PULO calls on government to negotiate
Factions within the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) on Monday said the spike in violence in the deep South was meant to remind the Thai state the death of the more 80 unarmed Malay Muslims in Narathiwat's Tak Bai district eight years ago.
The victims were young men who were demonstrating in front of the district police station. They suffocated to death after officials stacked them one on top another.
In a statement issued on Monday, Kasturi Mahkota, the president of one of the Pulo faction, slammed the Thai government for downplaying the capacity of the militants on the ground and for discrediting them.
“They (insurgents) are seeking the recognition from the Thai side that they are insurgents, combatants and liberators rather than bandits or "sparrow bandits" and not a drug trafficking group,” Kasturi said.
He called on the Thai state to “genuinely seek ways to end the conflict once and for all” through diplomatic means.
Kasturi has been dealing secretly with the Thai government through the National Security Council since 2006.
Separately, the deputy president of a rival Pulo faction, Lukman Bin Lima, echoed Kasturi's statement about the need to negotiate and urged the international community to closely monitor of the Thai government's peace initiatives with the separatist movements.
“We thought that the intervention of the (Thai) military and arm forced in Patani would not help calm the situation. The only way is political and diplomatic solution through peaceful means,” Lukman said.
“We call on the Thai-leaders and the entire Thai nation to deeply understand the historical root of the Patani people struggle, the discrimination and injustices we have been experiencing under the Thai colonial government have long been overdue. Please give us a rightful share of political destiny of our nation.
Lukman also called on the Thai to reconsider its plan to place the Muslim-majority region under curfew, saying it would disturb the local's way of life during the holy month of Ramadan. Many of the local Muslim attend evening mass prayer at the mosque and during the last ten day of Ramadan many spend the night at the local mosque.
Lukman is the deputy to Noor Abdulrahman, the other self-proclaimed Pulo president who is at odd with the faction led by Kasturi.
Pulo surfaced in the late 1960s but its armed wing went under in the late 1980s. Since 2004, members of this long standing group and others have resurfaced and carried out secret discussions with representatives of Thailand although their dialogue does not constitute formal negotiation.
