodas, etc with a view to changing Muslimcharacter of Arakan, including the historic Sandikhan Mosque, built in1430 A.D by the Arakan King Narameikhla. The rubbles of the mosqueare used to pave roads between new military base camps in the area.The localities of many mosques were turned to Buddhist monasteriesand pagodas.

The Muslim cemetery of Maunsrlaw propcr has since beenoccupied by the Bangladeshi Rakhines. Ccnrcring the Muslim cemeterythe Rakhine extended their scnlcrncnt thrcc miles to the north, twomiles to the south and one nrilc to the cast, on the lands of Rohingyasincluding the wakl'lands ol'Ali Hussain Munshi's Maungdaw Juma-Mosque. This is thc nrcrcly one of the hundreds of examples ofRakhine's settlerncltts on the lands of Rohingyas.

In the worcls ol'Mr. Sultan Mahmud, Ex-Health Minister ofBurma, "Thousancls of Buddhists from Barisal, Teknaf, Ramu,Cox'sBazar and Chitta-eong Hill Tracts migrate to Arakan annually.They are welcomecl by the Burmese Authorities with flag and music,issued National Registration Certificates, - Provided with foods, clothes,medicines and building materials. They are finally settled on landsacquired from Muslims without payment of compensation. They arethus firmly and happily rehabilitated with arable lands seized again fromMuslims with allotment of cattle, seed grains and fertilizer. free of cost."

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The Muslims of Southeast Asia

In the words of Mr. M.A Gaffar, Ex-M.P and ParliamentarySecretury. "307 villages of Rohingyas were destroyed and occupied bythc I{akhines since 1942 communal riots. Their landed properties weretuken away by the Rakhines. In Tulatuli, Village of Maungdaw Township,tlrere was not a single Rakhine according to the census report of 1921,but the Burmese Government uprooted the Rohingyas of that villa-ee,

who were for centuries there and settled the Rakhines instead and

distributed landed properties to them belonging to Rohingyas".

In the words of Mr. Nuru Islam, "Now the junta, having had a

plan to turn the north Arakan into a Buddhist majority area, is making a

serious demographic imbalance by bringing in more settlers. For this,Rakhines and Burmans arc being invited from Arakan south, centralBurma and even from Ban-ulaclcsh as a part of the Rohingyaextermination. With a view to disturbing law and order situation inRohingya area, the junta had resorted to brinsing in social menace, ex-convicts, and families of loose charactcr ancl cx-army personnel.Besides, the burden of creating model villagc in lhc ccntre of Muslimhabitats goes to the Rohingyas farmland, building house s tbr the newsettlers, domestic animals, rations, etc. have to bc supplied by the

Muslims too.

"The importance to setting up such rnoclcl villages by the

authorities could clearly be seen from the personal sLrpervision of thewestern Commander, Brig-Gen. Aung Htwe, who accornpanied the

304 new arrivals all the way from Akyab to Buthidaung on March 25,1999. The authorities had earlier ordered the local Mr"rslirns to arrange

everything in advance including planting tall coconut and other old trees

in the model villa-ees so that the village would look the old but belongedto new-settlers".

The Burmese Military regime has been actively pursuing a policyof Rohingya extermination since it came to power. During Ne Win era,it had openly invited the Rakhine living in Bangladesh to migrate toArakan on large scale that were given warm reception and resettled invarious parts of Arakan including Akyab.

Rakhine's settlements in the lands of Rohingyas

'Myo Oo Zedi' a big papoda is under construction by theBurmese authorities at the entrance of Maungdaw opposite toconfiscated Tablig Mosque, at Myonra Kayindan village, where therewas not a single Buddhist since thc be-einrring olthe history of Arakan.As many as 300 houses have bcen raiserl to thc tune of millions ofkyats from Muslims through folccd clonutiorrs.

Similarly a pagoda-Larvkrrrxrncla Zctli has bccn built at the entrypoint of Akyab airport, oppositc to Shall Khan Mosquc, clespite the

fact that the whole are a in an agc-old Muslim settlement, to let the newvisitors feel that the place has overwhelming Buddhist residents. Wifeof Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, who paid a visit to north Arakan on 26 Jun

1997,told the Buddhist Rakhines that she would donate funds for buildinga pagoda and a shrine at No. 5 ward of Buthidaung Township adjacentto the UNHCR office. The local authorities started constructing thepagoda and shrine on the land of Mr. Abul Hossain, without paymentof compensation.

It is to be mentioned here that the authorities on the contrary,not only restrict the Muslim to renovate . rcpair ancl maintain the existingmosques, religious schools ancl Muslinr rc:lic lrut nrany mosques and

religious centres have also been rlisnrantlccl anrl closed down. Villagersof the newly settled Buclclhist villagcs ncar Taun-e Bazar have been

used to waylay soat, cows. bul'l'lloes ancl fbuls of the Muslims of the

neighbourhooil. Muslinrs' cornplaint to the chairmen of the Buddhistsettlements went totally unheeded. Rumours are rife in the area thatthe new settlers cut lrurrurn flesh as they ask the Muslims to give them

their dead ones. Orr May 25, 1999, three Rohingya cowboys have been

kidnapped by the ncw-settlers. Panic-stricken parents reported the

matter to the authorities. However, the settlers were defiant and thatthey will not listen to anybody except Secretary ( I ) of SPDC. With fullreinforcement the authorities had rescued the three boys.

Under the so-called Border Area Development Programme,the military junta has established hundreds of Rakhine villages over the

confiscated Muslim lands and uprooted Rohingya villages in north Arakanwith the forced labour of the Rohingyas. Under the direct instruction

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of SPDC chairman Senior Gen. Than Shwe and Secretary ( I ) Lt. GcrrKhin Nuunt, Commander of the Western Command Brig. Gen. AungHtwe, personally supervised the settlement programmes. Each family,of the new settlers have been provided 3 acres of Rohingya's land forcultivation, 0.2 acre for house building, Kyat 40,000 as lump sunrmonetary help, 40kg of rice per head free of cosr per month, one pair.of bullocks and one bullock cart. Each village has also been providedwith fifteen 5 Hp Honda tractors. Rohin-qya villa-eers of neighbourhoodare forced to construct the houses for new settlers, plough the land,transplant paddy and harvest the crop without any payment.

The ruling military re-qime, in its drive to make a demographicchange, brought in 45 more Burmese families from Rangoon in April1999 were been resettlecl in thc sr-called rnodel villages estabrishedearlier in MaungdawTownship. Thc ne wly arrived Buddhists had beenprovided with all the necessiries inch-rcling chickcn, pig, ducklings, cookingutensils, landed properties.

The local administration had earlier ordered thc Rohingya villagesto supply 45 bullock carts and 45 pairs of bullocks so as ro distribute tonewly arrived families. The Muslims of nearby villages have beensuffering as a result of junta's plan to set up model villa_qes at no costbut with forced collection and labour from Rohingyas only,

On I 8 May, 1999 Lt. Col. Tun Hla Oo Chairnran of ButhidaungTownship SPDC in a speech to the Chairman and Secretaries of allvillage committees of the Taung Bazar village tract, under ButhidaungTownship warned that serious action would be taken if they fail tocomplete evacuation process of Muslim villages and confiscation oflands between Mingritaung and Taungbazar before the end of monsoon.He told the meeting that over 1,000 Buddhist families from inreriorBurma would be established after the completion of the evacuationprocess. In another meeting held on 24May 1999 at Ottama Hall, atButhidaung Col. Tun Hla Oo ordered conflscation 100 acres of land atPayabyin village under Thayet Pyin village tract and to complete workof construction 66 houses for new Burmese settlers. He furtherinstructed to construct 35 houses for new settlers over the demolished

Rakhine's settlements in the lands of Rohingyas

mosque-site near Aung Mingala army cantonment 6 miles west ofButhidaung Township. The above ltpuses are to be constructed with

the forced labour of Muslims from nearby villages. Earlier, in the month

of April, 63 acres of land have been cortl'iscated fiom one Sayeddur

Rahman, a primary teacher, hailing l'r'orlt Yrttrtlgnra Kyaun-edawn village

on which 23 house were built lirr the ttcw scttlcrs. The new Buddhist

village was named "Tharalu villagc". Atltlt[cr -50 acres of farmland

belon-eing to late Abdus Salarn Dubashi ol'BLrtltidatttu Ttrwnship situated

at just eastern side of the Mayu River have been confiscatecl and a

sign post readin_g "model agricultural plot" has been erected on the

site.

In order to terrorise and extermination Rohingyas, the western

command is going ahead with the plan to establishin,g more and more

military installations in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships. It has

recently ordered to surrender large tracts of Muslim and to the army to

facilitate them establishing more military cantonments in Buthidaung

Township.

The junta set up two more cantolllllctlls at Tharafu village ofnorth Buthidaung. One more such calll()lltllellt is believed to be settin-g

up at Tamipanzi village and ordcrs l[rvc ulrcacly bcett given to the neerby

Muslirn on March ltt, 1999 tO sultply lirrcecl labottr and materials to

build a roari that will cortncct tltc citntontnent with Bogychaung village

and Paunclitwbyin vi I lage.

E,vcry l'anrily of tltc ncarby villa-ees has to work at least ten

days for thc purl)()sc firiling which one has to pay a penalty of kyat

1,000/- ancl tctt viss ol'chicken to the army. More than 400 acres of

farm land ancl grazin-e ground belonging to Rohingyas of Khandaung

village tract of Buthidaun-e Township in north Arakan have been

confiscatecl and a new army regiment No.55 I has been established on

the same with the fbrced labour of Rohin-eyas.

A new Buddhist pagoda with the name of 'Myo Oo san daw

shin pa-soda' is being built in Maungdaw Township of the Arakan state

by extortin-e money from Rohingyas in the narne 9f donaticln. Perrnits

to carry out border trade are -eiven to Rohin-eyas only when they pay

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certaln amount clf donation for pagodas. Many Rohingyas are beingcompelled to pay money for the construction of pagodas unwillingly,fearine cancellation of their trade. Such forced collection of moneyfrom Rohingya in the name of pa-qoda fund has been carried out fromthe Rohin-qyas at bus stations, jetties and government offices since1988 fbrmation of SLORC.

A new non-Muslim village has been established on Amtala areanorth of Maun-edaw Township near the border with Bangladesh on theconfiscated Muslim land. The new settlers comprising 46 families areMro hill tribes. confiscarred lands fi-om Rohingyas have been distributedto the new settles. Rohingya forced labourers are engaged to ploughand plant for the ncw scttlers.

since thc bcgi'ni.g .l' l99rJ. hasty est.blishment of militaryinstallations and new Buclclhist villasc^s ovcr thc Rohingya lands havebeen going on. There is no l-resitati,n t. corr|iscatc land. cattle and foodgrain from Rohingyas. Rohingyas are not alkrwecl to lruy new moveableor immoveable properties. In the rnonth of June 1999, two Muslimvilla-ees namely Doctorguna andd Hadama under Buthidaung Townshiphave been uprooted and the inmates were evicted without -eiving anyalternative place to settle. The evictees are diffusing into nearby villages.The uprooted village land and farmland totaling 210 acres have beenconfiscated and declared as property of Regiment 551. Rohingyasfarmland of 64 acres from Nan-Ra-Gun village and 60 acres fromMaungnama are confiscated for new Buddhist settlers.

Burma's Engineering Crops (B.E) set up one of its units inButhidaung Township. The site was selecred at Taimaung-khaliRohin-eya villa-ge. A total of 400 residential plots belonged to Rohingyahave been confiscated and the owners evicted from their houses by27't' April 1999. After clearing it, the Burma's military established theiren-gineering unit on it.

In the words of Dr. Mohammed yunus, ,,The regime hasconfiscated vast tracts of land from Rohingyas, uprooted many Rohingyavilla-ees and erected so-called model villages for new Buddhist settlersfbrm far and wide who are bein-e lured to take over the evacuate Muslim

Rakhine's settlements in the lands of Rohingvas 85

lands. Rohingya forced labours from the neighbourhood have to tilltheir land, transplant paddy, harvest the produce and provide bullocksand carts for their use. The Rohingyas have to work as slaves for the

military, some times, for long periocls up to six months continuously.

They are not only unpaid, but also hi.tve to brin-s their own food and

cook it in the work site. These unlitrtuuette souls are often treated

homibly, cursed and abused. Somctimc thcy arc rnclcilessly beaten.

When one cannot walk at pace witlt thc rnilitary, he is often kicked

down from the cliff of mountain to death. Sorne are brutally shot ormercilessly bayoneted. Womenfolk are not spared from this cruelty.

They are often subjected to rape and dishonours."

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has appliedtoughest sanction ever on Burma, a member state of (ILO), during 87'h

session of the ILO held on 17 June 1999, at Geneva, for Burma'sconscription of forced labour. ILO has stop providing any ILO fund to

Burma and prohibit invitation of any Burmese government's delegation

to attend ILO conference in future until Burmese government abide by

it obligations.

Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, Secretary ( l) of thc Burmese ruling junta

known as State Peace and Development Couttcil (SPDC) in a statement

in Rangoon claimed the regir-ne docs ntlt cxtract fbrced labour, rather

the payment of voluntary labour by Burrnese people is an old traditionconforming to Burmese BLrclclhist crtlture. "Yes, Khin Nyunt's statement

is partially true in the scrrsc that the tradition of extracting forced labour

or forcing hundlecls ol' tltousands of people to work as slaves in the

name of volun(aly labour was prevalent durin-q the days of Burmese

Kings, "writes Dr. Yunus.

In the rvorcls Mr'. Nurul Islam, "Perhaps they may be copyingthe style of sonrc old Burmese Kings who could be so tyrannical and

cruel in accomplislting projects that would si-enify their pumps and

-erandeur. One Br-rrmese Kin-e was said to have put to sword many rare

Crafismen for finding a gap of a hair's breadth between two bricks ofa pa-9oda. Others would drag thousetnds of souls to work as slaves in

building bi-e pagodas. On the one hand the authorities have been

confiscated Rohingyas' lands in such a scale that they have become

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86 The Muslints of Southeast Asia

almost landless. on the other hand the new military build up and thenew Buddhisr settlernents increased the burden of forced labour on theMuslim Rohin-eyas. Added to this, cruel taxation on the farmlandsrenders the poor Rohingya farmers more poorer".

Medeleine K. Albright, former US Secrerary of states, whileattendin-e ASEAN Foreign Ministers' conference held in Manila in thelast week of July, 1998, said that, "Frankly it is usually kind of a normalpractices fbr countries to allow their citizen to travel freely within themand to be able to meet with whoever they want, I think this is aninternational norm that rnany countries obviously support.. .."

"With restrictior.r o'the ntovement, restriction on employment,total lack of security of thc lif'e, property, honour and dignity and fordingto work like slaves and lucirrg incrcasing difficulties to eke-out a meagerexistence. there is no rcason why rlnc should still think to adhere to thecountry he loves most. Hundrecls ol'Rohingyas are thus leaving dailyunnoticed while the authorities have let the gate of exist open. Themilitary rulers could foresee, if this phenomenon c<lntinues fbr moreyears, they could achieve their target of turning north Arakan into aBuddhist majority area", said Mr. Nurul Islam.

Chapter 12

ARAKAN : A Silent Killing Field

Amnesty International repclrt, wlrich emphasizes on the cover"The climate of fear continues, mernbers ol'ethnic minorities and politicalprisoners still targeted", reported that Mahamed llyas, a Muslim in hisearly 60s from Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, was reportedlybeaten by Military Intelligence Services (MIS) personnel on l9 June1992 ano died on 23 June. The local secretary of the NLD, he was

arrested with Fazzle Ahmed (Member of Parliament) on l3 June foralleged involvement in a bomb explosion near Maungdaw town. Hewas reportedly held in incommunicado detention and severely beaten

and on 19 June he was taken to hospital, where he later died. AfterAmnesty International urged SLORC to investigate this case, theyclaimed that he died of acute gastro intestinal disease while undergoingmedical treatment. However. unofficial sourse have stated thatMohamed Ilyas was in good health at the time of his arrest. AmnestyInternational remains concerned about the circumstances of his death,particularly in light of the gross vicllation of human rights committed bythe SLORC against Muslims in the Arakan State.

In the fatefirl morning of June 23, 1993,5 Rohingyas werelined up on the bank of Migalagyi creek outside the village of Dargadale(Kyauk-layga) and shot at one by one by Na-Sa-Ka forces (FrontierSecurity Force), the firnctionaries of the present SOLRC militarygovernment, belonging to Frangfru (Pinpru) Na-Sa-Ka camp, 6 milesnorth of Maungdaw township in Arakan state of Burma.

The victims were,

l. Fayas Ahmed (32), son of Abdul Gaffer2. Mohammed (32), son of Abul Hussain3. AbdulRahim (22),sonof Gulam Sharif4. Nagu (26), son of Abdul Kader

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5. Kala Matiya (20), son of Sayed Karim belonged ro Franfr-trvillage and the above four belonged to Dargadale village.

At the death of silent night of 27,h June 1993 at about 3:00 a.m.Na-Sa-Ka forces of the same camp killed the remaining five personswho were earlier detained along with those killed on 23 June 1993.

They were:

l. Zahir Ahmed(26), son of Abdul Hakim, Dargadil,Maungdaw.

2. Abdul Hashim (27),sonof Mohd Hussein, Frangfru,Maungdaw.

3. Showkat (25), son of. Nesu Kaje, Frangfru, Maungdaw.4. Nur Ali (35), son of Mohammed Ismail, Dargadale,

Maungdaw.5. Nuru (30), son of Nagu, Dargadale, Maungdaw.

The crops were taken to the nearby MingalagyiBazar and toldthe frightened people that anyone found doing anything against themilitary government should meet the same penalry. The victims alongwit l0 others including 3 women had been arrested earlier on fabricatedallegations. Neither any court proceedings or hearing against the victimswere done nor they were given the rights of defence and appeal. Theywere subjected to severe torture before being killed. The 3 womenwere subjected to rape.

sLoRC/sPDC is one of the cruellest and most abusive regimesin the world, which had killed thousands of people across the nationwhile detaining many, more in torturing cells since l9gg. The Rohingyasin Arakan have been the victims of profound perpetual intolerable grouppersecution and driven out of their homeland, are worst affected groupin Burma. Rohingyas are now a people in danger.

