General Akkanit opposes OIC chief meeting Mara Patani
A national legislative assemblyman who was previously actively involved in border coordination with Malaysia has voiced his dissatisfaction with the recent role of Kuala Lumpur in arranging core members of Mara Patani to have an informal meeting with Organisation of Islamic Cooperation secretary Iyad Ameen Madani.
“If the OIC grants a meeting with the Mara Patani representatives, it amounts to OIC recognizing the status of separatist groups to be at the same level with the Thai government’s status. So I would like to ask whether the OIC will keep contact with the Thai government or will the separatist groups,” said General Akkanit Moensawat.
The general who was involved in the peace talk with the Malay communists a few decades ago asked the government and the Foreign Ministry to keep a close watch on Malaysia regarding its role with Mara Patani which he felt has overstepped propriety.
He said that Malaysia had succeeded in brokering peace talks between the Philippine government and MILF terrorist group in the Mindanao island “but the Mindanao model could not be applied with the unrest problem in the three southernmost border provinces of Thailand because of the different social and historical conditions in Thailand and those of the Philippines.
General Akkanit warned that Thailand was following the wrong path dictated by Kuala Lumpur. He said he would propose the National Legislative Assembly to set up a panel to study the peace talk process with Mara Patani and submit a report to the government with the hope that the process should be reviewed.
On January 8, General Aksara Kerdphol, chief of the Thai dialogue team, led his team to Narathiwat to attend a meeting with religious leaders, academics and civic societies to gauge their views on the peace dialogue with Mara Patani.
During the meeting, the civic societies proposed the creation of a “common space” for members of the public to air their views. Religious leaders, meanwhile, called for patience and sincerity by the rival camps.
Mrs Angkhana Himmeena, a core leader of Duay Jai civic group, submitted report about alleged torture and human rights violations during 2014-15 to General Aksara.
General Aksara, meanwhile, said that all the key players in the southern conflict had already exposed themselves and he wanted to inform the public about the progress of the peace process dialogue with Mara Patani.
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Caption : General Akkanit Moensawat