Patani Worldview

13/03/2023

Peace is merely a political discourse

Amidst the recent peace dialogue, held on 21-22 February 2023, between the Royal Thai Government (RTG) and Patani Malay National Revolutionary Front (BRN), four Patani people were summoned and issued search warrants by the Thai government, three working with the local media and one being a political activist.

Today, March 13, 2023, DSI searched the house of Zahari Chelong, Content Editor of The Motive, by presenting a search warrant of the Pattani Provincial Court for search. During the search, rangers joined the raid and were stationed guarding the entrance to Zahari's house. It is probably caused by opening a donation page for humanitarian assistance towards the victims' families of extrajudicial murder incidents in various Patani areas.

Yesterday, March 12, 2023, the Su-ngai Padi police station issued a summons to Arfan Wattana, the Secretary of The Patani, Tengara Region and seven of Mr Yari's relatives, claiming they interfered with the exhumation of an unknown man's body, as illustrated in the viral video clip.

On March 11, 2023, the Wartani media office's editor and field reporter were summoned by the Thanto police station, allegedly obstructing the duty of security officers in the recent clash between the BRN fighter and Thai officers at Than Thor district.

Even though the peace dialogue achieved a positive development in reaching an agreement and understanding to develop a Joint Comprehensive Plan towards Peace (JCPP), namely, violence reduction, public consultation and political solution. In practical, law enforcement is being prosecuted in Patani area against human rights activists, the media, and activists for exercising their rights and freedom of expression. Thus, peace is a milestone away.

13/03/2023

BRN’s 63th Anniversary

𝗕𝗥𝗡'𝘀 𝟲𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆

For nearly two centuries, Thailand’s southernmost area, or Patani, has been a center of people’s uprising against the centralized power. Prior to its defeat and falling under Siamese suzerainty in 1785, the region was ruled by an autonomous sultanate known as ‘Patani.’ During the first decade of the twentieth century, Siam made several strategic moves to solidify its rule on the Patani. As a result, the local sultanates of Patani were abolished in 1902. In 1909, Siam and Great Britain signed the Anglo-Siamese Treaty without the consent of Malay rulers and their people, which created the current international boundary between the two countries. The treaty was an official recognition of losing the sovereignty of Patani and incorporated into modern Thai nation-state. To sum up, this historical process was interpreted as “Siamese colonization” by the Patani people.
The Peace Talks between the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) and the Royal Thai Government (RTG) on 28 February 2013 at Kuala Lumpur spotlighted enormous attention from the Patani people and other interested groups on the Patani crisis. Most significantly, this is the first time BRN, claiming as the representative of Patani people, communicated in public. Since its establishment, BRN has actively organized anonymous and underground in their activities and revolution. Historically, on 13 March 1960, the Patani people witnessed the emergence of armed liberation groups, BRN, which had the goal of an independent Patani and restoring the sovereign power of the Patani people. In other words, BRN was established to fight and reclaim the rights of national sovereignty on behalf of the Patani people in accordance with the UN Resolution 1514(XV), “All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” BRN is currently the largest, most active, and best organized of the liberation movement in Patani.
Recently, the BRN flag has frequently been used on social media, following the extraordinary clashes between BRN militants and Thai military personnel, by bringing the image of Shaheed (martyr) backgrounded by the BRN flag with the words of honor and praise. Undoubtedly, it infers the acceptance and recognization of the Patani people toward BRN to determine their future destiny. May Almighty God bestow his guidance and mercy in conjunction with the 62nd Anniversary of BRN’s struggle together with the people of Patani.

Long live BRN, Free Patani.. Merdeka

01/03/2023

“We expect that political parties will declare a peace in Patani. Because it is a problem of the Patani nation, the Patani Community that has to determine their own destiny. It's not a problem for BRN, because BRN is the only representative in negotiations."