This killing is crime a-tainst humanity and is a clear violation ofArticle 9-3 of the International convenient on civil and political Riehts(lccPR) and the resolurion approved by the 40'h Session of theLNGeneral Assembly. This is also against the recommendation set in theprinciples on the Effective Prevention and investigation of Extra-legal,

ARAKAN : A Silent Killing Field

Arbitrary or Summary Execution. In Burma today, the officials are not

accountable to their acts against the Rohingyas. The Na-Sa-Ka is

empowered to do whatever they like to erase the Rohingyas from the

soil of Arakan.

Despite the facts that Burma had ratified the Convention on

the Prevention and Punishment of thc Crinre of Genocide in 1956'

acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in l99l and to the

four Geneva Conventions of l2'r' Attgttst 1949, which set minimum

human standards of concluct in all situation of the armed ctlnflict. The

junta has no respect for international norms.

In July 1991, about 500 Rohingya businessmen were arested

under the so-called, "Phi-tha-ya Operation". Their all belongings were

confiscated. They were tortured with all the methods of torture,

including helicopter and motorbike ridings. Some of them including a

newly married Rohingya youth of Seikipara, Akyab was dead.

They were sentenced to 3 to 4 years' imprisonment with hard

labour without proper trial and rights of defence and appeal. They were

taken to the frontline of the military operation to engage in pottering, or

to use them as human shield and cleansing mines or road constructionprojects.

In early February 1992, thc LonHtin forces at Purma, whilecrossing the Naf River to Bangladesh had killed 20 refugees. To curtail

it the SLORC officials arrcstecl six refugees alleging that they had

attempted to loot arnts ll'otrt the Lon Htin. Actually, the Lon Htin had

looted the refugcc's bclortgings. Ei-eht persons from Godora village ofMaungdaw North rvcrc scntenced to death though they were innocent.

Some Rakhinc N4aghs in revenge committed the murder to their old

dispute with sorne Chakrnas.

From May 1994, North Arakan had become a new killin-e field'At SLORC clcath camps of Maungdaw and Buthidaund Townships.

Rohingyas we re tortured, shot or slaughtered, more chillin-e is that the

people were to dig their own grave befbre being killed or buried alive.

Alleging as RSO sympathizers, Rohin-eyas were taken late at ni-eht

from their homes and were tortured to death or buried alive.

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tJ'clcr rhe pretext of looking fbr insurgents random killing inthc villases is a regular routine action of the sLoRC brute forces.Ab.ut 60,000 rroops have been deproyed in North Arakan who usedhunclrecls and thousands of Rohingyas as hur'an shields. Thousands ofporters were carried to unknown place irr the jungles most of whomhave never come back.

Under false and imaginary char-ees thousands of Rohingyashad been gunned down and slaughtered. They were forced, at -sunpoint,to kill each orher by slaughtering or by striking with spad-s on rheheads. There are instances that the brother had to kill his own brother,and both the father and son were killed together before the very eyesof the family members. At least 300 Rohingyas were buried in themass graves in the townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaung.

A few of them were given bellow.

I. Kaloo (a) U Win Myinr, the Vice_presiclenr of MaungdawTownship NLD (National League fbr Democracy).

2. U Ba Tun (a) Noor Mohammed, a geologist S/O AliHusssein, a retired police Officer, Fayazi para,

Maungdaw.3. Rashid S/O Khalil, Seikdeerpara, Maungdaw.4. Norul Haque, Seikderpare, Maungdaw.5. Noor Hussein S/O abdul Amin, Seikderpara, Maungdaw.6. Mohd Rafique S/O MIv Mohd Amin, Seikderpara,

Maungdaw.7. Shukkur S/O Kasim, Karipara, Maungdaw. a Head Clerk

of SLORC.8. Mohd Elias S/O Haje Ahmedul Rahman, Fayazipara,

Maungdaw.9. Mohammed Ullah S/O Kaseem Ali, Fayzipara, Maungdaw.10. Fazal Ahmed, Fayazipara,Maungdaw.I l. Yasin S/O Fayas Ahmed, Fayazipara, Maun-edaw.12. Hafez Hakim S/O Shafu Mistri, Zantula, Maun_qdaw.13. Habibur Rahman S/O Molovi Siddique, Gadusara,

Maungdaw.

ARAKAN : A Silent Killins Field

14. Nayeem (a) Shwe Htoon S/O U Chit Maung (NLDPresident of Buthidaung Township).

15. Amir Hakim S/O Ahmed Meah, Taungbazar, Buthidaung.

16. Jamal Hussein S/O Nazir Hussein, Shweza, Maungdaw.

17. Moulana Deen Mohammed, Sbrang, Buthidaung.

18. Mohammed Ayub and his son, Sabatan, Buthidaung.

19. Mohacced Anowar S/O Abu Bakker. Sabrang. Buthidaung.

20. Moulana Mohamed Ali S/O Hajee Ashraf Ali, Indian

Madarasa's Principal.

21. Moulana Habibur Rahman, Mayraulla Para, Maungdaw.

22. HafezMohammed Rafique S/O Mohammed Islam, Village,

Maungdaw.23. Mohd Jamil S/O Abdul Razaak, Nganchaung Village,

Maungdaw.24. Mohammed Yahaya S/O Master Shfi Ullah, Nganchaung

Village, Maungdaw.25. Hafez Mohammed Ullah S/O Master Mustafiz,

Nganchaung Village, Maungdaw.26. Saleh Ahmed S/O Bukunia, Fawkhali Village, Maungdaw.

27. Sha Alam S/O Sharit Myothugyi, Maun-edaw.

28. Kaseem S/O Sultan, Myothugyi, Maungdaw.

29. Sayed Alam S/O Sur Mohamtned, Myothugyi, Maungdaw.

30. Bashir Ahmed S/O Kalil, Myothougyi, Maungdaw.

31. Noor Mohd S/O Mohd Hussein, Myothugyi, Maungdaw.

32. Abdullah.S/O Abdul Salam, Myothugyi, Maungdaw.

In the first wcck ol'May, 1996, a group of wood cutters while

cutting a big tree at (lhawdhury valley in the west of Taimaung Halivillage spotted a pilc of skeletons in what is believed to be a mass

grave and inforrned the local Chairman of the matter. They estimated

that not Iess than threc hundred human remains were in the grave. On

learnin-q the intirrmation army personnel removed the skulls and bones

to unknown place.

Earlier on 24 March 1994, the Na-Sa- Ka brute ftlrces stationed

at Roingadaung, Maun-9daw, arrested some fishermen fiom the Naf

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River, and took them to their camp. After torturing five days all werckilled by shooting.

They were:

l. Rostom Ali (35) S/O Feran Ali, Shuja para, Maungdaw.2. Mohammed Shah (27) S/O Feta Ali, Shuja para,

Maungdaw.3. Zafar Ahmed(22) S/O Kala Meah, Shuja para, Maungdaw.4. Abu Jamal (35) S/O Fera Ali, Suja para, Maungdaw.5. Rahim Ullah (35) S/O Abul Kasim, Hatsurrata, Maungdaw.6. Rashid Ahmed (22) SIO Syeed Akvar, Hatsurara,

Maungdaw.7. Abu Tahir (37) S/O Mohamd Hussein. Hatsurrata.

Maungdaw.8. Mohammed Rafique ( l7) S/O Mohammed Aboo, Akyab.

Travel restriction on Muslims of Arakan, which was imposedsince military rule, has been further tighten. It is easier to travel fromtheir villages to Bangladesh then to travel within Arakan state. oneneeds from Kyats 3,000 to 5,000 to ger the pass ro go ro Akyab wherehe can stay for two weeks. A Rakhine needs only Kyats 200 to reachAkyab from Maungdaw. Beside, taking permission after posing a lengthyprocess, intimidation and money extortion along the way is carried outwith added momentum: Due to movement restriction many patientshad died, as they were unable to visit doctors in Akyab or Rangoon. UBa Than (a) Abu Taher, a veterinary assistance of the healthdepartment, had to die at Akyab forrefusing him to proceedin-e Rangoonon the ground of he being a Rohingya.

The former leaders of the Soviet Union, Germany and the unitedState, Mikhail Gorbachev, Helmut Kohl and George Bush marked thetenth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall in Berlin on November9' 1999. The three were leaders of their respective countries in l9g9when the Berlin wall fell. Though the Berlin wall had fell ren yearsago. A New Berlin Wall is erected for the Rohingyas of Arakan.Rohingyas are not allowed to travel to Rangoon.

ARAKAN : A Silent Killine Field

Since the travel to Rangoon has become a far dream forRohingyas, and the way is totaliy shut down after the entry of Burmain to ASEAN fold, there are occasional attempts of traveling fromAkyab to Rangoon by fishing boat. When the authorities find a Rohingyain high sea he will be killed. The son-in -law of Molovi Ziaul Haque,

the Imam of Akyab Mosques, was one of the victins who was killed inthe high sea by the Burmese Navel Folces. Moulavi Ziaul Haque was

also arrested, tortures and jailecl tbr 3 years.

In November 1991, 17 Rohingya youths from north Arakanwere carried by two Rakhine agents of Taunpup with their boat. Onreaching Taungup, the agents went to look for safe passage for theirpassengers; a boatman reported anival of Rohingyas to the authorities.The Rohingyas were arrested and sent them to the jail on 23'd Nov1997 . On29'h 1997 the army took them and since remains untraceable.It is suspected that they were killed by the Burmese army and thrownthem in deep jungle. The unfortunate youths were as follows.

1. Mohammed saleh S/O Mohammed Salirn. Ward No. 2,

Buthidaung,

2. Deen Mohammed S/O Mohanrnrccl Hussein, Buthidaung.

3. Abu Talef S/O Fauzu Rithntan. Buthiclaun-q.

4. Nabi Hr-rssein S/O Abilur Rahtr.ratr, Buthidaung.

5. Sultan Ahnrcrl S/O Hal'cz Ahmed, Ward No. 3, Buthidaung.

6. Moharnmccl Ali (u) NagLr S/O Kasim, Buthidaung.

7. Karnal Husscin S/O Obaidul Haque, Buthidaung.8. Moharnnrerl (a) Ilaser, Maungdaw.

9. Maung I-lla Myint (a) lsmail S/O kadir Hussein, Maungdaw.

I0. Zakir AhurcclS/O Shuna Ali, Maungdaw.

11. Mauktullah S/O Altas, Maundaw.12. Noor Alam S/O Amir Hussein, Maundaw.

13. Abdu Salsm S/O Nurur Islam.14. Abdul Ahwal SiO Abdur Rahim, Kyauktaw.15. Yunus S/O Maung Tha Pru, Kyauktaw.16. Ismail S/O Mokgul Ahmed, Akyab.17. Mohammed Tavub S/O Ahmed, Akyab.

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On l6'h March 1999, Burma's Infantry Regiment No.234stationed at Pomali Village of Buthidaun-e Township conscripted a groupof Rohin-eyas for cutting canes on the upper reaches of the SaingdaungWaterfall. While cutting the canes one Abul Kalam (35) S/O Kalu gotimbalance. At this. one soldier became furious and stabbed Abul Kalam.

It may be mentioned here that the Burmese forces have the

practices of kicking down from the hilltop and lashing the Rohingyalabourers who failed to carry the load or finishin-e the assigned work intime. Those fell sick due to exhaustion or exposure to rough weather injungle did not get medicine. As a result many died.

One primary teacher by the name of Khaleque was arrested at

Taungyi in August lc)96. was brought to Akyab and was killed by the

MIS. When Sayedul Amin of Purnra villa-qe was not found at home,his son and brother-in-law Khairul S/O Sayed Abbas were taken bythe Na-Sa-Ka Major and were stat'rbccl to clcath. Their bodies werefound in the Naf River.

On 3'd May 1996. one Lalu was taken from Ward No.5,Maungdaw. Similarly Badiur Rahman (45), Gudarn Para. Buthidaung,was taken away from his house on 29'r'April 1996 by MIS of Buthidaung.They never come back.

On June 23"r, 1996, a Rohingya of Sambania village ofMaun-edaw South was shot dead at the Maungdaw creek by the Na-

Sa-Ka of Shuja Para. The Na-Sa-Ka of Shuja Para has been reportedas notorious and uses to extort money from Muslims ancl beat them ifthey could not please the Na-Sa-Ka.

The No. 6 Area Commander, Maj Naigne Oo, the notoriouschairman of Pyi-tha-ya operation, arrested one Kala Meah of DailPara of Shuja village tract of Maungdaw on lOth August 1996, on

fabricated allegation. A ransom of Ks.200, 000 was demanded. Laterhis relatives went with Ks.80, 000 for to -9et release of Kala Meah. Butthe death body of Kala Meah was returned on l7'h August 1996, whichbore marks ol'grievous injuries.

On l0 Augr.rst 1996, one young Rohingya girl, Shuna Banu ( l7)was on her way to Merollah villa-se from Sitafurikka along the Lon-e

ARAKAN : A Silent Killins Field

Beach of the Bay of Bengal with her brother, a young boy of l5 yearsage. On the way they were intercepted by 5 or 6 Na-Sa-Ka anddetained them. Then started indecent behavior with the youn-e

-eirl.When protested by her brother, the Na-Sa-Ka killed him on the spot.They raped Shuna Banu one after another. Afier fulfillin-s their lust, theNa-Sa-Ka strangled Shuna Banu to death.

Some Na-Sa-Ka posted at Baclclail. Fadoun-{sa out-post openedfire at the fishing boat in the Nal'rivcl on t3 February. eve of Eid day.1997, killing one Shah Alanr (2tJ) son of Nazir Hussein of Shu-ja Para,

Maungdaw township, Arakan State. The Na-Sa-Ka forces seized theboat and detained the fishermen along with the dead body. On l0February 1997, the dead body of Shah Alam was handed over to hisrelatives with a warning that any undesirable moves in this connectionwould receive severe punishment. The rest fishermen were detainedfor two more days and warned that the incident should not be disclosedto any one.

Again, one religious leader namely. Moulana Abul Hussein (78)of Zoomkhara (Thabyitaw) village was arrestecl by MIS in the firstweek of February 1997 for unknown rcason. He was tortured severely,as a result of which he succumbccl to ltis in-juries on l0 February 1997 .

Muolana Abul Hussein was thc l)r'incinll of Zoornkhara IslamiaMadarasa.

Military intclligcncc unit No. l8 detained one Amir Hussein S/O Gulal Kabir ( ll3). hailing fl'onr West Ward of Buthidaung proper onl2 February l9()7 rrntl scnt to the Na-Sa-Ka Headquarter at Kawarbilunder Maungclarv'lirwnship. The Na-Sa-Ka forces mauled him to nearby jungle and killctl Irinr. Amir Hussein was repatriated from Ban_eladesh

to Burma on Januury 12, 1997 . He was a refugee in Moosoni refugeecamp.

Even a pcrson namely Dolya, a resident of ward No. 2,Kharipara, Maun-edaw a frailed person went to Akyab for medicaltreatment, could not be spared from the clutches of Na-Sa-Ka. Whilereturning from Akyab on 31'' November 1997,Dolya was stopped at

Buthidaun-e jetty for alleged over stay. And was so seriously beatenthat he died on the spot.

95

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The Muslims of Southeast Asia

In another incident seven convicts escaped from Buthidaungjail on 27 November 1997 . One was shot dead. Another three of themreported to be under serious condition.

Na-Sa-Ka Landmines: While the Ottawa Declaration adoptedon October 5,1996, wrapping up a 3 day International Conference forglobal ban on landmines, there had been a series of landmines explosionsalong Burma-Bangladesh border killing many people including 3

Bangladesh border security personnel and wild animals.

To clean up landmines for the safety of the citizens of the twocountries, flag meetings between the BDR and Na-Sa-Ka were heldthrice in 1988. So f'ar no step has yet been taken to remove the landminesthough Na-Sa-Ka had conccdcd that the landmines were laid by themand would be removed soon. 'l'hc UN Secretary General has urgedupon the world disarmament negotiators to ban the use of anti personallandmines in pursuance of the Ottawa declaration . 191'7 , where atreatywas drafted for total ban in production, transportation and sale of suchmines in the world for the sake of establishing peace ancl restoration ofethical values. The convention, agreed toby 122 countries in December1997, now has the requisite of 40 more countries fbr ratiflcation tobecome binding international law.

On23/24 January 1998, two people were killed and eight others

injured in two separate Na-Sa-Ka landmine explosions in Burma-Bangladesh border area. A landmine exploded near Pillar No. 43 at

Chakdala border point while a group of seven people were -rloing home.

One woman was killed on the spot while six others were injured. Inanother blast Mohammed Kala, 65, was killed and Saker Ahnied, injuredwhile felling trees in deep forest near the zero point in border area.

On 30 January 1998, another landmine blast claimed six persons

killed in deep forest near the zero point. It is reporled that l9 Bangladeshiwoodcutters and three Rohingyas were killed from January 20 toFebruary 12,1998.

As the people of frontier live on woodcutting and products fromit, they are having hard days, as death traps are everywhere along the

I 3 I -mile Ban-eladesh-Burma land border. On I 5 April 1999, a landmine

ARAKAN : A Silent Killing Field

exploded between Pillar No. -51 and 52 of the border. Ali Ahmed (2) S/

O Siddique Ahmed and Baita of Bandarban district in Chittagong Hill-tracts sustained grievous injuries. Ali Ahmed was fbund lying in a pool

of blood with his leg ripped off from the body. Both the victims were

brought to a hospital for treatment.

Accordin-e to Dr. Chandra Muzal'f'ar. the adoption of the

landmine treaty is a major victory {br pcrtcc. Ltrnclrrtines have been the

scourges of humankind tor decacles. It is onc of tltose wcapons of war,

which has brought tnorc deuth, tnisery and suffering to the civiliansrather than actual armed crtrnbatants of conflict.

The landmine treaty has become internationally binding more

quickly than any major treaty in history. Global production is down

dramatically, global exports have been reduced to trickle, more than l0million anti-personal mines have already destroyed and new use appears

to be on the wane.

