Thailand's three Muslim-majority provinces

On 15th of July 1979, after enacting the prevention of Terrorism Act (far more draconian than the notorius Terrorism Act of South Africa) and having declared an Emergency in Jaffna and also having despatched the military to the Tamil north under the command of Brigadier Weeratunga, J.R. Jayewardene, the President of Sri Lanka gave a special directive to the Brigadier in these words: " It will be your duty to eliminate in accordance with the laws of the land the menace of terrorism in all it forms from the Island and more especially from the Jaffna District.

SRI LANKA: TAMIL TIGER BOYCOTT TO HELP PRIME MINISTER IN PRESIDENTIAL POLL (Nov. 10th)With just one week to go until presidential elections in Sri Lanka analysts say a possible boycott by Tamil Tiger rebels will tilt the balance towards the candidate from the ruling United People's Front Alliance (UPFA), prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have publicly announced they were not interested in the November 17 polls.

(The ceasefire came in) February 2002 after a two-decade long insurgency claimed more than 60,000 lives. <...> violence has increased this year with the number of political killings nearing 200, according to the Scandinavian monitors who oversee the ceasefire. (and) ...LTTE has lost sympathy with the international community following the August 12 assassination of the Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar )

Prime minister Rajapakse is fighting the presidential election (ie. a candidate) on an agenda based on taking a tough line with the Tigers.

The other front-runner in the race is Ranil Wickramasinghe, who became Sri Lanka's prime minister in 2001 and negotiated the ceasefire with the Tamil rebels. He lost power in 2004 when President Chandrika Kumaratunga called early elections. Whoever wins the election will be taking over (from current President) Kumaratunga.

... "I do not want the country split into two. We will not give the Tigers their homeland," says Sirisena (a rural farmer), who had never travelled to the north-east of the country.

...56-year-old Margerita Perera, a Christian from Moratuwa, a Colombo suburb, says her vote is determined by religion. "We fear that there might be a restriction on the freedom of religion if Rajapakse wins. ... referring to the controversial anti-conversion bill

The Tamils, whether Sri Lankan Tamils of the North East, or the Indian Origin Tamils in the rest of Sri Lanka, fear that they will be discriminated against by a Rajapaksa regime. ... This is not because Rajapaksa is himself undesirable, (he is personally secular and also much loved) but because he could become a puppet in the hands of his allies, the JVP and JHU, which are perceived to be anti-Tamil.

The Christian minority's bugbear is the anti-conversion bill, which the SLFP government tried to enact at the instigation of the JHU. ...
The Muslims too are worried about the new "political Buddhism", spearheaded by the JHU. They resent the setting up Buddha's statues in Muslim villages in East Sri Lanka.

Dr. David Frawley is one of the few Westerners ever recognized in India as a Vedacharya or teacher of the ancient wisdom. In 1991 under the auspices of the great Indian teacher, Avadhuta Shastri, he was named Vamadeva Shastri, after the great Vedic Rishi Vamadeva. In 1995 he was given the title of Pandit along with the Brahmachari Vishwanathji award in Mumbai for his knowledge of the Vedic teaching. Over the years Vamadeva has received many awards and honors for his work from throughout India.

Meanwhile the people of north India also need not take this north-south division as something fundamental. It is not a racial difference that makes the skin of south Indians darker but merely the effect of climate. Any Caucasian race group living in the tropics for some centuries or millennia would eventually turn dark. And whatever color a person's skin may be has nothing to do with their true nature according to the Vedas that see the same Self or Atman in all.

It is also not necessary to turn various Vedic gods into Dravidian gods to give the Dravidians equality with the so-called Aryans in terms of the numbers or antiquity of their gods. This only gives credence to what is superficial distinction in the first place. What is necessary is to assert what is truly Aryan in the culture of India, north or south, which is high or spiritual values in character and action. These occur not only in the Vedas but also the Agamas and other scriptures within the greater tradition.

The Aryans and Dravidians are part of the same culture and we need not speak of them as separate. Dividing them and placing them at odds with each other serves the interests of neither but only serves to damage their common culture (which is what most of those who propound these ideas are often seeking). Perhaps the saddest thing is that modern Indian politicians have also used this division to promote their own ambitions, though it is harmful to the unity of the country.

How can this rebellion be justified?