Ustaz Anas Abdulrahman
Head of the BRN Peace Dialogue

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"พวกเราคาดหวังว่าพรรคการเมืองประกาศจะสร้างสันติภาพปาตานี เพราะเป็นปัญหาของประชาชาติปาตานี Patani Community ที่ต้องกำหนดชะตากรรมตนเอง ไม่ใช่ปัญหาของ BRN เพราะ BRN เป็นผู้แทนในการเจรจาเท่านั้น"

อุสตาซ อานัส อับดุลเราะห์มาน
หัวหน้าคณะพูดคุยเพื่อสันติภาพ BRN

04/04/2022

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗜 𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗢𝗣𝗛𝗬, 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗

The Patani community has lived for generations in Patani with a philosophy of life, religion, nation and homeland. The Patani community is an ordinary community that loves peace. A unique community where religion and cultural values become the etiquette in social life. A society that consistently respects and appreciates the culture and civilization of people who possess different identities such as religion and race. The love of peace also meant that Patani people do not infringe on life’s rights, religious, cultural, political differences, etc. Therefore, the people of Patani have been fighting for centuries to reclaim their lost rights.
Due to the absence of a political platform, the armed combatant is an alternative for the Patani people to fight for their rights and justice. As in the case today, the armed combatant is not about finding a lasting solution, but it is just a tool and effort to invite the disputing parties to meet at the negotiating table. The peace process is necessary for a method of dignity and integrity. It should follow the appropriate rules that have been adopted by most conflict areas and international norms. The peace process should be based on the will of the local people, as they are the ones who receive the direct consequences of the protracted conflict.
The Royal Thai Government seemingly does not have a consensus agreement between the Peace Dialogue Panel and the field military. While the Thai delegation at the negotiating table agreed on a certain agenda discussed by the BRN and RTG, the field military operation always performed conversely, as illustrated by arbitrary detentions and the intensive military operation. In fact, both parties have agreed upon reducing military activities. It seems that the field military is more aggressive and possesses a significant power to deal with the Patani crisis than its delegation in Patani Peace Dialogue. Therefore, the Peace Dialogue Panel from the Thai government always avoids the signature on the agreed issue and is afraid of conflicting action by its military field operation. In other words, there is no sincerity and willingness by the Royal Thai Government to settle the Patani conflict by political means.
The local people are impatient with the political game on behalf of the people’s lives in the name of conflict resolution effort by the Thai government that has not seen the light and conducive approach to real peace. The people of Patani are worried and threatened by all forms of government policy. As a parallel to the reduction of armed activities agreed on the negotiation table, the Thai government just approved deploying more military units in the area. More checkpoints are stationed throughout the Patani area, approximately 2000 places. That does not include the sudden blockade post. As such, it creates mental and physical stress surrounding the Thai military personnel in every corner. Also, the arrests of the suspects were taken to military camps for interrogation using intimidation techniques. Sieging in the local people’s houses and villages by improper approach on the pretext of carrying out duties. As happen habitually, the Thai authority takes DNA and Sim card as well as identification card without the permission and the consent of the owner by using a special law as a justification.
However, negotiations must be continued in order to maintain the credibility of all parties involved in the process. The substantive issues that have been highlighted and become the main agenda in the heated discussions by both parties in the third round of negotiations can finally be agreed upon by both parties. Substantive issues include reducing violence between the two parties, public consultation and political solution, as the primary issue that has been agreed upon and will be discussed in detail in the near future.
The fourth official Peace Talks will be held in mid-March 2022. Several things must be resolved by both parties, including forming a joint working group to develop communication channels between the two parties and will formulate a ToR (tern of reference). Before this, many things became uncomfortable in dealing with the process. Each party has not shown precisely the seriousness and honesty to find a solution politically and does not provide guarantees and immunity for those involved with activities in the field. This is where it is necessary to understand again by agreeing on the ToR. So that strictly can be implemented in more detail in further steps. In addition, experts’ involvement and international observation are significantly required in these Peace Talks to monitor for the proper and conducive approach toward a positive peace in Patani.

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Source: Surat Journal, Issue 83, February 2022, Page 8-9