The growing danger of landmines has become an internationalissue today, in view of its devastating irnpact Lrpon humanity. Inrecognition of its global importance the Norway-based Nobel Peace

Cornmittee has awarded Peace Prize to Jocly Williarns, an outspoken

campaigner of the US-based Intentatiorrtl Crttnpaign to Ban landmines

in 1977.jointly along with thc US orsunization itself. Jody Williamsreceived $ -500.000 clrecluc. She wls coordinator of the International

Campaign Ban lantlrnine:s. Victnam War Veterans of AmericaFoundation-Stal'l's l'inlrrccs uncl houses the campaign. The Noble Peace

Prize Committcc hus ulso au,alded $ 500,400 to the 1,000 members

International Canrpuiun (o Ban landmines.

Princess [)iirna also dedicated in the worldwide campaign forbanning of anti-pcrsorrne I r.trines. She had traveled to Bosnia and Afncancountries to self by her the devastation of war, including the

consequences of indiscriminate use of landmines and also to console

the suffering victims. She could not get the Peace Prize as NobleCommittee forbade conferment of the award posthumously.

Another international personality, Queen Noor, widow of Kin-e

Hussein of Jordan, has come forward to further the global fight against

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The Muslims of Southeasr Asia

l.rrrtlrrrrrt's. l' october 1999 eueen Noor visited cambodia as the flagI'r'rrrt.r lirr thc international campaign against landmines.

Ban_qladesh had signed the landmine treaty on 7 May 1997.lJLrt lJurma has made the Burma-Bangladesh border u."u. u .death(r'.P' by lying of Iandmines ignoring the landmine treaty. Landminescrntinue to be a threat to wild lives and common people of both sidesrf the Burma -Bangladesh border and have killed more than 50 peopleand maimed hundreds. The mines arso kiiled 25 or more ereihants.Burma army also planted landmines at Burma-India and rhai_Burmaborder and frequent exprosion resurting in many peopre killed and injuredtook place- The irony is that the Na-sa-Ka of Burmese junta fairs toclean up landmines in spite of repeated request by the Bangladeshborder security forces.

Chapter 13

Violence Against the Muslim Minority of Burma

The following are some excerpts frot.tt an anti-Muslinl pamphlet

in Burmese, distributed in Ran-eoon prior to October 1996.

Burmese citizen beware

"...... Malaysia and Indonesia were once Buddhist countries in

history, but unfortunately the Muslims used (their) methods (to expend

their religion) so successfully that they have become Muslim countries;

Buddhism has disappeared from these countries ..... Bear in mind that

the four social causes of the SLORC must be accomplished...."

Burma has a long and unfortunate history of violence against

the Muslim community of Burma. lt is common practice of successive

ruling juntas to create an issue and make the Muslim scapegoat

whenever it faces strong dissension fl-orn the rlitsses, and it did try todo the same in October, 1996 and in l9ttU by distributin-q leaflets that

could lead to communal riots in Burr-na. With precedents to communal

violence set in the past, the SLORC have fbund it expedient on numerous

occasions to exploit Muslim pcople to divide the public and distract

attention from othcr political and social issues.

"In January 1992-7(X) Muslim youths died of suffocation after

being herded into ware h()uscs. SLORC troops had opened tlre inside a

mosque, killing 200 Muslirns at prayer. Muslim women were bein-e gang

raped and left to bleed to death. while their crying children were thrownon the roadside, "Page 72, "Burma the Next Killing Fields?" by AlanClement.

Two vivid examples of the SLORC's real attitude towards

Muslims have come to light in 1997. During an offensive against the

Karen National Union (KNU) in Karen State in February and lvlarch

1997. Muslims were specially tar-eeted for persecution. Also in

Page 60: The Muslims of SouthEast Asia

l)t'ct'rrbcr 1996, the sLoRC arrny had driven out the Muslims fronrtlrt'i'illage of Nawbr-r, Kyaikdon. pharklawine then to become refuseesii ith Karen people in Thailand. It may be mentioned that Nawbu is a700-year-old Muslirn vilra-ee with 4,000 families with bi-s Jamme-mosque.l'Kyaikdo', which was brasted by six dynamites and leveled to theground, while setting the other places of worship ablaze.

Followine Maharnyatmoni Buddha image crisis the an-qryBuddhist morks srarted anti-SLoRC demonstration i'Mandalay (thesecond largest city in Burma) on 15 March 1997, which wasmanipulared by SLORC .gcnrs who directed the unruly mob, as it hasbeen .n usual practicc .r'.SI-oRC administration, a_gainst the Muslims.Cclnsequently Ill arcier't

'loscr.cs were completery demolished or

destroyed while seve.ar c.pie s .r'I r'ry eura. ancr religious books wereburnt into ashes. Soon thc .rrsllrtrghts sprcucl ta the other areas. onMarch 26, 1997. hundrecls rl' s,r'lhrrr-rrbctr Brr<rrlhist militant monksbroke away and attacked 4 rnosc}res irr l)csLr, bcfirrc the very eves ofthe policemen and armed fbrces. The Musrir' rivcs becrme insecureacross the country and are counting their crays irr Lrtter crisrnay. Theanti-Muslim forces are up and doing to create corrrLr.ar ri.ts in Arakan,where a number of mosques and places of worships hlrvc been desh.oyedby the sLORC. including the historic sandi Khan rrosq.e bLrird in r430A.D and the rubbles used to pave roads between new military basecamps in the area.

"The SLoRC has used religious persecuti.ns a rrcans of"Burmanisin-e" local population in rural areas. particularly anrrngst ethnicsroups which have significant Muslim and Christian populations.

In cities they have been accused of inciting communal violencein order to deflect pubric attention from other political and economicproblem' Much of this persecution has historicaily targeted Muslims. Itis estimated that in 1997 arone. over 40 mosques have been destroyedwith incidences of lootin-e, by SLoRC troops or soldiers looked on."Repot Card: SLoRC's progress as a Member of ASEAN", November1997, Page 9.

Violence Asainst the Muslirn Minority ot-Ilttrtna l0I

Incidents involving monks and Muslims took place in Mon Ywa'

Moulmein, Kyauk Pyu, Magwe Division, and Ran-eoon between l5

and28March.IntheEnglishlanguagenewspaperofThailand,..TheNation,' a picture was published of monks attacking a mosque while

lJurmese security troops looked on, doing nothitrg to stop the destructitln.

In Burma today there are estinratecl se vctt rllillitltls Muslims.

most damage was done in anti-Muslim rigts itt ce titritl IJttrlnlt arrd durin-e

the vicious offensives in Karen state carlicf in 1997. St-ORC'ctlntinues

to target Muslims with violencc.

ABSDF also rcptrrtctl 0n scpt. l5 (1997) that"rttortks in

monasteries all over Burtrlt have been receivin-e anonym()tts letters

exhorting monks to def'end Buddhism against Muslim destruction-

Letters rugg"tt that the role of monks is to organize and lead Burmese

citizens in attacks against Muslims. "Report card: SLORC's Pro-9ress

as a Member of ASEAN", November 199'7 , Page' l0'

BothinlgT8andinlggl,theBurmesearmylaunchedcampaigns aimed at forcing the Muslim populittion out of Burma. The

SIOnC has often tried to stir up reli-9ious ancl racial te.siorrs in Burma

in order to divide the population and clivcrt rtttcntion 1l'otrr gther political

economic concerns. tn 1988, the SLOR(' provokctl artti-Muslim riots

in Taungyi, Prome and many tlthcr pllrccs tlttrirlg thc prcl-de mocracy

movement. In May 1996. Anli-Muslirtt litcrature rvidely believed to

have been writtcn by thc sl.olLc was clistributed in lbur towns in

Shan Statc, lcatlirrg to colllllltlllitl vitlle nce'

Mr"rslinl orgltttizltliotts lhrln Burma have rise the question as to

whythesLoR(.t|itllttlttakeactionduringtheriots:andwhypreiominantly Mtrslinr cottttties in ASEAN continue to stlpport the

blOnC, cven all.*'i.g thc SI-ORC to join ASEAN, given the SLORC's

persecution of Mtrslirrls in Burma.

Cities wlrere the violence was carryout in 1997

MandalaY:

EventsinMandalaysparkedthenation-wideunrestthatoccurred in March lggl .lt originated fl'om a Muslim youth who tried

The Muslinrs of Southeast Asia

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102 The Muslims of Southeast Asia Violence Against the Muslim Minority of Burma

The government has the responsibility to protect the lives and

properties ofall citizens. Law enforcing agencies can not play the role

of onlookers while crimes are committed. When the students of the

Rangoon Institute of Technology started an agitation of protest withintwo hours the authorities controlled the situation with tanks armoured

cars with full military mobilization. But they remained quite silent where

the religious edifices of a minority community are destroyed for three

longest days.

Prome:

In 1988, anti-Muslim riots also broke out in Prome, allegedly

instigated by the government. During the night of 24 March 1997,three

mosques in the town of Prome were attacked by hundreds of monks.

During the attacks on the Surati mosque, the Kharkahr mosque, and

nearly 10,000 soldiers stood near the mosques and did nothing to prevent

it. Sources in Prome also said that some of those involved in the attacks

were put in jail. But all were released the next day or two days after

the arrest. Muslims in Prome believed that the government is behind

the riots. Many Muslim families left the arel to stay with relatives in

Rangoon as they did during 1988 anti-Muslitn riots.

Rangoon:

ln October lt)9(r. anti-Muslirtr lcaflets were distributed in

Rangoon, urting Ilutldlrists (o hoycott Muslims stores and not to marry

Muslims. Thc lcaflets rtccttsccl Muslims of wanting to expand their

territory like othcr Sotttltertst Asian countries, where Buddhism once

flourished but hrrs lrt't'tt lorsaken for Islam. Similar leaflets were

repeatedly distr-ibutctl irr 199(r in Mandalay and Kalaw.

At 4 p.nr t)n lr"'r March 1997. about 40 monks came out of the

SLORC anry contrl)1. Kaba Aye pa-eoda. At around 8. p.m army officers

and soldiels canrc to the Kanbe Mosque in Yankin Township and told

the Mr-rslinrs that they would provide security. Thus, Muslims locked

the Mosque aud returned to their homes. During the night, the Buddhist

monks attacked the mosque. The troops arrived at the mosque just

after the attack was tinished. Lt. Gen. Myo Nyunt, Minister for Reli-eious

103

to take the hand of a Buddhist a-eainst her will. The case had beensettled to the satisfaction of all the parties concerned. The matter wasfuelled to deflect berween the SLoRC and Mandalay Sangha (monks).Monks in Mandalay and been organizing to protest over a period ofmonths, following increasing pressure on the Sangha.

The back_qround in Mandalay was that monks accused thesLORC of trying to find sacred rubies which was believed to have thebearer the power to defeat any enemy. The rubies were said to behidden in one of six monasteries, possibly inside the Maha MyatmuniBuddha statue itself. All of these monasteries were broken into by thesLoRC. Demonstrations commenced reportedly the evening of r5and l6 March.

In the evening.r'l(r March, persons said to be MilitaryIntelligence dressed as

'r.nks lccl the nob to a nearby mosque. some

monks joined the Militar-y Intelli-uence in the artack. Some fake monkswere seen wearing army shirts under their robes.

On March 16, 1997 beginning ar abour 3:30 pM a mob of about1000-1500 Buddhist monks and others shouted anti-Muslim sloganswithout any kind of provocation on the part of the Musrims. They atfirst targeted the mosques for attack, followed by ransacking Muslimshops, houses and transportation vehicles near mosques damaging,destr-oying, looting and tlampling, buming the religious books, in Kaingdanarea of Mandalay.

The manner and method of the violence was cle'r-ly preplannedwith the knowledge of the authorities. In spite of request of ihe victimsof violence, the law enfbrcing a-gencies looked on with folded arms andallowed the rampage to continue for six hours, by which time fourmosques and 90-100 houses and shops of Muslims had been destrovedand looted.

On l7 and l8 March, because of the SLORC's role ofonlookers. the acts of destruction's and lootin-e continued. By the lgMarch, 14 mosques and about 400 Muslim houses and shons havebeen looted and destroyed.

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I05t04 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

Affairs, held a meeting with the leaders of six Muslim organizationsand accused the NLD of behind the attacks and said that the aim ofNLD destructionists was to prevent the ASEAN countries from grantinsBurma membership.

By March 24,1997 in Rangoon, mosques in the following areashad already been attacked:

l. Kanbe; 2. no.7 quarrer in South Okkalapa Township; 3.Warton Street; 4. Ahlone; 5. Mayangone; 6. pazundaung; 7. At 4g,h

Street.

Neither rnonks could identify themselves as belongin-{ to specificmonasteries nor hacl civilians participated in these attacks. Almost allof the attacks occurrcd only after l0:00 at night. A senior monk atMyenigone monastery i' Rars'.n t.lcl the people that no monks fromany monastery were participatecl irr thcse attacks, and that he wasashamed of it.

On the 24'h and 25,h, the mosque near the paz_Lrndaung postoffice was also attacked for the second time. The Muslim religiousschool at 48 Street and the religious school at Thakeda Township wereattacked. Three food shops of Muslims were destroyed. On 26 March1997 in Thuwana Township, anti Muslim pamphlets urging people todestroy Muslirn homes and abuse Muslim women were distributed.

The conclusion of the Muslim people was that these ,.monks"

are not ordinary monks, but well trained persons wearing robes. Themonks arrested by SLORC were the real monks.

Other Places:

Mosques in other places includin-e Moulmein, Arakan Srate,Taungdwingyi, Pakkoku and in Pegu division are also reported to havebeen attacked by the Buddhisrs.

Duplaya District, Karen State:

The Muslim population in Karen State numbers in the thousands.with Muslims en-9agin-e in a range of profession from farming to shop

Violence A-eainst the Muslim Minority of Burina

keeping. Many Muslims refer to themselves as Black Karen and

consicier Karen State as their homeland.

Though the relations, between Muslims and Buddhists and

Christians have been generally good, the SLORC began to stir up anti-

Muslim feelin-es. In Au-eust 1996, a letter carne from Dammaya town

to some people in Kyaikdon, Karen State inciting anti-Muslim violence.

It was written in -sood Burmesc ancl was unsigned. The villagers

believed that SLORC offlcials hacl writtett it and that the Democratic

Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA), haclbeen distributing copies.

In Febrr.rary lc)t)7's SLORC offensive against the Karen

National Union (KNU). the SLORC attacked the Muslim community

directly. SLORC firrces razed mosques and destroyed copies of Koran

and drove Muslims out of Karen State. Warning to convert intoBuddhism was -9iven to the Muslims.

"Villages where Mosques were destroyed by SLORC"Kyaikdon-Mosque and Islartric School destroyed, Muslim

expelled unless they become Buddhists'Gaw Bay- Mosque destroYecl.

Naw Bu- Mosque destroyctl. MLtslinl villa-eers were expelled.

Day Nga Yin- Mosc;Lre tlcstloyccl.

Kani nbu- Mosctttc tlcstt'ovctl.

Pa Clllrv Ni- All vitluablcs inside the Mosque looted and placed

in the Buclclhist 'lcruplcs. 'l'hc rvooden nlosque was then dismantled

and the SLOIl(l lirlccs solcl thc wood.

The SI-OIt(' lirrces killed many Muslims. In Kyo Ta villa-ees,

SLORC soldicls blincllirlded two Muslim villagers and chopped their

necks. In Ti DiLh Illu villages.2 Muslim villagers were also killed. The

SLORC army orclerecl Muslims to eat pork and convert to Buddhisrn.

In the Karen Statc, the Muslims have been told that they cannot becorne

citizens of Burma unless thy profess Buddhism. They have been ordered

to leave Karen State and to return to India, althor.rgh they have no

relation in that country.

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107106 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

The SLORC has also refused to acknowledge the Burmesecitizenship of Muslim refugees, with reports claiming that BurmeseMuslim refugees in Thailand would not be received back by Burmaunless they converted to Buddhism. (ALTSEAN NOV. 97 issue).

On l" February 1998, the Muslirn Mosque at Aziz Garden,Kokhine, Rangoon was seized by the SLORC rogether with the "Homefor Muslim old aged" to use as offices.

The Tragedy of Akyab (Sittwe)

In 1967 bulk of the rice produced in Arakan was carried awayto Rangoon causing rice shortage in Arakan and many people had diedof starvation. Continuous hunger provoked anger among the people ofAkyab and a riot erupted which was crushed down by deploying armyat the scene who gunned down many on the spot. Persons seriouslyinjured but still alive were said to have been dumped in mass graves inunknown places of Akyab.

On November 17,1994 there was communal violence in Akyab,in which Rakhine students attacked the houses and shops of Muslims.The attacks continued for three days, and mosques were attacked.The authorities responded only belatedly when the Rakhine surroundedthe office of the vice consul of Bangladesh and threw stones. As theloCal authorities did not responded to the complaint, the Vice-Counselhad to inform the Ambassador of Bangladesh in Rangoon, who comp-lained to SLORC. The SLORC sent back the Arakan State Commanderwho was attending the meeting of SLORC in Rangoon to stop the riota-gainst Muslims and Bangladesh's office. At least two Muslims werekilled, one of them a pregnant woman and several others were wounded.

The anti-Muslim riot which erupred in Sittwe (Akyab) on 3dand 4'n of February 2001, in which many Muslims died and Muslimestablishments were razed to the ground was not unintentionally donebut was a pre-planned and premeditated attempt by Rakhine f-anaticsbacked by the army and their sided monks.

Akyab is the capital city of Arakan State and is also the businesshub and the only center of telecommunication with the out side world

Violence Against the Muslim Minolity of Burma

which can facilitate financial transactions. Rohingya Muslims from all

over Arakan including Maungdaw and Buthidaun-e Townships always

flock in Akyab to contact their kin residin-e abroad seeking financial

helps, which become a lifeline for the entire Muslims of Arakan. Bythe way many residential boarding have sprung up in Akyab where

hundreds of Muslims stay to contact abroad and get money. It has

become so crucial that without foreign remittances Muslims cannot

survive and their economy will not withstand. Specially, Muslims were

desperately in need of money to be used fbr the ensuing sacrificial ldd(Iddul Adha), which commenced in the first week of March. The anti-

Muslims riot was timed with Muslims presence in Akyab where all the

boarding owned by Muslim residents of Akyab was in full capacity

thriving with money seekers.