ADNKI International News

Quote:

SOUTHERN THAILAND: ACEH-TYPE PEACE ACCORD COULDN'T WORK SAY ANALYSTS
Bangkok, November 14

...Thailand's three Muslim-majority provinces - Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani - rebels fighting for an Islamic state alongside various criminal formations remain locked in an escalating spiral of violence against the Buddhist Thai government in Bangkok.

<...>
An overwhelming 95 percent of Thailand's 65 million population is Buddhist. Muslims living in Thailand's three southernmost regions make up much of the remainining 5 percent. Inhabitants of Thailand's 'Deep South', as Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani are known, cite religious differences as the basis for their struggle for greater autonomy or even independence from Thailand, though they are also divided by language - speaking the Yawi dialect more similar to Malaysian than to Thai.

It seems to me that living in a Buddhist state would be... could be... so peaceful. Why demand autonomy?

The Aryans came toIndia from the north and treated all conquered people with disdain. The situation in Ceylon may be different. The Tamils want to form a separate state and link it to the mainland of India more specifically Southern India. The language is different from Sinhalese. Buddhism spread in India under Ashoka the Great but then it died out in India but remained in Ceylon. That is how Ceylon (the colonial name), or Sri Lanka, the modern name, became Buddhist.

Kenyan conservationists reacted with anger yesterday to news that a Thai zoo to which animals are being exported in a controversial deal is planning to serve an exotic game buffet to VIP guests.
Guests at the opening of the Chiang Mai night safari zoo in northern Thailand will tuck in to a menu featuring tiger, lion, elephant and giraffe. Plodprasop Suraswadi, director of the zoo project, told reporters that guests will pay 4,500 baht (£64) each for a meal in which dishes range from locally reared dog meat to lion from Africa.

Hello Wilso, nice to see you here... and thanks for chiming in. I haven't been to Thailand or anywhere in Asia. I'm just interested and thought I'd ask some questions after reading news articles on the internet.

Have you ever been to these southern provinces where the rebellion is going on?

The front page of the newspaper carried large photo of wild dogs that had been shot (an unusual event in a Buddhist country where life is very respected). On opening to the second page, readers were confronted with photographs of the criminals/terrorists-who had been shot. The message and symbolism was quite clear!

Thailand, Malaysia vow to tone down war of words
Tue Nov 22, 2005 Reuters
The flight to northern Malaysia in late August of 131 ethnic-Malay Thai Muslims who said they feared for their safety in Thailand caused a major deterioriation in already strained relations between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Mainly Muslim Malaysia is concerned about heavy-handed tactics by Thailand's mainly Buddhist security forces to suppress the separatist violence, which has claimed more than 1,000 lives in just under two years.

Conversely, Bangkok feels its southern neighbour could and should do more to stop Malay militants from the Muslim-majority Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat from taking refuge on Malaysian soil.

It's Written in the Stars For All To See
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra should not blame the stars for all the troubles besetting his administration. Addressing a weekly cabinet meeting last week, the prime minister said he was the target of an opposition campaign, which coincided with the alignment of the stars being unfavourable to him.

From now on, he would stop commenting on political or other issues that may cause further misunderstanding or dispute.

It's not hard to see why the prime minister is in such a predicament.

The crisis in the deep South _ already two years old and claiming more innocent lives by the day _ is escalating beyond control.

Teachers at state-run schools recently took to the streets to protest against their impending transfer to local administrative bodies, and the planned listing of Egat Plc on the Stock Exchange of Thailand was stalled by the Supreme Administrative Court, following an emotionally-charged protest by opponents of the government's privatisation of state enterprises.

While we are no experts in astrology, it is clear that the public's confidence in the government is eroding. This is quite shocking because, just a year ago the ruling Thai Rak Thai party (TRT) was brimming with confidence. It romped to a landslide victory in the February 6 general election earlier this year, riding on the crest of the wave of support from rural voters who favoured the TRT's populist policies and its pledge to eradicate poverty.

Those voter expectations have now turned into despair, as the cost of living soars in line with rising world oil prices. Corruption scandals and alleged cronyism in the appointment of top civil servants have also hurt the government's image.

Prime Minister Thaksin himself got on the nerves of everyone by stating that he would give top priority to provinces that voted for his Thai Rak Thai party. Those that did not vote Thai Rak Thai might have to wait just a little bit longer.

Instead of blaming the stars, Prime Minister Thaksin should take a look at himself and try not to repeat the mistakes that he has made. If he doesn't change his attitude, all the planets in the galaxy will not be able to save him.

I may have given you wrong info as I know more of Indian than Ceylonese history.

Ceylonese historyWebpage Title