Call for self-determination is getting louder in deep South
The concept of a special administration zone for the restive deep South or self-determination by the local people in the region is increasingly gaining support among local people and politicians.
A mock referendum was held early December during a public discussion on southern unrest problem held on the campus in Pattani province during which 77.13 percent of the participants wanted the right to self-determination.
The public discussion, entitled "War and Peace: How can the Patani people determine their destiny?", was organized by the Federation of Students of Southern Border Provinces on December 9 at the Prince of Songkhla University’s Pattani campus.
Among the speakers were Ahmad Somboon Bualuang, a former member of the indenpendnet commission for national reconciliation; Abdulnoring Dengsamae, secretary of the Perkasa, Hamsa Komonsanglaidayan of the United Youth for Peace and Development of the Philippines and Kriya Musor, secretary-general of the Federation of Students of Southern Border Provinces.
The highlight of the academic meet was a mock referendum held among the 1,535 participants. The result showed that 1,184 of the participants or 77.13 percent voted in favour of the right to self-determination; 16 did not want the right to self-determination, eight of the participants abstained from casting the votes and 327 did not return the referendum forms.
During the public discussion, Kriya said that it was about time for the state to seriously rethink about the right to self-determination by the people in the three southernmost provinces. Referring to the concept of "Satu Patani" or "One Patani" , he insisted that the unrest problem in the deep South could only be resolved through political means.
Earlier, a public discussion on the unrest problem was staged by the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Study of Mahidol University at Park View Resort Hotel in Pattani. The event was intended to allow politicians of the southernmost provinces to share their views on how the unrest problem could be resolved.
A set of proposals was drawn up after the meeting. Among the proposals are: the government should seriously consider the concept of a special administration zone for the deep South; the government should rethink about the enforcement of special laws such as the emergency decree and Internal Security Act.
Former MP Den Tohmeena who attended the meeting complained that previous proposals adopted local politicians had always been ignored by the government. He said that if the next public discussion was to be held, representatives of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre and the Internal Security Operations Command would be invited to attend so that any resolutions adopted at the meeting would be considered by the government.
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Caption : The public discussion, entitled "War and Peace: How can the Patani people determine their destiny?", on December 9 at the Prince of Songkhla University’s Pattani campus.