The anti Muslim elements were not happy with situation since

long and wanted to sabotage it and had been looking for an opportune

time. Since millions of kyats (Burmese currency) were pouring in as

foreign currency, it immensely helps Burmese economy but the

authorities as well as Rakhine community is not tolerate it as they are

bent on crushing Muslim economy. This was clearly noticed that

Muslims residential boarding were mainly targeted and attacked and

the unprepared Muslim travelers both rrcn and women were caught in

surprise thus fallen as the victints of'rtrsott and loot. Afterward the

attack was clivertcd to rlther Muslinr residential qua-rters where hundreds

of houses wcrc brurrt tlorvn. Muslim residents attack. They only tried

to get help frorn the lrrtlrorities. Police forces came to the scene and

instead of protcction thcy took part along side the Rakhine and they

were at forelirnl to rrttrrck Muslims. Police holding their guns in one

hand and holcling swortls (lon-e daws) in other hand attacked MLrslim

mercilessly. Thcrr MLrslirns tried to contact army for protection. But ittook almost tcn hours for the military to show up from the nearby army

barracks. The arrival was so late that the Rakhine got ample time to

systematically torched Muslim owned boardin-s and attackirlg the

residents. They later diverted their attack to local Muslirrt houses in

predominantly Nazie Para, Molvi Para. Gawdu-bangha, Hawshai Para.

Hutdi-haula, and Amla Para etc.

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r08 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

The junta has been pursuing a policy of divide and rule in Arakanand is afraid of Rohin-eya and Rakhine unity. Creating such religiousriots help them to rule Arakan. The riot in Akyab will lead the Muslimsto f'eel that Akyab is unsafe to stay and Muslirn presence there willdrastically fall and Muslim economy will be ruined. Muslim students inAkyab College were also attacked.

Muslims from Maungdaw and Buthidaung are totally barred totravel to Akyab since the anti-Muslim riot of Akyab.

"Brutal Na-Sa-Ka of Burma"

In Doden village of Maungdaw, Arakan, Burma, Na-Sa-Ka No.5 administrator killed. thc most revered Muslim Clargy M. SayedAhmed, S/O Sayedul Islarl agc 3-5 years old. He was arrested on l5'hApril along with Molvi Abclullah S/O Khalillur Rahman of MizanpurMadarasa, English/ Burnrese teacher Obciclullah S/O Abdu Salam,former village head Mohammed Amin S/O Sultan Ahrned, by Na-Sa-Ka No 5 Area.

On the fateful night of 2l April, Molvi Sayed Ahmed was torluredto death. When villagers went to the Na-Sa-Ka Camp to -eer rhe cropfor burial, they were threatened to be shot. Meanwhile message camein from the Na-Sa-Ka H. Q. that the dead body be handecl over ropublic to avoid any blood shed. The villagers received the crops carriedfull of injury marks, tongue was cut down by the Na-Sa-Ka, bocly waswith full of rail driven scar marks, Neck with full of strangling marks,sex organ and testicles slit and torn apart. His body was f ully cngulfedin blood. Other there persons were brou_qht to Na-Sa-Ka Heaclcluartersand kept there for one day and now they were sent back to thcil homeswith full of torturing injuries. It will take long to them ro recover.

Chapter 14

Islam in Myanmar

(Based on SLORC's I)ublication,'Thasana Yon_9wa

Htoonzepho' Pa-ees ll'om (r.5 to 73)

The early advent of lslam:

Muslirn arrivecl and settled in Burmar in groups of many or twoor individr.ral since last 1000 to 1200 years. Accordin_e to history, Islamcame borne on the seas by Sufis and merchants. Historical documentsfor the advent of Islam in Burma are as follows:

Arabs traders arrived at Myeik (Mergui) in l4'r'century throu_sh

Sumatra, Java and Malay Peninsula. (Khin Maung Gyi's Burmesetranslation of Morris Collis 'lnto Hidden llurnra' P. 2l I )

From 700 A. D. to 1500 A.D. thc Anrbs. Persian and Romantraders reached Burmese and Chinesc coitsts with their ships fbr trades.Many Arabs ships were wreckctl l.rcrrr llultrbrec Island while Arakanu,as rulccl by thc Kins Malrallins Srrrrrla (7ttlt-tt l0), and the crews andtraders ol'thosc ships u,cre Muslirns and they were sent to Arakanproper and scttlccl in villrrscs.

The sunrc :rccitlcrrts ol'the ship wrecks were also prevailed inother ports ol'IlLrrnrrr. suclr as Kyauk Pyu, Bassein, Syriarn, Muttama,Myeik in the carlie r' pcliocl. 'l'he stories of the Muslim soldiers, tradersand sailors can ulso be lirr.rnd in some religious history of Mon andMyanmar.

These storics were witnessed by the Dar-gas (MonumentalBuildin-es at the graves of Muslirn saints) which are dotted at the longcoast of Bulrrra. (Saya Po Chays, "The bio-eraphy of early Muslim"written in lct-crcnce to the British-Burma Gazetteers of 1879, Page

r6)

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ltlIl0 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

In 8'h century at the time of Pikthon, the king of Pagan, Arabtraders used to visit Thaton and Muttama in their journey to and fromEast Indies Islands, Madaska and China, (U Kyi B. A. Hons (Hist)'The Essential of Burmese History p. 156-157). While Tabinshwehtifought Hanthawady in 1535 A.D the Pathi and Panthay Muslims foughtagainst him (Glass- Palace Chronicles vol-Z, P. 186). The writtenhistorical documents of the historical compilers also indicate that thesettlement of Muslims began since last 1200- years.

Between 8'h and 15'h century, the Arabs and Persian tradingships controlled the whole sea-ways of the Eastern countries. The Araband Persian traders settled in all business centres of Burma.

In 1660 Shah Shuja took refuge in Arakan at the time of SandaThudama (1652-1684). Some misunderstandings arose between theMagh Raja and the Moghal Prince and as a result the King of Arakanmassacred Shah Shuja, his family members and many Muslims. Someremaining Muslim archers, Kaman, became the king makers of Arakan.

Sanda Wizawa (I7lO-1731) succeeded in suppressing theKamans. He deported the Kaman to Rambree and Thinganat orTharagon villages of Akyab. There are also indigenous (Rohingya)Arakanese, who profess Islam, around Akyab, Kyauk Pyu andSandoway in addition to the Kaman Muslims.

The Muslim captives of the Tabinshwehti's campaign to Pegu(A.D. 1539), King of Taungu's campaign to Pegu (A.D. 1599),Tabinshwehti's camjpaign to Mrohaung (A.D. 1547), Sanay Min'sofficers campaign to Sandoway (A.D. 1707) Ahnaakfalon Mincampaign to Syriam in 1613, were sent and settled at Maydu of Shwebodist, Pinya and Kambahi of Saikhine Dist, Lakpan of Kyaukse and YinDaw of Ramethin Dist.

In the stone inscription, written by Bo Minhla Kyawhtin (1801),at the time of king Bodaw, it is stated that 'the over 3000-Muslims whocrossed at the time of Ava's Sanay Min (1698-17140 were sent andsettled at the following places;

Islam in Myanmar

(l) Taungu (2) Ramethin (3) Nyunyam(4) Yindaw (5) Meiktila(6) Pintalay (7) Tafaswe (8) Bawdi (9) Thazi ( I 0) Maydu ( I 1) Seputtara( l2) Deperan.

There are l7l mosques in Rangoon alone and all together 2266mosques throughout Burma. The junta use to show the figures of theMuslims population very low due to its policy of racism. There motto isto swallow all the Muslims and it was written in big signboards in everyoffices of the Immigration and Manpower department, "Nation wouldnot disappear when the earth swallows it, but would disappear whenthe people swallow it (that is by majoriry people)."

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Chapter 15

Rohingya! The burden of Sisyphus

There existed the exodus of Muslims of Arakan to Bengal fiomthe be-einnin-e of the history. It is indeed legacy of histor-y for Ben-eal tobear the burdon of refu-eees from Arakan. In 1404 AC the kin,rr ofArakan, Narameiklrla(1404-1434), was forced to flee by the Burmeseto Gaur, capital of the Bengal Sultanate. The sultan of Gaur welcomedthe refirgee. In I430 he rvas rcstored to the throne of Arakan by theSultan ol'Bcnsirl.

In 1660 A.C, the Mrg.r r)r'i'cc Sh,h Shuja fred to Arakan. Thisimportant event brought as new w.vc ,l'Muslinr immigrants to theKingdom of Arakan. Shah Shuja, his firrniry

'rcr.r'rbcrs. his sons and

every one found wearing Morish beard had bee n bche,clcd by the kingof Arakan fbr his lust fbr his daughter and his wish to n-rolcst the prince'sriches.

Those Muslim soldiers who escaped the massacre were rateradmitted into the king's army as a special archers u'it culled Kamans.In 1665 to 1666 a large Mogur fbrce conquered Sandwip, chittagon_eand Ramu. During their retreat to Mrohanung, Maghs ar'ny units werealso attacked by the local population. Thus from the Kaladen to theNaf river the whole Mayu valley became Muslim mai,rity area since1666.

After the death of shah Shuja the Muslim Kaman unit played adecisive role as makers and dispracer of kings of Arakan. These unitswere bein-e continually reinforced by fresh Afgan mercenaries fromNorth India. From I666 until l7l0 the political rule of Arakan wascornpletely in their hands. Ten Kings were crowned and dethroned andusually murdered by them during that period. In l7l0 Sandawiza-qasucceeded in gaining the upper hand over them and most of the Kamanswere exiled to Rambree. The two last kings of Arakan, Sanda Thadi

Rohingya! The burden ofSisyphus

Tha and Thamada were the descendants of Kamans. Theredescendants live in Ramree, Kyaukpyu, sandoway and in a few villages

near Akyab and still bear the szune name to this very day. Their language

is Arakanese and their customs are smilar to Arakanese in everythingexcept religion, Islam. During the election of 1990 Shwe Ya, a Kaman

was elected as Member of Parliament from Akyab constituency.

Since l7l0 A.C. things went out of control. There was

disturbance all over Arakan. As a result of the disturbancesm, two

sided migration took place. The Buddhist (Magh) going eastwrd and

the Muslims (Rohingyas) north wards in the land between Sankhu(Sangu) river in Chittagong and Seingdaung Range (east of the Mayu

river) in Akyab, became almost depopulated, in which subsequent Muslimrefugees came from the eastern side of kaladan river and settled downthere. They are still known as Rohingyas. Their language is a mixtureof Bengali, Arabic, Persian and Maghi language.

In 1785 when Burmese king Bodaw conquered Arakan many

people crossed to Bengal. Captain Cox settled some of them in place

which was later known as Cox's Bazar. When the British conquered

Arakan in 1825, the people who migrated to Bengal40 years ago started

to return to their former homes in Arakan.

ln 1942 militant Rakhine cquipped with flrearms supplied by

the nationalist Burmans braught a massacre against the innocent and

unarmed Muslirtrs througltout Arakan and killed 1, 00,000 Muslimsforced some U0,(X)0 to llcc to British held East Bengal.3lT Muslimvillages were razcd.

Soon after the Independence of Burma in 1948, BurmaTerritorial Forces (BTti) rampaged Muslim villages killing a large number

of Rohingyas and burning down their houses. The memory of BTFmassacre and their brutality still shudders the conscience of every livingRohingya till today. Thousands of Rohingyas were made homeless and

nearly 30,000 had fled to the then East Pakistan.

In 1958 during the Caretaker government of Gen. Ne Win, his

army had driven out the Rohingya Muslims from27 -vtllages of Northern

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lt4 The Muslims of Southeasr Asia

Maungdaw. They were accepted back when pakistan government ha(lstrongly protested.

In 1978 the Naga Min operation was carried out by the Newin's BSPP governmenr killing 10,000 people and driving our 300,000across the border to Bangladesh. An agreement without condition torestoring indigenous status made it possible to 200,000 refugees while40,000 died in Bangladesh camps.

The SLORC, which came into power by killing 3,000 people in1988 democratic uprising reactivated Rohingya extermination bydeploying thousands of troops in Arakan. As a result again 300,000Rohingyas had to flee ro Bangladesh in 1991.

The repatriarion began in 22 September 1992 following anagreement berween Banglade sh ancl Burma of 2g April 1992. only onoctober 8, 1992 UNHCER and Ba'graclesh agreed that UNHCRwould play a role in verifying the voluntary nature of the returnmovements.

Meanwhile, unabated infiltrastion of Rohingyas fiom Arakanto Bangladesh continued alongside the repetrition, nraking the wholething look like the burden of Sisyphus. Big batches of inllitrators havealso been pushed back when detected, as Bangladesh is not a pany rothe 195 I convention Relating to rhe Status of Refugees anct the I 967Protocol. Bangladesh should fulfil its obligations with regard to rhe none-refoulement which is a customary international law.

SLORC should respect the basic human rights of the Rohingyas.Their indigenous status must be restored. Freedom of movements mustbe given to Rohingyas. until sLORC ceases, such as forced labour,forced relocations and confiscation of land and property etc. it will bedifficult to stop the influx of Rohingyas.

History repeats itself. So let us wait and see when the historyof Narameikhala (1404-1434) the king of Arakan, repears again, whowas restored to the throne of Arakan by rhe Sultan of Bengal, Jalaluddin

Mohammad Shah in 1430 A.C. Not for iest only!

ChaPter 16

YodhoYono

Newly elected lndonesian Presiclent Susilo Barnbang Yudhoyono

said he would consider becoming a globc-trotting advocate for moderate

Islam, promoting peace in hotspits such as the Middle East' Yudhoyono

said he wanted Indonesia, the world,s most populous Muslim natlon' to

be a model for moderate lslarnic democracy' "I could go to other parts

of the world, by for example, playing a more active role in the Middle

East, by having g."ut"i communications with Islamic countries

worldwide," he told Australia's Channel Nine' "And of course' if

everything is going well, then Indonesia can be a good example' a good

model of Islam that is compatible with democracy"' he said'

YudhoyonoalsorejectedAustralianoverttlrcsforanewsecuritytreaty betweenbut saiO fre iia want to hold scctrrity talks with Canberra'

TheideaofanewAustralia-Indonesiapactt()replaceanagreementthat was scrapped when Canberril sellt tfo()ps into East Timor in 1999

was floated by Australian Fot'cigrl Mirrister Alexander Downer'

Yudhoyono said he had not rcccivctl u proposal form the Australian

gou".n*"n, ancl hc clid not bclicvc a trcaty was appropriate' "What we

need now is a kincl o1'sccurity dialogue' a forum that could discuss

different lssues on lnattL:rs tltl sccurity"'he told Channel Nine' "I don't

have any proposal subtuittccl by the Australian government related to

the so_called security trcaty.', .iBut for me, it wourcr be more proper if

we just go to strengttt"n uui security dialogue' as also happened within

the AsEAN contexf.l, The newly-elected Indonesian president also

suggested Australials support foritre US-led war in lraq had raised the

count"ry's profile as a tenorist target'

lndonestan new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in-stalled

his36membercabinetatthestatepalace,reiteratinghiscallforaclean and honest government' "You must become honest and clean

officials... be arole model for the people.''Susilo told his new aides

-'--

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Yodhoyono |1lt6 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

after taking their oaths. He said he will not hesitate to fire officialsconvicted of corruption by the court. The united Indonesia cabinerincludes five ministers form the administration of MegawariSoekarnoputri, such as Foreign Minister Hassan wirajuda and EnergyMinister Purnomo Yusgiantoro. The Susilo cabinet consisted of threecoordination ministers, 19 ministers, l0 state ministers, minister/statesecretary, cabinet secretary, chairperson of national DevelopmentPlanning Board and Attorney General. Former-general susilo BamgangYudhoyono has been sworn in as Indonesia's sixth president, facinghuge challenges to revive an economy ravaged by graft and tackleterrorism in the world's Iar-eest Muslim nation.

Yudh'y.n. t,ok thc.ath, cementing his victory in the country'sfirst ever dernocratic prcsiclcntilrl polls, at a heavily guarded ceremonyin the capital attencled by rcgi..al rcadcrs including Australian primeMinister John Howard. "lrr rhc

'anre ol-Ailah I swear I will meet my

obli-gations as fully and as just as possible," he saici as an Islamic officialheld a copy ofthe Koran holy book over his head. yudhoyono replacesMegawati Sukarnoputeri, the daughter of Indonesia's founding preiidentsukarno whom he beat in a landslide victory in September 2 elections.security was tight fbr the ceremony, also attended by the prime ministersof East Timor, Malaysia and Singapore and the Sultan of Brunei, withpolice warning of possible attacks by Islamic fundamentalists. Morethan 2,000 security personner were deployed to prevent a strike by theAl-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group behind the october 2002Bali bombings and as attack later on Australia's Jakarta embassy.

