Time to acknowledge 'jihadism' is at work in southern Thailand

Kavi Chongkittavorn, The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and most of the senior officials dealing with the troubled South have dismissed outright the suggestion that what is going on there is the result of "jihadism" -- a coherent philosophy built around Islamic holy war. Only two top security officials -- Defense Minister General Chettha Thanajaro and retired General Kitti Rattanachaya, a security adviser -- acknowledge the roots of the problem.

The two generals believe unwaveringly that the attackers on April 28 were inspired and assisted by foreign Muslim extremists. Depending on which other officials are talking and to which audiences, these Muslim extremists have morphed into groups of bandits, robbers and bomb-throwers.

In his radio chit-chat last Saturday, Thaksin said those who were killed were "bad boys" who had been indoctrinated by their "crazy" teachers. He went on to say that the situation in the South has improved, because the government has already initiated new programs to take care of the problems.

Thaksin did not mention the holistic and pacifist approach recommended by Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang, which he earlier shot down, although the prime minister's recommendations and policies came from Chaturon's seven-point plan. It has been endorsed by Thai academic, intellectual and civil society organizations.

The prime minister's radio address zeroed in on the aftermath of the carnage at Krue Se Mosque as if everything has been well and truly settled. He only talked about the government's action following the shoot-out. The messages were short and clear: All troubled families have been compensated. I talked to them, I helped them, I am solving all the problems in the South.

What he did not say is that the problems out there are far from over or from being resolved. On the contrary, the situation -- which may have looked a bit benign in the past three weeks, with a few bombs here and there -- could be a future powder keg that blows up in the face of those concerned. After all, what is happening in the South follows similar patterns elsewhere both in the region and in other parts of the world.

Interviews by The Nation's reporters in the field with the relatives of those who took part and died in the attacks revealed a unique feature of the victims. They were young, zealous and true believers in Islam. They were good lads in the eyes of their families and communities. The "crazy" teachers that Thaksin referred to were in fact well-educated religious teachers, who graduated from Islamic institutions in the Middle East or within the region from Indonesia and Malaysia. It is interesting to note that most of the 17 arrested attackers told officials that some of their religious teachers graduated from Pakistan's madrassas.

These teachers are very charismatic and devoted, as they teach Islam as a service to Allah. Even with a small subsistence incentive, they teach with fire in their hearts. Unmistakably, most of them, if not all, have foreign connections or networks. Only a handful of religious teachers in the South have been locally trained. It used to be a normal practice for Muslim families to send their children abroad for further education. They have used traditional links between religious schools and the community. Some are family connections, while others prefer group associations for education abroad.

Interviews with those involved in the April 28 attack indicate that jihadism has been well entrenched in the South for the past two decades and entered a new phase following the September 11 attacks in the U.S. and the dispatch of Thai troops to Iraq at the end of last year.

Given cultural and religious prejudice, the central and local authorities have been unable to detect this rising phenomenon. In addition, none of the victims' relatives were able to provide clear motives for the activists. It is possible that they did not want to tell the truth for fear of future persecution. Without properly understanding jihadism within the southern context, the government could commit further mistakes.

The government earlier alienated several thousand young Thai Muslims studying in the Middle East by saying that they could be targets for recruitment by international terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and Jamaah Islamiyah.

Most of the young Muslims are studying in universities in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria; some are in more obscure countries, such as Sudan and Yemen. They study the Arabic language, Islamic teaching and related issues.

Many students have expressed concern that their future could be jeopardized by the official hyper-surveillance of those who have returned home or who are still studying overseas They could be wrongly accused, and their names embedded in official watch lists.

Some students have already expressed fear of returning home to visit their families during the summer holidays because they could be put under surveillance for the wrong reasons. They have said the government must not generalize about the Muslim students, portraying them as a homogeneous group. Most of them identify themselves as ordinary students.

As the government increases surveillance of Muslims, donor countries from the Middle East continue to send financial assistance to private pondoks and Islamic boarding schools in the South. The Saudi Arabia-based Islamic International Relief Organization (IIRO) remains the country's largest donor to the Thai Muslim communities. Hardly any educational and religious project is untouched by the IIRO, which is part of the Muslim World League. After Sept. 11, the U.S. Treasury froze IIRO funds in the U.S. because of its alleged links to al-Qaeda.

It is time for the government to acknowledge and show an understanding of the harsh reality in the South, especially as it relates to the ideology of jihadism, instead of manufacturing its endless spin on how great the government's policies have been.