Islamic militancy is high on the list of problems facingYudhohyono, who rakes office arnid optimism he will fulfill pledges tofix the country's economy and tackle the endemic corruption that hascarried away vital foreign cash. Hidayat Nur wahid, chairman of thepeople's consultative assembly which includes both houses of parliament,urged Yudhoyono to fulfill his promises of raising Indonesia from theproblems which continue to blight the country. "you have won the heartsand the mandate of a majority of the Indonesian people. This showsthey put high hopes on both your shoulders to lead them to a better andmore meaningful lif'e in the next five years," he said. yudhoyono unveiled

his cabinet after spending days.interviewing prospective candidates to

meethispromisesofassemblingabodychosenforitsprof.essionalskills rather than political allegiances'

Fears that he has given in to backers who oppose pro-

International Monetary Fund appointments lil't Indonesian markets down

ahead of the announcement, after weeks 9l' rccord stock prices in

anticipation of better economics tinres ahead. Inclonesian President

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants thc sovernlrent to lncrease tax

revenues,atopmxofficialsaidWeclrlcsclay.Thefinancerninistry'sdirector general of taxation, Hadi Pr-rrnomo, said the president wanted

the couniry's tax ratio to be raised from the current 13.8 percent of the

country's total economic output to l9 percent in the next five years'

..optimistically,in20og,itshouldbecomelgpercentwithoutraising

taxesbutbywideningthetaxbase'''PuranomosaidafterYudhoyounovisited his office accompanied by Finance Minister Yusuf Anwar and

topeconomicsministerAburizalBakrie.Thepresidentalsocautionedthat efforts to raise the tax ratio should not jeopardize economic growth'

Purnomo said. Tax policies, Purnomo quotecl Ytrdhoyono as saying'

should not lead to "too many complaints" fornr tax payers' He did not

elaborate. The tax revenue target in the 2(x)5 statc btrclget stands at

297 .51trillion rupiah (33 billion dollars)'

Thenewlndonesiangovcrnll)cllttlfPrcsidentSusiloBambgangYudhoyono has what it takes to woo tirreign investors' a World Bank

economist saicl On Friclay. Yudhoyono, who was installed as Indonedia's

first directly elcctctl prcsitlcrtt tttt October 20, has made improving the

investment cltnrlttc rr priolity. lle has also pledged to get tough on

rampant corruption. sccll lls lt rllitior disincentive to foreign investment',.There's high potcntirrl rlcnrancl tbr investment. with the combination

of good intentiOns ilnrl potcntial demand, investment in Indonesia will

gro* up very rapiilly"' saicl Yoichiro lshilara at the launch of the World

bevelopmenr Rep0r.r 2005. Ishihara said Indonesia could no longer

rely on Lonsumptiott to buov economic growth and should instead seek

ways to boost prtvate investment to reduce unemployment' He said

lasi year's growth rate of 4.5 percent was not enough to improve jobs

fisuies which had lifted to g.5 percent by 2003. Indonesia's growth

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Ihe Muslinrs of Southeast Asia

tu'ger firr rhis year is 4.8 percent. yudhoyono has said he hopes theeco'orny will expand between five and seven percent, unemploymentl,ll to around six percent, and the numberof people riving in poverty behalved to 19 million under his leadership. Internationat aonors cite theshaky and corruption prone regar system as a continuing hindrance toattracting ft-lreign investment. Foreign donors say overseas investmentis crucial for Indonesia to return to six percent annual growth, the rateneeded to make inroads into poverty and reduce unemployment.

A former general with a doctorate in economics takes powerin Indonesia facing the challenge of translating a land slide electionvictory into action on economic growth and against Islamic militancy.For Susilo Bambang yudhoyono, 55, big tests will come early as heappoints his cabinet and seeks t. work with a parliament noatea withmembers of old elites vowing a rough ride for the country's first directlyelected president. cracks have already emerged in the former chiefsecurity minister's own camp, even before he takes the oath of officeat 10.00 am (2300 EDT) on Wednesday, amid squabblin-q over posts."clearly the biggest challenge now is meeting expectations,', said sianeyJones, an Indonesia expert who heads the Internatio'al crises Grounthink-tank in Southeast Asia.

Indonesian president elect sulilo Bambang yudhoyono said hewould pick a non-military defense minister as part of efforts of rein inthe powerful armed forces through civilian control.

The new defense minister would be a person who understands"the pale of the military in national life, democracy and human rights,""for that position I have chosen to place a civilian who understandsdefense issues so that military reform can proceed well and defensepolicies can be developed in a good manner," yudhoyono said. Underformer dictator Suharto the military was allowed to grow into a potentpolitical force, controllin-e various civilian positions and enjoying reservedseats in parliament.

Since Suharto's downfalr in l99g the armed forces have beenunder stron-q pressure to abandon politics and atone fbr human rightsabuses. Their right to legislative seats was abolished this year. The

Yodhoyono

United States has tied any resumption of military cooperation withlndonesia to military reform, including the calling to account of army-

backed militia violence surrounding East Timor's independence vote in

1999. Military cooperation with the United States was sharply reduced

in 1999 by a Congressional amendment during the East Timor turmoilin which 1,400 people died, according to the United Nations. Yudhoyono,

who is expected to announce his cabinet on the day of his October 20

inauguration, said the body will consist of 34 members to be chosen fortheir "personal integrity, capability, experience and acceptability." The

president-elect said he would revive ministries of sports and housing

scrapped following Suharto's resignation, an intended to split the trade

and industry portfblio.

Yudhoyono, has made ambitious pledges to reform the country's

sluggish economy and stamp out endemic comrption which has scared

away badly needed foreign investment.

Meanwhile, six civilians were killed when separatist guerrillassprayed their vehicles with bullets in an ambush in Indonesia's remote

eastern province of Papua. The killings were reportedly the latest in a

series of deaths in the province and prompted an evacuation of hundreds

of people from the area to prevent further bloodshed.

Gunmen believed to be of the Free Papua organization (OPM),

a fractious rebel group behind a long-running and sporadic independence

battle, attacked late TLresday near Papua's Mulia town, national police

spokesman Painran sairl. "'l'he details area still sketchy and we are stillawaiting the full rcport but the assailants were said to be from the

OPM," Paiman toltl Aljl).

No Australian tr(x)ps will be allowed in Indonesia. Indonesian

President Susilo Barttbrtrtg Yuclhoyono has ruled out allowing Australian

troops to be stationcd on its soil or letting them carry out pre-emptive

strikes against extrentists on its territory. In an interview with The

Bulletin magazine, Yudhoyono said relation with Australia would be a

priority for his government but no Australian military or police inIndonesia", he said. " With good cooperation, there will be no need forthe presence of the Australian military or police in Indonesia", he said.

il9

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l

t2lt20 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

"That would only create problems for Indonesian people, who couldwrongly perceive that as a form of intervention.',

Relations between the two countries have been prickly sinceAustralia led international intervention in East Timor in 1999 to srop abloodbath by Indonesian troops and theirmilitiaproxies. However, policeand other cooperation against Islamic extremists was stepped up afterthe 2002 Bali bombings. It was further increased after September's'bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. prime Minister JohnHoward's government has stirred controversy by raising the possibilityof preemptive strikes in the territory of unspecified neighbours to stopterrorist attacks. Those statements have been widely interpreted tomean Indonesia despite government denials. Since Howard's re-electionlast month, which coincided with that of yudhoyono, the Australiangovernment has talked of a new security pact with its giant neighbourin a bid to mend ties.

Yudhoyono told The Bulletin a discussion forum was moreimportant. "we don't need to create security or defiance pacts becauseeven in Southeast Asia we've never thought to create such pacts,,'hesaid. "what we need is a forum for dialogue between Indonesia andAustralia to initiate talk on how regional security can be managed, .,I

will push strongly to create such a forum." The former general alsopromised to take stern action against terrorists operating out ofIndonesia. The Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamedfor numerous attacks including the Bali blasts, is based in Indonesia.

President Yudhoyono, popularly known by initials SBt is theUS educated former General of the army, one time Suharto's adjutantand a former security minister under Sukarnoputri. In Asia, generallysoldier presidents have less institutional higher education but sBy isalready a Ph. D. candidate in Jakarta university and his doctoral thesisis about poverty alleviation and address of unemployment problem.The President has a reputation of being a moderate, capable and cautiousadministrator. He is widely supported by Western governments, whoare pleased with his relatively strong stance against Islamic extremism;his remarks on Bali bombings drew applause from them being directly

Yodhoyono

elected by popular votes he should enjoy or command immense power

and authority. The electorate looked for a clean President, a clean

cabinet and a government that govern with no fuss or ado. The President

faces a daunting task and a tough time solving Indonesia's many

problems and the works are cut out for him. He will have to streamline

the sagging economy, curb alarming and endemic corruption and arouse

public confidence in the democratic system. No less he will be bothered

with reforms in all sectors, especially in economy and judiciary. It willbe difficult for him to maintain the pace with people's aspirations and

wishes. These days the voters are too demanding.

Yudhoyono is relatively new in the political arena but certain

things he began with after assuming office are really commendable.

As the new cabinet was sworn-in, he urged the newly appointed

ministers to produce results rather than rhetoric to allay public doubts

about their capability. The President promised to personally lead a war

on endemic graft and revive a state economy. And cabinet member

implicated in comrption should resign immediately and face the sanctions

under the country's law. But he'd rather be careful not to alienate a

predominantly Muslim bloc. The Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah,

which is blamed for numerous attacks inclucling the Bali nightclub blasts,

killing mostly foreigners (who werc clancing, drinking and dating withBalinese charming damsels actually), is based in Indonesia.'Yudhoyono's

one problem is that he does not control the parliament; his rival politicalparties are in command. His Democratic party led coalition has only

103 of 550 seats in the House such a situation he has to carry the

parliament with hirn to introcluce reforms and, therefore, he will need

plenty of tact, skill a ltct'sttitsiveness to manage the parliament, or else

his cherished goals will ncver be achieved, to say the least. One way to

go about it for a smooth sail will be to further include members form

different parties in his ne w cabinet; it will also help him to meet another

crucial challenge in the sense that the parliament will be made a partner

in his vital reform programme.

Another priority area is the separatist movement in Aceh and

Papua. The issue now is resolution and dialogue. Armed conflicts and

Human Rights abuses are routinely reported from there. A political

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----r

122 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

rather than a military solution is the answer to make a break through inthe nagging processes. After the loss of East Timor, many outlyingislands are toying with the idea of secession from Indonesia, as reportsfilter in authoritatively. Here, there is a greater need for balancing aneffective central authority in Jakarta and granting greater degree ofautonomy to these areas but how he does all that dynamics remains tobe monitored or seen. However, the President is said to be intellectuallycurious, more comfortable in the spotlight than Megawati, and alsowidely viewed as a man of integrity, who would be strong in times ofcrises. At the same time he is thought to be indecisive and too much ofa micro-manager, not is there much to separate him from Megawati onpolicy. Some critic's point out army's influencing the politics in Indonesiabut the Herald Tribune wrote: "We're less alarmist but must point outthat even if the new president wanted to; it would be pretty hard forthe General to reverse the democratic trend".

President Yudhoyono must spare no effbrts to consolidate theedifice of democracy on one hand and ensure refbrms, security andreconciliation and the economic recovery thereby alleviating people'ssufferings, and not ever compromise with corruption at any level or theother. If he can himself remain above board and untainted and reallytakes on the corrupt regardless of their position and connection to evenhigh places, and at the same time fares reasonable well in other areaswith transparency and account ability-albeit any spectacularachievement is unrealistic-he will surely succeed with the sagacity hepossesses and in the process help the new-found democracy marchahead with all its bounties and blessings. He must remain alert that hispast as an army general is not mirrored in his new dernocratic rule.Under him, Indonesia has to demonstrate itself not only as moderate,tolerant Muslim country but also as one with better security in the faceof terrorist attacks alle-eedly from indigenous terrorist networks. In shoft,good -governance must be hallmark of his .government with all thepresidential trappings.

Chapter 17

Anwar lbrahim

A defiant Anwar Ibrahim pledged to fight on for reform inMalaysia as he returned to a hero's welcome after spinal surgery in

Germany, saying Prime Minister Abdulla Ahamad Badawi fell short ofexpectations during his first year in power. Hundreds of supporters

defied a police van to greet the fbrmer deputy premier at the airport,chanting his battle cry of "Reformasi" (reform) and shouting "Long

live Anwar!"

Some 1,000 gathered later at his home in an up-market KualaLumpur suburb. Anwar told them his release last month after six years

in jail was just the start of a new chapter in the struggle to reform a

government which he says is corrupt. "I want to say thank you to you

all but let me stress our problems are many. Don't think now that Anwaris free, everything is settled," he said in a20 minute speech to supporters

gathered in his garden in the street and perched on the walls around his

house.

"Anwar's release is the start of a new chapter. This chapter is

one of defending the rights of all Malaysians, of all races," he said.

Anwar, whose convictiort lirr ctlrruption has bars him from standing

for public office until 200tt, said he would seek a meeting with Abdullah,

who took over when prc:nticl Mahathir Mohamad retired. He said he

would thank Abdullah liu Itis release but has no intention of rejoiningthe ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO). He stressed

he would stay in the opposition camp and in the National Justice Party(Keadilan) headed by his wife Wan Azizah Ismail.

Anwar told reporters later that Abdullah's pledges for reformand an anti-corruption drive "fell short ofexpectations" especially after

the victory of the UMNO-led rulin-e coalition in March's general election.

He said he would press the premier for further reform of the judiciary,

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I l.l The Muslims of Southeast Asia

Ior an easing of pressure on opposition parties and "a sustainable

cconorlic approach" to wipe our poverty, curb corruption and build a

competitive nation. "The general feeling is that nothing has actually

changed. What we demand is an agenda for change," Anwar said. He

urged supporters to ensure their efforts were peaceful so the

government had no excuse to clamp down on them. Anwar, heir

apparent to Mahathir before being on charges of corruption and sodomy

which he said were cooked up to prevent him challenging Mahatir forthe premiership. Anwar said some of his supporters had initiated moves

to seek a pardon for him form the king that would let him enter politics

immediately, but such a quest was not an admission of guilt.

' "I am innocent of these vicious allegations against me," he said.

He had already served a sentence for allegedly corruptly using his

position to cover up chalges of sexual misconduct when the country's

highest court overturned his separate conviction for sodomy on

September 2 and set him tiee. Anwar criticized the massive police

operation at the airport to prevent his supporters turning out welcome

him, saying, "They (his supporters) brought flowers, not bullets." Police

set up six roadblocks on the way to the airport outside Kuala Lumpur

but more than 500 supporters turned up, many taking the high-speed

train from the capital.

The gruesome deaths in south Thailand was on the mink ofAnwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's most famous dissident and best known

moderate Muslim reformist leader, as he set foot on Malaysian soil on

November I after spending two months abroad seeking rnedical

treatment for spinal injuries made worse during his time in a local jail.

The former Malaysian deputy prime minister expressed grave

concern over the escalating crisis and condemned Thai Prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatra's claim that 78 Muslim men who suffbcated while

in military custody died because they were weakened by fasting during

the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The 78 were part of a group of 1,300 protesters crammed into

trucks by troops after they broke up a demonstration in Tak Bai insouthern Narathiwat province.

Anwar Ibrahim

At leas six others were also shot dead at the protest and threeothers were found drowned in a river near the protest site, officialssaid.

"I urge Thaksin to resolve the problems in a just and fair mannerwithout relying too much on the security frrrces." Anwar told IPS, whenhe landed in the capital city after being away in Germany for spinalsurgery.

"The Muslirn problcrn (in south Thailand) is related to povertyand lack of developrnent. I am deeply saddened by the tragedy andurge all parties not to prolong the conflict as it would escalate out ofcontrol," he added.

While Anwar expressed his concern over the escalation violencein southern Thailand and democracy in the region and at home, hissupporters, however, had to battle police merely to greet him at theairport.

The former deputy Prime Minister returnecl home to a rousingwelcome from thousands ofjubiland supportcrs who had earlier scuffledwith police and broke through several laycrs o1'tight police cordon thatto some opposition leaders brrtr"rght back rncrtrorie s of the heavy handedcrackdowns thut u,crc colltnt()n rvhcn Mahathir Mohammad was primeminister. Thouslrnrls ( )l \upl)( )l'lr'l s wcrc tLrrnccl away at police roadblocksmounted on lll ultplotrchcs to tlrc airport. Many canied placards thatread "Anwar for u Ncri, Mlrllry,sia." "Why the heavy security ... whythe crackdown whcrr thc1, only brought flowers not bullets?" askedAnwar as hundreds ol' su[)lx)t'tcls shouted "Reformasi ! R.eformasi!" -the old battle cry that hucl brought thousands into the street demandingrespect for human rishts uncl space fbr freedom of expression. "Weare all brothers.. we reject thc ltolitics of using Muslims and non-Muslimsto scare Muslims. We will work fbr justice and equality for all races,"Anwar told cheering supporters.

Anwar was Mahathir's deputy and heir-apparent to thepremiership before being sacked in 1998 and later jailed on chargeswhich he said were cooked up to prevent him challenging Mahathir for

t25

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126 The Muslims of Southeast AsiaAnwar Ibrahim 127

But despite such fears there is also hope that Anwar's returnopens a new chapter in Malaysian politics. "What we had w-aited forhas finally arrived, our typhoon to bring the chan-qes we had long desiredhas finally arrived and he is before us," said Hassan Ali, vice presidentof the party lslam se Malaysia in a speech to thousands of supportersgathered at Anwar's house on Sunday. "Anwar will reunite the

opposition, he will infuse new vi-9our intous. he willchange the country'spolitical landscape," he said. "He is the only man who can pull it."

the leadership. While undergoing interrogation he was beaten by the

then inspectoi general of poliie *tti.t"r aggravated a spinal injury caused

by a horse-riding accrdent' For years' he could not walk unaided and

fraa to use a wheel chair and a neck brace to support his spine' Anwar

had already served a sentence for allegedly using his position to cover

up .f,urg", of sexual misconduct when the country's highest court

overturned his separate conviction for sodomy on September 2 and set

him free. The Federal court, however, upheld a corruption charge'

which means that he is barred from holding political office or contesting

in elections for five years until 2008'

Supporters have appealed to King to pardon him' an act that

would lift the ban. Anwar 'tuia n" would press present Prime Minister

Abdullah Ahmed Badawi ltrrthcr to ease the pressure on opposition

parties. "Our judiciary is still shor-t lully independent"' hela1{' Anwar

alsochargedthatcorruptionwasstiIlrarnpantc|espiteAbdullah'spledgeto weed it. "A new cfrapter starts today in our struggle lbr a just society

freeoffear,maliceund"or.uprion.Corruptionislampantandtheeconomy is in deep deficit," he told his supporters stancling-unaided'

Taken together, some analysis believe Anwar's return to politics' his

internationalstandingasamode,atelslamicleaderandhischarismaticpull on young, *"r,"i', educated Malays is set to challenge the political

establishment and radically alter the political landscape'

That aside, Anwar has also kept open the option of rejoining

the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) now headed

by Abdullah even as he reiterates he will remain with the opposition' It

is a possibility that some in Anwar's camp hope for and an option that

others fear. There is also deep division within Anwar's National Justice

Party over how to relate to the equally reformist minded Abdullah whose

soft spoken, common-man style has a huge following' Abdullah is equally

respected like Anwar for his lslamic erudition' "Even if Abdullah is

willing to accommodate Anwar' Abdullah is coming under real pressure

from Mahathir's taction in UMNO to check Anwar's political

comeback," a political analyst told IPS' "Anwar has to be careful not

to appear that he wants to overturn the boat or he might end up

imprisoned again."

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Chapter 18

Abdullah Badawi

Dato'Seri Abdutlah Ahmed Badawi: The Prime Ministerof Malaysia

A strong advocate of instilling the right mindset, culture, values

and attitude in people, the Honorable Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmed Badawi

believes in devel0ping Malaysians in all spheres, particularly via

education, for the cotttinuous success of the country'

Since he took ol'fice as thc 5'r' Prirne Minister of Malaysia on

3l.,October 2003. Dato' seri Abdullah has irttroduced various policies

that placed gleat importance on hutrlan resources. This is partly anributed

to his background.

The Prime Minister was born on 26 Novembcr 1939 in Bayan

lepas, Penang, to a family of educationists. His grartdfather was the

founder of an Islamic religious school which he attended, besides the

English-based education system at Bukit Mertajarn High School and

the Methodists Boys' school in Penang.

It was in these formative years that his knowledge on Islam

was nurtured and strengthened when he pursued a Bachelor of Arts

(Honours) in Islamic studies at University of Malaya. The Prime

Minister holds the view that Islam and modernity are not mutually

exclusive and therefore places great emphasis on developeing a society

that is progressive, modern and knowledgeable.

The Prime Minister started his career by joining the

government's Public Service Department in 1964. he moved to the

National operation council (Noc) in 1969, a body that was set up to

steer the country's direction post the racial riot in 1969'

His current views towards racial integration in Malaysia are

greatly shaped by his experience in the council. Dato' Seri Abdullah

Abdullah Badawi

'.vas then promoted to rhe Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (lgl l-1 978). His is no stranger to youth issues. having served as the presidentof Federation of Peninsula Malay Students (Gabun-ean pelajar-pelajarMelayu Seminanjung) from 1962 to t964. as the Director General andlater Depr"rLy Secretary Ceneral of the Ministry, Dato' Seri Abdullahactively engaged youths, particLrlarly stuclcnt leaders whose viewscommonly contradicted the Governnrcnt's. 'l-he Prime Minister stron-qlybelieves that youth is onc ol'the nation's rr.rosl important assets and isthe foundation of the country's firture-.

The Prinre Ministcr's direct fbray into politics was marked byhis resignation fiom thc public service in 1978. Since he won his firstparliamentary clection in 1978, the Prirne Minister has successfullyretained his Kepala Batas seat. A loyal United Malay NationalOrganization (UMNO) member since 1965, rhe prime Minister hasheld various posts in the political party. tle is currently UMNO ActingPresident.

His first political appointment to the Governnrent was as theParliamentary Secretary to the Federal Te rritory Ministry. He was thenpromoted to DepLrty Minister in rhe sanre Ministry in 1980. Dato' SeriAbdullah latcr held the posr of Minisrr.r'in the prime Minister'sDepartnrerrt ( | 98(r- I 9tl7 ) arrrl M inisrcr .l' l-.rc-ign Affair ( r 99 r - rggg).In January 1999. I)uto' Scri Alrtlullrrlr was appointed as the DeputyPrime ministcr lnrl Mirrisrcr .l'll.rne Aflairs. He now holds 2 otherportfolios, namely Mirristr'_v .l lntcrnal Security and Ministry of Finance.The Prime Ministcr is uls, tlrc ('hairrnan of the Non-Aligned Movement(NAM) and Organizrrion ol'llrc Islamic Cont'erence (OIC).

In his leisure tirnc. rhc I)rirne Minister enjoys golf and fishing.Dato' Seri Abdullah is nrarrierl to Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, ancl thc'couple is blessed with a son ancl a daushter. The Prirne Minister has -lgrandchildren.

Abdullah Ahmed Badawi was sworn in (on Monday 23-03-0.1)as Malaysia's fifth Prime Minisrer, one day after securing a landslide.election victory that handed the extremist Islamic opposition its worstdef-eat in more than a decade. Abdullah. dressed in a sornbrc black

129

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r3l130 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

tunic and traditional gold embroidered cloth wrapped around his waist,

took the oath of office before the king Syed Sirajuddin in the national

palace, where he swore to "fulfil the obligations of this post withhonestly and with all strength," "I will be loyal to Malaysia and protect

and defend the constitution", Abdullah pledged.

The ceremony, which was attended by hundreds of top officialsincluding former long-time leader Mahathir Mohamad who handed

power to Abdullah five months ago, took place as recounting continued

to decide whether the Islamic opposition would recover a modicum ofpride after March 21, sweeping defeat by retaining control one ofMalaysia's 13 states.

Abdullah's National Front was returned to power with a massive

majourity-l95of 219 seats in the Fcderal Parliament and strummed the

opposition by securing huge margins, even in the states opposition PAS

thought were safely its own. Voters over whclmigly rejected the hard-

line policies of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, known as PAS, infavour of Abdullah's promises of a moderate fbrm tlf'lslitm and cleaner

government after Mahathir, who retired October 2003. al'ter 22 years

in power.

In just over six weeks in office, Abdullah has shaken up the

powerful civil service with personal spot checks on depar-trnent notorious

for their shoddy practice and acknowledged that government comrption

is a serious problem that needs attention. He has talked up rural

progmrnmes to woo the country's politically dominant Malay community.

And he has displayed unexpected gumption by shelving a controversial

14.5 billion ringgit (3.8 billion) railway project and mandating the review

of several other large and controversial infrastructure contract award

made in the month before Mahatir retired. (Far Eastern Review Dee

25-2003-Jan 1,2004)

Malaysia's Prime Minister has assured illegal immigrants that

they would not be arrested or persecuted if they leave the countryvoluntarily under an amnesty offer. The premier, Abdullah AhmadBadawi, said that illegal workers should come out immediately to avoid

bottlenecks in the closing days of the amnesty. The authorities will not

Abdullah Badawi

detain or prosecute the illegal immigrants, Abdullah was quoted as

saying by the national news agency, Bernama. Malaysia has said ithope to evict some 400,000 of its estimated 1.2 million illegal foreignworkers during the l7 days amnesty that began Friday for the Islamicholy fasting month of Ramadan. Most of the illegal workers are fromIndonesia and form the backbone of Malaysia's construction industry,

but are also accused of petty crimes such as thefts.

According to the government, only 2,017 illegal immigrants,

mostly Indonesians, left Malaysia, far below the 20,000 target set by

the government. Abdullah noted that illegal workers are already livingin the country in fear and are vulnerable to exploitation by theiremployers, who don't have to pay them as much as legal workers.

Abdullah hinted that there will be future amnesty programs also. "We

can't say that is the final program, because the problems of entry intothe country will persist from time to time as it is difficult to control the

extensive coastline," he was quoted as saying.

With eight full-fledged Islamic Banks including three MiddleEast players, predominantly Muslim Malaysia has set the stage to

become a key Islamic financial hub in the region, analysts say. The

central bank last week completed a plan to f zrst-track the liberalizationof the Islamic banking sector this year, three years ahead of the WorldTrade Organization deadline in 2007. It awarded the remaining twoforeign Islamic banking. Licenses to Saudi Arabia's largest bank Al-Rajhi Banking and lnvestmcnt and the consortium led by the QatarIslamic Bank after granting the first one to Kuwait Finance House inMay.

Three local banking groups- Hong Kong Bank, Commerce-

Asset Holding and RHB Capital were also granted approvals recently

to open Islamic banking arms. joining existing players Bank Muamalatand BIMB Holdings Bhd.

Analysts said the entrance of foreign players would push local

banks to innovate and compete more a-qgressively in developing Islanric

products and services..

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=--

ttl The Muslirns of Southeast Asia

While nei-ehboring Singapore and Hong Kong have establisheclthemselves as the financial center in Asia, Malaysia is carving a nicheto tap billions of dollars of Muslim funds seeking new investment homesafter the 2001 tenor attacks in the United States and uncertainties rnthe Middle East. they said.

"The intention of brin-qing in foreign players was not for thenrto compete in the local market but to use Malaysia as a spring bard todo regional anclelobal businesses, which will eventually raise Malaysia'sprofile as a global hub tbr Islamic finance and banking," said TASecLrtityies rese arch chief Ngu Chie Kieng.

Islarric banking. l'irst introduced in mainly Muslim Malaysia in1983, combincs Islalrric luu,s against interest payments with modernbankin-r principles.

The governnrcut lras siricl it woulcl rraclually award Islamicbanking license to all banks as l)art ol'cl'lilrts to nrake the segmentgrow and encourage the expansion of sucl'r sclviccs ol'lshore.

As of June, assists in Malaysia's Islamic banking sector stoodat 89.1 billion rin-e-eit (23.45 billion dollars), representing neady I percentof the overall bankin_e system, and the governntent ain.ts to double thisto percent by 2010.

Avenue Securities analyst Chan Ken Yew saicl the new foreignplayers would bring in a diff'erent scope of experience and expertise interm of Islamic compliant products and services.

"These torei-sn banks will be able to help attract the inflow offunds fiom West Asia, a re-eion with higher incorne per capita. So thepie can eventually ,erow big-eer for everybody," he said. But despite thehuge potentials, Chan cautioned that the challenge for the Islamic Bankswere to erlsure they have strong risk management. "It is hard for Islamicbank to do hedgin-e. They will not be able to capitalize on a high interestrate environment as they cannot pass on the high rates to the customers."he said, adding most banks -eenerally favour conventional to Islamicbankin-e. Econclrnists said there has been a boom in Islamic banking inthe aftermath of the Septernber I I terror attacks in the United States

Abdullah Badawi lll

rrs investors pulled funds out of the west. The Islamic finance marketrvorldwide is estimated to be worth 200 billion dollars and is rowing at

l-5 percent ayea\ they said.

Refugee status soon for 10,000 Rohingyas

About 10,000 Rohingyas in Malaysia rvill soon be able to breathe

easy. Minister in the Prime Minister's Depaftment Datuk Seri Nazri

Aziz confirmed today that the Govcrrtrlcrtt was in the process of givingthe Rohingyas (an ethnrc minoritl' gf()Lrp in Myanmar) identificatroncards and according them refugec status. This something that has been

long awaited by the displaced community in Malaysia and the UnitedNations High Commissioners for refugee (UNHCR). UNHCR grants

the Rohingyas political refugee status but as they have not been formallyrecognized by the Malaysian Government, they can be detained and

deported. Nazri said he had recently informed MPs about the decisionand that the details of the ID issuance would be handled by the HomeAffairs Ministry. He added that the ID card would not constitutecitizenship status, as it was a tool to allow the Government to monitortheir movements within the country as well as prevent thern fiom bein-s

deported.

Most Rohingyas, with lons-standinq srievances a-eainst theirGovernment. come into Malaysia legally lrLrt then tltey are either not

welcome back in their country or have destroyed their clwn

documentatiou.

Accorcling to urticle I of thc' UN Convention on refu-Qees. a

refugee is someonc who is outsiclc his or her country or nationality or

habitual residence; has l rveIl-firunded fear of persecution because ofhis/her race, religion, naliortrlity, nembership in a particular social grottlt

or political opinion, antl is Lrnable fbr unwillin-e to avail himself/hersell

of the protection oi' thut country, or to return there, for fear ol'persecution.

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Chapter 19

Thai Muslims Massacre

Thailand's army said it was investigating a reporr that 40 peopreremained missing at a riot and the rounding up of Muslim protesterstwo weeks ago that left 87 people dead.

Families claim the men have been missing since october 25when security fbrces broke up a protest at Tak Bai in the southernprovince of Narathiwat and pilled hundreds of arrested men into armytrucks, according to a Thai newspaper report. Some 7g died mainlyfrom suffocation and crushing in the trucks, according to officials, alongwith nine when troops and police broke up the riot with gunfire, teargas and water cannon.

The army denied that it was hiding details of anybody who wasmissing. But an informed source in the region said: "According to armyintelligence, there were about 20 people berieved missing from theincident."

The source said the 20 did not include the 22 victims whoremained unidentified following the tragedy at Tak Bai.

Army officials said the missing men could have left the areaand passed into neighbouring Malaysia without telling their families.

" We don't have anybody that is missing up until now," armyspokesman colonel somkuan saengpataranetr told AFp. "we are tryingto investigate but we have to ask the police to contact the families."

The bodies of the22 unidentified men have already been buriedbut families were being shown photographs, according to the Ban-ekokPost newspaper. The government has set up an independent commissionto investi-eate the deaths of the 78, headed by a fbrmer parliamentaryombudsman, but a gxoup representing Muslims in Thailand said ruesdavit was setting up its own inquiry.

Thai Muslims Massacre

"We found that some of our information did not match the

information from the govemment. We nee to find the truth," said Paisarn

Promyong, deputy secretary of the Islamic Committee of Thailand.

Meanwhile, killings continued in the Muslim-majority south witha man and his wife, both Buddhist factory workers, shot dead as theytraveled to work. They were killed by two men riding a motorcycle. a

common tactic used by militants in the region where more than 450people have died this year in an insurgency sparked back to life inJanuary.

A group of 144 academics have increased the pressure on

Thailand's premier by releasing an open letter demanding his apologiesfor the deaths of 78 Muslim protesters piled on army trucks by securityforces. The academics from 18 Thai universities said Prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatra should take responsibility for the deaths followinga riot two weeks ago in the insurgency-wracked Muslim-majority south

of the country.

Thaksin has said the deaths should not have happened but has

stoopped short of a full apology. On Monday he said he could apologiesif he thought it would help the situation. "I am ready to do anything if ithelps to stop the problem. I could apologies if it will help, I can walk toevery single house if it helps," he told reporters.

"The government has to do many things to heal people's feelings'after

the incident." A total of 87 people died after troops broke up the

riot at Tak Bai in the southern province of Narathiwat with tear gas,

water cannon and gunfirc. The majority suffocated or were crushed

after being bound ancl left for hours on trucks.

Since the tragecly, Thaksin has continued to take a hard lincagainst militants blamed for an insurgency that has left at least -53(.)

people dead since January. But the academics in their letter saitl tlrcgovernment had failed in its tough policy of suppression. "Wc to(allydisagree with the policy of using force to solve the problem antl wc crrll

fbr the government to change its policies," said the letter. "As the highcst

person in power, the prime minister cannot deny responsibility lirr llrt'

t -15

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-I

t31t36 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

failure of the policies and the least the prime minister should do isapologies to the people, especially Muslims and relatives of the deadpeople." Thaksin said he was prepared to meet the academics to discusstheir concerns.

Muslims make up about ten percent of the population ofpredominantly Buddhist Thailand, who are in a maiority in four of theki ngdom's southern provinces.

Meanwhile, Buddhists in Thailand have implored prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatra to end violence targeting them on an almost dailybasis in the south of the country.

Nearly two dozen people have died, many of them Buddhists,in a series of revenge attacks after a government crackdown on a riottwo weeks ago left 85 Muslirns dead. Thaksin visited a temple in TakBai district in Narathiwat provincc, where as many as r,000 BuddhistsIiving in the mainly Islamic region hacl gathered to express fear overrevenge attacks and frustration over finding thosc conrmitting the crimes.The government is moving to suppress a video cD .r'security forcesbeating Muslim protestors in the restive south on a clay in which g7dernonstrators were killed.

A defense ministry spokesman said police had been instructetlto investigate potential charges against the VCD's producers, whomhe said were part of a group already well known to authorities andlinked to the current violence. "The vcD producers want to createmore violence and want to make it harder for the -qovernment 1o solvethe unrest in the south," said spokesman Major General BalanguraKlaharn. "We already know which people are making these VCDs butwe don't want to reveal their names right now," he said.

The VCD shows soldiers beating and tramplin_q on protesterswhose hands are bound behind their backs after a riot at Tak Bai inNarathiwat province on October 25, accordin-9 to the Bangkok post.The daily said the video was compiled tiom news footage as weil asprivate video coverage of the day in which 87 Muslim demonstratorsdied most of them through suffocation after bein_e piled onto the backsof army trucks.

Thai Muslims Massacre

Tensions have risen sharply in the Muslim-majority south since

the Tak Bai deaths leading to a spate of gun, bomb, and arson attacks

mostly targeting state officials and buildings

An outlawed Thai Muslim separatist group offered a bounty ofover 2,000 US dollars for the killing of -Sovernols or senior government

officials in the troubled Muslim-majority south.

Muslim separatists warnecl of a violent backlash against the

brutal quelling of a riot that lelt 8-5 protesters dead in the south, as the

Thai premier faced mounting cluestigns over the handling of the incident.

Tensions retlainecl high in thc Muslim-dominated region, where

a separatist insurgency has raged this year and left more than 415

people deacl. with violence erupting anew at the Monday protest and

its aftermath. Six protesters were reportedly shot dead at the

demonstration outside the Tak Bai police station in southern Narathiwat

province, while officials acknowledged that 78 had suffocated or were

crushed to death after being arrested and crammed onto military trucks.

The toll rose by on when a protester succumbed to his injuries

in hospital, according ot General Sirichai Thanyasiri' chairman of the

Southern Border Provinces Peace Building Command. A longstanding

and outlawed separatist group vowecl to carry out revenge attacks

following the deaths. "They will pay fbr what they have done, their

cities will burn." said the statcnrent posted on the website of the Pattani

United Libcra(ion Organization (PULO). "Their blood will pour into

Land River," it wcrtt ort. "Otrr wcapons are fire and oil".

The massagc lirllowcd a threat posted on the same website in

April to foreigners not to travcl to key Thai tourist destinations following

the deaths of 108 militants ancl 5 security forces during a one day

uprisin-q against Bangkok's rule. Separatist-related violence erupted

again, police said, with the execution-style shooting death of Thai village

headman assistant Prasit Sukpaiboon in Narathiwat's Raman district.

Three other people in the province were shot and wounded' according

to the police. Police defused a bomb set to go off outside a provincial

schoolin Narathiwat.

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The Muslims of Southeast Asia

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced he was launchingan inquiry into the deaths, which have brought widespread internationaloutrage, particularly in majority Muslim nations including Iran, pakistanand rhai neighbour Malaysia. Most victims suffocated while severalbroke their necks when 1,300 people were stuffed into vehicles at leastsix hours, after police and troops had used water cannon, gunfire andtear gas to break up the demonstration.Thaksin stopped short of anapology after blaming fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadanand drug use among protesters for the high death toll. Rights groupshave demanded an independent investigation and autopsies to determinehow the protesters died.

In its editorial of 28-10-04 issue the Independent Dailv ofBangladesh wrote:

"Yet another country is the scene of clashes between minorityMuslims and mainstream Buddhists. Thailand's Muslim south was thescene of clashes that left 84 Muslims died, an agency report said. Mostof the victims suffocated whenl300 detained protesters were crammedinto trucks after officials used water cannon and tear gas to break up aprotest on 25th of october outside a police station in Narathiwat whichis a Muslim populated area. six died in the clashes with the police andthe others were crushed and suffocated as they were being taken away .

in trucks for questioning. The Thai prime Minister, speaking on thesedeaths said that the protesters were weak from fasting during Ramazanand some of them quickly succumbed to the heat of suffocation.

"Events since the l |h of september 2001, have demonstratedthat worldwide, in the countries where the Muslims are a minority, boththe majority of the people, and the governments have taken them to beactivists and terrorists are subduing them by fbrce and even killingthem. Any protests by Muslims in such countries provoke extremereaction from the people and the law enforcing authorities. In this mosrrecent Thai tra-eedy the scenario was brought about by overreactionfiom the police who put down the protests by force, and one can say ina merciless manner, not even considering the physical condition of thefasting protesters, which the Thai prime Minister admitted. so many

Thai Muslims Massacre

deaths from a single day of demonstration are unprecedented in norrnal

times, in any country. Besides being repressed in everyday social and

community aspects, the Muslims in Thailand seem to be now faced

with grave threats from the administration and the law and order

authorities. Things have come to such a pass that many ordinary law-abiding Muslims are harassed regularly in civic life by fellow non-Muslim

citizens, and law and order agencies. Any minor transgressions orroutine protests by Muslims on socio-political issue are taken up as

major infringements of law and order in the community and by the

administration.

"Though issues relating to communal harmony are considered

internal matters of every country, but the problem of repression on

Muslirns in various countries, West or East, particularly since 11'n

September, needs it be tackled by government of nations. Bangladesh

should also voice its concern in the world body and may also be part ofa 'group action committee' of representatives from Asian countries,

where issues of communal harmony and repression of minoritycommunities are assuming serious and critical status. We are also

hopeful that the Thai government, under the leadership of its dynamic

Prime Minister, will solve their problems of communal strife with urgency

and dispatch."

Thailand to prosecute 300 Muslims detained in deadlyriot

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the government

would prosecute 300 hundred Muslims detained at riot this week that

led to the deaths of 87 protesters, while another 900 would be releasecl.

Facing mountitr-t:l criticism over the level of force used in the

Muslim-majority south, the premier also said he may lifi a curf'ew

imposed after chaotic clemonstration where about 1,300 petlplc wcrc

arrested "I have received a report from General Sirichai Tanyasiri.

head of the southern Provinces Peacekeeping Commancl, that 3(X) ol

the detains will be prosecuted, and more than 900 would bc rclcasetl."

Thaksin said in his weekly radio address.

t39r38

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I "10 The Muslims of Southeast Asia

He did not say what charges the 300 would face. Under martiallaw, suspects can be detained for up to seven days without charge. Ofthose arrested at the protest in Tak Bai, Narathiwat province, 78 diedin the custody of Thai security forces. Six were shot dead during theriot, while another three were found drowned in river next to the protestsite, according to the foreign ministry. The anltouncement came as adelegation of Thailand's independent National Human RightsCommission was in the south conduction a probe into the deaths.

Commissioner Amporn Meesuk led the delegation of Tak Baito study the scene of the original violence and arrests, and to meet withpolice there. Thaksin said the hundreds to be freed had been "deceived"and incited by rumors that government forces had attacked villagers."The army will organizc transportation for all freed protesters to theirdistricts. They will be givcn 200 baht (4.88 dollars) and a shirt sincetheir shirts were stripped ofT during the arrcsts," the premier said.

Massacre of Thai Muslims denounced

Thailand's government faced withering criticisnr on Wednesdayafter almost 80 Muslims suffocated to death while in army custody,with one newspaper blaming the tragedy on the prime minister's flawedleadership.

Only six people were previously believed to have been killedWhen troops and police opened fire to quell a riot outside a policc stationon Monday in Narathiwat province. But the huge leap in the toll to 78.and the manner of the deaths, was expected to fuel tension in thc threesouthernmost provinces where 440 people have died in violence sinceJanuary. In a front page editorial, the Nation newspaper blarned thetragedy on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinatwatra's "contempt fbr humanrights" and his iron-fisted approach to a region that is home to most ofThailand's six million Muslims. "Now this flawed trait of his leadershipis threatenin-e to plunge the country into the bitterest and most detrimentaldivide between people and state" it said.

"Thaksin may not have been directly responsible for themcrammed into military trucks like pigs headed for slaughterhouses, bur

Thai Muslims Massacre

the troops' demonstration of hatred and disre-{ard for humanitariantslll

simply reflected how the county is bein-e governed," the Nation saicl.

The Thai Post, a Thai language newspaper, criticized their governtnent's

heavy-handed campaign in the south. "Efforts to resolve problems with

eye-for-an-eye measures will ease problems and restore confidencc

to the affected community," the newspaper said in a editorial' The

Bangkok Post said the tragedy coulcldt'ive Muslim youths into the hands

of militants "bent on creating an lslalnic state in southern Thailand.""The government must realize that bt'ute force alone will not pactfy the

restive South. And it will never succeed in winning the war against

Islamic militants withor-rt the support and cooperation of localMuslims."

In Bo THONG, Thailand's Prime Minister expressed regret Wednesday

over the deaths of 78 Muslirn detainees who suffocated or were crushed

while cramtned into army trucks afier a riot, but insisted his security

forces acted appropriately to quell the rioting.

Hundreds of grieving relatives flocked to a military camp to

claim the bodies, and outra-9ed Islamic leaders warned the deaths cloud

worsen sectarian violence in the Muslim-dorninated south ofpredominantly Buddhist Thaitand. More than 400 people have been

killed this year in a revival of a long-sin-rmering insurgency. Human

rights g.rrltrp urgcd the governlncnt to ittvestiglte the deaths. Prime

Ministcr'l'haksin Sltinawatra acknowlcdged "thcrc were some

mistakes", unrl tllr( uuthorities lackcd cnou-eh trucks to properly transport

the nearly 1,3(X) pcoplc'rtt't'cstccl in Monday's riot in southern Narathiwltprovince becausc it was rt ptrl"rlic holiday.

Gen. Sirichai Tlrunyasiri. commander of a task force on secul'ity

in the region, saicl thc trilitary used only four trucks to transport tltc

detainees, and that thcy spent more than six hours in the vehicles beforc

arriving at an army cantp in a neighborin-9 province. "We are sorry fbrthat, sony they met an untimely death," Thaksin told the Senate' which

had demanded an explanation fbr the deaths. Sen. Kraisak Choonhavan

urged Thaksin to apolo-eies publicly, saying the Prime Minister had

"praised the military for doing a -eood job and makin-s people die." "Tltc

human rights groups should not sit idle - they should to try to gc-t ricl ol

this government," Kraisak told Parliament.

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Relatives wept Wednesday as a police spokesman read outnames of the dead out side the Inkayuty-Borihan army camp in Pattaniprovince. Muslim resident Wadamae Hajehding, 62, traveled to thearmy camp in hopes of finding that his 23 year-old son was not amongthe dead. He said Thailand's security forces were "too cruel". Policeand soldiers fired water cannons and tear gas, then shot into the air totry to scatter the crowd.

After subduing the rioters, police and soldiers kicked and insome cases smashed rifle butts into young men as they were forced toslither bare-chested across a road to the trucks that took them away.In the latest violence, gunmen riding on the back of motorcycles killedone person in Yala province and seriously wounded four others in twoseparate drive-by shootin_{s in Narathiwat. Thaksin blamed the unreston separatist leaders with ties to Muslirns in northern Malaysia andIslamic teachers. "The core separatists are commuting betweenKelantan state of Malaysia and southern Thailand.'l'he ar-rthorities willnot bow to these members of the movement," he said.

Islamic leaders in neighboring Malaysia and Indonesiadenounced the crackdown in Thailand, with some calling it a "holocaust"and "state terrorism".ln Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest Islamicopposition party denounced the Thai government. Hatta Ramli,Malaysia's a senior official with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, saidthose killed including at least 78 detainees who suffocated or werecrushed to death after being packed into trucks were victims of "aholocaust which the Thai sovernment is resoonsible for".

Thaksin cancels trip to APEC summit

Thailand's premier has canceled his trip to the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Chile this month amidcontinuin-e violence after 87 Muslim protestors died in the country'sstrife-hit south. Thaksin Shinawatra called off the trip as revenge killingscontinued in the Muslim-majority region after dozens of Muslim mendied from suffocation after being rounded up and piled into trucksfollowing ariot 12 days ago. "The Prime Minister will nor be traveling

Thai Muslims Massacre

to Chile to attend the APEC summit." Yongyut Tiyapirat, secretary

general to the Prime Minister told AFP. His absence will be a markedcontrast to last year's summit, hosted by Thailand, when Thaksin was

hailed as the regions new spokesman after Malaysian strong man

Mahathir Mohamad stepped down.

A close aide to Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudhtold AFP that Chavalit would be takin-e Thaksin's place. Thaksin, whohad been due to leave fbr Chile on November 18. 2004. said he wouldtravel to the southern province of Narathiwat to Chair a meeting withsecurity officials as the violence continued. Thaksin, who has been

criticized within Thailand and abroad over his hard-line tactics in the

south, showed few signs of softening his approach during his weeklyradio address on Saturday.

He rejected negotiations with separatists battling for autonomyin the Muslim majority region and wamed that anyone found with assault

rifles or bombs faced the death penalty. "For the militants who thoughtthat by staging more violence the government will surrender and

negotiate with them for secession, I will not yield," he told his radioaudience. "Anyone who illegally possesses a war weapon will face the

death senterrcc but innocent people do not have to panic. The

-govcnrnrcnt u'ill apply a softer approach." he said. Two more Buddhisthave bcen shot tlt'lrl toll to at lcast -537 this year from a long-runninginsurgency thut splrrkctl blrck into fire in January.

Amid a nta jor st'c'trrity build-up in the south, officials said thatthe militants had srviti'hctl to sol't tar-qets including students and the

elderly. Buddhist str.ulcnt Nirthapong Methakul, 17, was shot dead Fridayafternoon in Narathiwirt province . the scene of the riot on October 25,

while returning home l'r'om collcge. "He's Chinese Thai and had verygood manners; he did not have any personal conflicts," a policespokesman said. Buddhist Dam Thongmuang, T2, a former defensevolunteer, was shot dead by two -qunmen on motorcycle on Saturdaymorning at his home also in Narathiwat. No notes were left at ht scene

of the latest killings but others left behind by gunmen in the last l2 days

have made clear they were in reven-se fbr the October 25 killings.

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145t44 The Muslirns of Southeast Asia

The Muslim deaths protested

Thousands of Malaysian staged angry protests Friday over thcdeaths of 78 Muslims in cr.rstody in southern Thailand, calling on ThaiPrime Minister Therksin Shinwatra to resi-en. A parliamentarian for the

fundamentalist Islamic party (PAS), told around 1,000 people outsidethe Thai embassy here that Thaksin should face an international inquiryand be han-eed if found responsible for the deaths. The hour-lon-q protests

ended with a prayer calling fbr "Allah to eliminate Thaksin, the militaryand the police and to give Muslims in southern Thailand the strength tofight the violence". Similar protests were held after Friday prayers innortheastern Kclantan state which shares a border with southernThailand and at the 'fhai consulate in the northern city of Penang.

Thai king asks l)lVI to soften ap;rroach to Muslim south

Thailand's monarch in a rarc intcrvcntitln has urged thesovernment to soften its approach to turnroil in thc nrainly Muslim southwhere two more people died Monclay, Plirne Mirristcr ThaksinShinawatra said.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej gave Thaksin a plivate audience on

Sunday at his palace in Hua Hin south of Bangkok. He was briefed on

the unrest which has killed 537 people this year, including dozens whodied in custody last week. "He expressed his concern over the situationin the south and he asked the government to consider being more lenientin dealing with the problem and to allow locals to participatc in problem-solving," Thaksin said reporters.

The premier-said King Bhumibol wanted his govcrnrnent swiftlyto solve the problem and to see both sidcs- security tbrccs and militants,refrain from further violence. The Thai King rarely intervenes in politicsbut wields enormous influence, first expressed concern over the crisisin this mainly Buddhist nation in February when he urged all sides towork together.

Bhumibol, 76, is the world's longest reigning monarch.

Queen Sirikit, also alarmed at the uruest which authorities blameon Muslim radicals, traveled to a royal palace in Narathiwat province

Thai Muslirns Massacle

in early September to inspect royal projects but stayed until last Saturdayto help boost morale. "This two-month period has been full of violentincidents. If the situation continues to go on like this, how can the people

live'1" she reportedly said just days before the Tak Bai tragedy.

Thaksin is facing one of his big-eest crises since he was elected

in 2001. He has refused to apologies for the tragedy but offeredcompensation to the victims. An outlawed separatist group dismissedthe offer in a message posted Sunday on its website. "We know he is

a billionaire, but the souls of Islam Pattani are not there to be boughtand sold like some commodity," the Pattani United LiberationOrganization said.

Thaksin conceded that the military's reputation had been

tarnished and promised more training. The commander of the FourthArmy, which oversees the region, reportedly defended his troops'operations. "If the same thing happened again we would again mount a

crackdown to disperse the protesters. But next time we would be morecareful and take a softer approach," Lieutenant General PisarnWattanawongkeeree was quoted as saying in the Bangkok Post. Attackshave escalated since a January raid on an arms depot re-launched a

klng-running but sporadic separatist insurgency.

lhai senator punches colleague over issue

A furious Thai senator has punched his colleague in the face inthe midst of a legislative session as tensions flared over who was toblame for the custody deaths of 78 Muslims in the kingdom's south last

week.

In the unprecedented scuffle, Bangkok senator General PratinSrrrrtiprapob, a former national police chief, took a swing at hisc()untcrpart from Mae Hong Son province, Adul Wanchaithanawong,who llrrl stormed from his seat towards him. The brawl occurrecl as

another scnator from the capital Chermsak Pinthong, a prominent criticof the govenlrnent, released a booklet criticizing the military's han<lling

of a protest last week that led to the 78 deaths. Officials suirl thcMuslims died after thev were piled into military trucks tirr tluttspot.l

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into custody on October 25 following a demonstration at Tak Bai inNatathiwat. Chermsak claimed that he had traveled to the region to

interview doctors over the deaths.

In the normally sedate senate, Adul interrupted Cherrnsak as

he spoke on the podium to tell him he had spoken for long enough,promptin-e Pratin to leap to his def'ense and allude to "somebody" being

a major drug trader. Adul emanded that Pratin name who he has

referring to, but Pratin sat silently. Then Adul leapt to his f'eet and

walked towards Pratin, who stood up and made a double jab at Adul'sface as stunned senators looked on. "It was my instinct to defend myselfbecause Adul looked threatening," the former police boss told reporters

afterwards. The meeting c<lntinued after Pratin, who had accompanied

Chermsak along with l4 other senators on the fact-finding mission thatproduced the contentious booklet, was escorted from the chamber by

security.

Five people shot dead in Thailand's south

Five people have been shot dead in separate incidents across

Thailand's Muslim-majority south over the weekend as violencecontinued following the death of 78 detainees after a demonstration

last Monday, police said. On Sunday morning Sudhed Suthiboonsri, 38,

a Buddhist construction worker, was gunned down at his home in Cho-

ai-Rong district by two unidentified attackers on a motorbike, police inNarathiwat province said. Four others died Sunday. A police officer,Lance Corporal Somporn Kwanthong attached to Sai Buri station inPattani province, was shot dead by unknown attackers Sunday evenin-9

as he shopped at a convenience store, police said. Two agriculturalworkers, Sugan Hongnil, 43, and Yui Pakorn, 16, were shot dead inNarathiwat's Chanae district the same day, police said.

Chapter 20

Political unrest in Thai South

There is a long history of'unrest in this region since its annexationI'r I'hailand in 1902. Almost all of the civil servants functionin-q in the

lrrc Muslim provinces are Thai Buddhist. They use the term Khaakrr lrr:n referring to Thai Muslims. In the Thai language, this term literallyrn('lns 'visitor'. Thai Muslirns recent fclr it. They claim they precededtlrc'lhai Buddhist by severalcenturies. Tolerance of the Thai Musliniu ly of life ceased when Pibul Son-ekhram became Prime Minister inI t) ltl. The policy of forced assimilation of Muslims was continued untiltlrc rlownfall of Pibul's regime in 1944. Successive governments fbrtlrc next three years reverted to a policy of political inte-eration of theI hai Muslims without cultural assimilation.

Malay sentiment in Kelantan rallied behind the son of the lastrrr jn of Pattani, living in exile in Kelantan, ur-9ed liberatin_e fellow Malayslrrrrrr Thai control in 1946 and 1941, claiming persecution of ThaiMuslims by the Thai officials. The Thai government thou-qht that Malayrrationalists might pressed the British into annexing the Thai Muslimrrrca. The government prornised improvements of the Thai Muslims,lrut little came of this promise. Thing went worst when Pibul -eainedlxrck power in 1947. Thai Muslim leader, Haji Sulon_e, submittecl a

pctition. Pibul's government reacted to this petition by jailing Haji Sulongrrrrtl some of his followers. This provoked a revolt in Narathiwat provinccrvhich was quickly quelled. As many as two thousands fled to Malaya.lrr 1948 the Thai Muslim community of Pattani petitioned Great Blitainto rvithhold recognition of the new Pibul -eovernment until it hacl acte rl

I rr vourably on their list of grievances. In that same year a Thai M us lirrr, rr .girn ization drew up a petition to the United Nations requestinS thrt il{ r\ ('r'sce cession of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani to the new Fr'tlt'r'lrlrorr, 'l Mrrlaya. An estimated 250,000 Thai Muslims endorsecl it. t'itlrt'r l'r',r'nlrlrrrcs or thumbprints. Thai authorities placed r.narty ol tlrt' lt'rrtlt'rsilil(l('t llt'l'CSt.

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The Muslirns of Southelst Asta

In l95l Haji Sulong, and three of his followers, including his

eldest son, were killed by the Thai police. Some of his followers fled to

Malaya and other remaining in sor"rth Thailand continued to agitate. In

1957 an underground organization submitted a petition of Thai Muslim

-srievances to Home Minister. A book written by Haji Sulong was

published in 1958, though all but a few copies were immediately seized

by the Thai _eovernment. In 1960's several resistance organizations

came into bein-s. In 1970 there were about twenty organizations. But in

the middle of 1970s its reduced to ten. Most were small, consisting ofa handful of Thai Muslim exiles. Some of the leaders live in South

Thailand, they either work secretly or operate out of the forests.

Most of the orgatrizatitlns call for independence. Some of them

want an indepenclept statc upclcr a sultan or raja, while others prefer

an independent republic. Sonc ol'the leadet's are Thai Muslim royalty;

some are followers of Haji Sulong: solllc ilre religious leaders, some,

mostly younger and better educated leadcrs, have received religious

and secular training in abroad.

The two largest separatist organizations are the Pattani United

Liberation Organization and the National Liberation Front of Patani.

Tengku Biro Gentonilo leads the first organization. Tengku Abdul Yala

Nasser at one time was indentified as the leader of the second, though

major decisions are made by its collective leadership. Their members

are not known but estimated 700. This would include active members

and part time members. During the late 1960s, some of the activists

turned increasingly to the use of armed force to achieve their goal.

Some of them are given -guerrilla training in jungle camp. Its supreme

commander is popularly referred to by three different names Poh Yeh,

Dureh and Bapa ldras. Based primarily in the mountain range at the

border of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. The small combat groups

ambushes Thai Police units and attack police outposts in order to obtain

weapons and to bolster the separatist image among villagers.

The resistance groups rely mainly on their own efforts to raise

n-loney. Minor contribr.rtions have been made from time to time by a

few Malaysian sympathizers, and larger amounts reportedly have been

given by the Call of lslam Society which is based in Libya. The

Political unrest in Thai South

r,,,\ ('r.llrnent of Malaysia consistently has refused to Iend supp()rt or('n( ()ul'acqement to the Thai Muslims insur_9ent groups.

Thai Muslim rebel gToups have had only a lirnited impact thus fru-on the Thai Muslim community in the t'ive provinces. Villagers living in orn('irr areas are intimidated by the rebels. The wcalthy businessmen and\( )llrc goverrunent officials have been afraid to move out of their housesrr ithout body guards. Most of the Thai Muslirn villa-9ers in the re_eion haveproved politically not interested in the Thai Muslims liberation movement()r'cven those groups advocating autonomy. Those few Thai Muslimst'rlucated from Thai high schools and univemities are usually loyalto Thailand.lirr they can get jobs and thereforc they support the government. Thenurnber of Thai Muslim student is increasing in Thai universities.

Despite the current lack of widespread popular support, thescparatist cause is potentially explosive, if the economic conditionsworsen, several rural Muslims would join the rebellion. Similarly, ThaiMuslims would react violently whenever Thai authorities act againsttheir religion. Police brutality or the use of excessive forces by Thaisccurity units drive many Thai Muslims into the resistance movement.

According to M. Ladd Thomas, "Thai authorities have longbcen aware of, and are increasingly concerned about, the separatistpotential. The concern has led to a policy, never publicly enunciated,which contains several ingredients. One is to bolster the security forcesin the region so as to be better able to contain, and optimistically reduce,separatist activities. A second is partially to'balance off' the rural Muslimpopulation with Buddhist settlement. A rhird consisrs of the Thaisovernment demonstrating its tolerance forThai Muslim religious belief.srrnd practices. Another, or fbLrrth, to promote Thai Muslim bureaucratst() occupy some of the hi-sh level official positions in the five provinces.Another ingredient is to train Thai Buddhist official assigned to thert'gion in Thai Mr"rslim society of culture. The sixth entails alleviatingt'conomic depression in the resion. The seventh in-eredient involvesprovidin-e education opportunities fbr Thai Muslirns. Thai authoritiestonsider the last two in-qredients to more cruciai, in the lon-g run, intt'r'rns of preventing the separatists from gainin-e

-qreater popular sllpport..\ ccordi n-ely, these particular i ngredients warrant special atte ntion. "

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Chapter 21

The Crescent Moon in Southeast Asia

The Malay world encompassing the states of Indonesia,Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, has one of the heaviest

concentrations of Muslim people on earth. Nearly 350 million Muslimsof Southeast Asia make their religion predominant in the region. Withinthe Philippine republic, Muslim Filipinos still have an absolute majorityin five southern provinces; Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao and

Lanow del Sur. In many places in these provinces it is possible for a

Muslim child to -qrow up and never realize that he is a citizen of apredominantly Christian country. And visitors fiom the Christian areato Muslim region find themselves in a strange world where the peoplelook like Filipinos but wear turbans or kopla caps and colourful largesarong-like garments, worship in mosques, read sing written in Arabicscript and eat no pork. When the Spaniards arrived in l52l,Islam was

established in Mindanao and Sulu. A fledgling community in Manilaunder the leadership of Rajah Soliman and Raja Matanda of Tondowas already evident. In 1565, when Spanish colonization began, thefall of Granada(la9D was only 73 years old. The discovery of a groupof people of same faith as the Moors infused the Spainard with additionalardor in extendin-e the strug-ele fouth between Christianity and Islamseveral hundred years before during the crusades and during theReconquista in Spain itself. The Spainards contained lslam in the south.They sou-eht for three centuries to vanquish it even there, but the Muslimswere able to offer effective resistance until their energy began to fla-e

in the second half of the nineteenth century. Picking up what thespainards left otf, the Americans 'pacified' a militarily exhausted butstill defiant Muslinr people. The Americans initially adopted a _generalpolicy of attraction. But because the Moros were not so easily wonover, harsher. more drastic measures were implemented to brin_e themin line.

The Crescent Moon in Southeast Asia

When independence was granted on July 4, 1946, the Morosbe carne part of the Philippine. The increasing number of the governmentsponsored resettlement resulted in a population imbalance and has led

to the division of Moroland into provinces with Christian majorities. Bythis situation Moros become a minority in their own homeland the issue

of'preserving their homeland becomes more pressing and acute. In1972, the long years of neglect and alienation was given voice by the

Moro Liberation Front (MNLF) by means of armed struggle fori ndependence and self-determination.

From 1972to l9l5, the MNLF held upper hand in many battles

fought with the army of the government. Official estimates MNLFstrength as 14,000 to 16,000. But unofficial sources claimed more than

60,000. The battle of Jolo in February 1974, that the fury of the warreached unprecedented heights. The battle lasted for two days and leftthe town in ruins due to the bombardments from navy ships and

continuous strafing from air force saberjets before ground forces began

shelling the town with motors. The MNLF shot down two saber jetsand four helicopters. The town burned for four days. This made

international headlines and brou-qht the Moro problem to the attention.of the Organizationof lslarnic Conference (OIC) under whose ausplcespeace negotiations were speeclily undertaken. This resulted in the TripoliAgreement signed between the MNLF and the Philippine Governmenton Decembe r 23 . 197 6 tl-rror"rgl-r the good office of President Kadaffi ofLibya.

The MNLF has been splited between Nur Misuari and Hashim

Strlamat. Hashim Salarnat Ied MILF (Moro lslamic Liberation Front).On the death of Hashim Salarnat the MILF is led by Murad. Nur Misuarrsigned peace accord with the qovernment of Philippine in 1999. Failureon the path of the governlnent to fulfill the agreement led Nr"rr Misuarito revolt against the -eovernment in 2002. He is now in custody. Thegovernment is now ne-eotiatin-e with MILF with the help of some OICnrembers including Malaysia.

According to Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, the signs of resurgence

rule everywhere in Malaysia. The most obvious is the rapid spread of

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the hejab among Muslim women in the country's urban centres. It isperhaps no exaggeration to say that a good 60 to 70 percent of allMuslim females above adolescence in urban centres wear the hejab. Asprinklin-e of Muslim males also don what is commonly regarded asreligiously-sanctioned attire. The intermingling of the sexes is limitedand there are now clear spheres of male and female activity within anumber of Muslim outfits. Consequently, a number of Muslim womenhave begun to assumes less public roles. They feel that a woman'sprimary responsibility is as a wife and mother. At the same time, Muslimwomen and men who are part of the resur-qence observe in meticulousdetail the various dietary rules. There are also other more subtle changesin behavior and etiquette which are all aimed at upholding whar theresurgent regard as an Islarnic way of life.

There is also a tremendons proliferation of Islamic literatureand cassette tapes. This is yet another sign of resurgence. Many ofthese publications deal with rhe strengrhening of individual faith, thenorms that should be observed in personal conduct, the importance ofadhering to the various Islamic rites and rituals and the evil that befallsthose who deviate from "the correct path". Like the written works, agood portion of the tapes that are now inundating the market areconcerned with personal morality and sin though there are also thosethat are explicitly political. Indeed, it is this growing commitment to anIslamic way of life expressed through individual behavior that has addedsfength and stature to the political dimension of Islamic resurgence.

At no point in the past has there been a stronger demand foran Islamic state. More than ever before, there is a clarion call for areturn to the untained, unalloyed purity of the Quran and Sunnah. Theadvocates of this approach reject nationalism in toto. They see it asantithecal to the universal concept of humanity embodied in Islam. Theyare even more opposed to secularism which they view as the repudiationof Allah's sovereignty and authority over the human bein-e and all thatis in the universes. They want a totally different social order whereAllah's will and word will reign supreme. It is this demand that is beingarticulated throu-gh talks, forums and publications- apart from cassettestapes.

The Crescent Moon in Southeast Asia

Partly in response to all this, the Muslim-dominated government

of rnulti-religious Malaysia, has embarked upon a vigorous Islamizationpolicy. This in turn, has given greater impetus to the resurgence itself.The government response is evident from very minor to majol aspects

of administration and politics. For instance, the Islamic form of greetingand quotations from the Quran now embelish the speeches ofgovernment leaders much more than before. There is also a significantincrease in programmes devoted to Islam over the state-run radio and

television services. An Islamic civilization course has been made

compulsory for all Muslim students in institutions of higher learning; itis optional for non-Muslirns. Islamic laws are being-revamped and insome cases, implemented with a greater sense of purpose. Of course,

these laws do not apply to non-Muslims. Neither do they impinge upon

the existence of a parallel system of laws based upon the English legaltradition.

More than all these picemeal changes, the government had

since 1982 established a number of public institutions in the name ofIslam. There is now an International Islamic University. There is also

an Islamic Bank with a few branches in the country. An Islamicfoundation devoted to social welfare has been set up. An Islamicinsurance scheme is being planned. Apart from all projects, there is the

governments programme of inculcating Islamic values. Hard work,discipline, honesty and sincerity are among the values. Slogans, pledges

and competitions are some of the modes of persuasion used in thisdrive to inculcate Islarnic values. All in all then, as far as strengtheningformal Islam, institutional Islam, symbolic Islam is concerned, thegovernment has played a significant role.

Ninety percent of the citizens of the Republic of Indonesia are

Muslims. The Islamization of the area now occupied by the modernnations of Malaysia and lndonesia did not take place in a short clearlydefined time period, but was rather an ongoing process, proceedin-e at

different rates in diff'erent societies, and lasting fbr several centurir-s.

ln 1942, on the eve of the Japanese occupation Nzrhdatul U larna

(NU) and Muhammadiyah were still strong and able to functi()n

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The Muslims of Southeast Asia

ef'fectively despite the repressive atmosphere of the last years of Dutchrule. IViuhammdiyah continued its pro-eramnte of social and educationalactivities, and its tabligh and da'wah activities. to win people to ReformistIslam. They did have positive contributiorrs trt make to the developmentof their own communities and of the i,r'e-independence society ofIndonesia as a whole. Firstly, they speccled the Islamizarion process.By upgrading Islamic education they were able to create and educatedMuslim group alongside the secular elite produced by the Dutcheducation system, and to demonstrate that religion and moclern scienceand technology were able to co-exist fiuitfully side bir sicic.

In the words of Professor Mohammed Shamsul lluc1, the thenforei-qn Minister of Bangladesh, "PresidentZiaur Raman acted quicklyon an urgent request fl-ont Presidenr Ne Win to shift the then militaryattachd in Ban-qladesh rnission in Rangoorr. He liad contacted leadersof Rakhine with a view to rapprochcrrrcnt between the Rakhine andthe Muslim so that the Muslims of Arakan might live in amity withRakhines. But President Ne Win was highly sensitive to such a movebut it should prove to be a renewed threat to Rangoon thorough theunification of the Buddhists and Muslims of Arakan. In an exclusivetwo hours meeting, President Ne Win explained how he acted to containwhat he perceived to be a secessionist moves of the Arakanese Muslimsand also the threat to national security from the Arakan communistParty (ACP)".

Now the Rakhines are on the side of nepotisrn while theRohin-eyas are confined to ruthlessness. In post indepcndent Burma,Rakhines were in better position. The Burma Territorial Force (BTF),mainly of Rakhines unleashed a reign of terror against the Rohingyasin 1948--51. as if the continuation of 1942 Muslim merssacre by theRakhines. Dulin-s Ne Win's era the Rakhines had been used as tools tooppress the Rohingyas.

During the 1988 democratic uprisin-e of Burma, all nationaland political -eroups

joined together fbr a common cause. Communalfrictions and old _erud-9es were forgotten. [n the words of Bertil Lintner,"ln Arzrkan state in the west, where tension between Rakhines and

The Crescent Moon in Southeast Asi:t

li,rlri-vuyrrs have long been prevalent, these two religious groups now

rrrrr e lrccl hand in hand chanting anti-government slo-eans. The yellowlr;rrrncrs of Buddhism fluttered besides Islam's green flag with the

( rr'sccnt Inoon."

Following military crack-down, the spirit of united movement

:rlrrinst the junta is waning down and the junta is again using the

Iilkhines against the Rohingyas of Arakan. The Junta uses all weapons

rrrcial, religious, political, economics and propaganda to misleacl and

rlivide the two sister communities of Alakan. Many Rakhines bear

lrutred against Rohingyas as "Kalas". Whatever reasons the Rakhines

guve to rationalize their political view, the fact is that the Rakhines

have been gradually and effbctively assimilated with the Burmese.

Alttrough the exodus of Rakhines torm Arakan is seldom nowadays,

nrigrations of Rakhines to Bengal on many occasittns had been noted

in the history. Their settlements today could be found mostly irr

Cliittagong HillTract, Cox's Bazar, Barisal and Patuakhli, etc.

Whatever justification the Rohingyas have to legitimize theirpresent political struggle the Rohingyas have been maliciously brancled

as an aliens in their won homeland and subjected ttt extermination llomArakan. In the words of Mr. Sttltan Ahmed M.P. and Parliamentarl'

Secretary, "Thc Rohingya MLrslirrs of Arakan merged themselves with' Burma in goocl faith that they woulcl be treated on the same lines as

Burmans ancl rvill hc givcn cqual right." Rohingyas are the Inost

unfortunate pcoplc. Although they are one of the indigenous ctltnic

races of Burrla artcl lu'c tltc sons of the soils of Arakan, they are victirtrs

of perpetual persccutiott lty the Bttrmese Military Ie-qinles. Contt'it11' 11r

Burmese laws. thc Bulrncsc consLitution and intelnational ttt'lt'ttts. thcsc

ill-fated people havc bccn subjected to massive hulnan ri-ehts violatiorts

because of their racc. rcligion and culture. They are not equal llefilrcthe law.

In the words of Dr. Abdul Karim. "Even thcir (Rohirlgyrts)

basic human ri-ehts, i.e. right to live with di-enitl,ilnd h(lt.ttlttt'ltrts lrt't'tt

taken away. Tl-re Rohin-eyirs have been fircine inhumlttr ttlrtttrt'. itt 'ornuch as they had to leave their hearth aud hot1te leitving rtll tlr,'rr

l-5-5t-54

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t.56 The Muslims of Sor.rtheast Asia

properties. But how could such a huge number of people suddenlyenter into Arakan, so that the governrnent of Burma could claim thatthey are not national of Burma? The Rohingyas have got a language, a

culture and a heritage and above all the 3-million Rohingyas from a

homogenous group. This is eyesore to the ruling junta of Burma andthis is the reason why they have been trying to expel the Rohingyas,men, women and children."

BibliograPhY

I. DT. MUINUDDIN AHMAD KHAN'Muslim Communities of Southeast Asia' - ICC Cts.Publication- 40, June 1980

2. ANWAR IBRAHIM'The Asian Renaissance', Published by Times International.

3. Polo, Marco, The Travels of Marco Polo, London, PenguinBooks, 1958

4. Rahman, Fazluq Islam and Modernity, Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1982.

5. Cassirer, Ernst, Renaissance Philosophy of man, Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1957.

6. Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act ll, scene ii.7. Lucian W. Pye: Southeast Asian Political system, Prentice-

Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA, 1974

8. Guy Hunter: South East Asia, Race, Culture and Nation, OxfordUniversity Press, London, 1966.

9. Lenox A. Mills: Southeast Asia: Illusion and Reality in Politicsand Economics. University of Minnesota USA 1964.

10. Time. March 10.2003/Vol. l6l No-911. Annual magazine, Arakan Historical Society 2001,2003.12. Mir Mostafizr"rr Rahman, Explore Malaysia Weekend

Independent, I 3. 20. 27 Au-sust 2004.13. Raphael Israli, "The crescent in the East", 1982,Curzon Press,

Humanities Press.

14. Asghar Ali Engineer'. Islam in South and South-East Asia, 1985,Ajanta Publications, India