Nation and State-building, Self-determination and Conflict Resolution in Southeast Asia
- Part 2 -

Prof. Dr. Kamarulzaman Askandar *

14th Martyrdom Anniversary of Arambam Samarendra at Khurai on 10 June 2014 :: Pix - Daniel Chabungbam

The full text of the 9th Arambam Somorendra Memorial Lecture which was held on June 10, 2014 at Manipur Dramatic Union, Imphal and delivered by Prof. Dr. Kamarulzaman Askandar of the Universiti Sains Malaysia



Self-determination Struggles as Unfinished Decolonisation Processes

This section will look at some examples of self-determination struggles from around the region.

Thailand

Thailand is the only country in the region that has never been colonised. In fact Thailand or Siam as it was known before was the one that terrorised neighbors in the region. One such former neighbour was the Malay Muslim Sultanate of Patani in what is now known as Southern Thailand. The Patani Sultanate was invaded by Siam in 1786 and vassals were installed to rule the area on behalf of the King in Bangkok.

The annexation of Patani was formalised with the London Treaty in 1909 between Siam and the British. This treaty gave international recognition to the annexation of the Sultanate. The five provinces, which were annexed into Siam, were a Muslim majority area. Thus, they were clearly distinct from the rest of the country and are now becoming a minority group in a country dominated by the Buddhist Thais.

Phases of anti Thai movements were carried out. Initially, the royalist elites led the movement, which was followed by the Muslim Ulamas and finally by broad ideologically-based pro-independence groups. The last category consist of several groups such as the Patani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN – National Revolutionary Front), Islamic Front for the Liberation of Patani (BIPP), the Bersatu, and many others.

These groups, most of which were established in the 1960s are still present to this day, having increased their prominence and the intensity of the conflict since 2004. Demands have been on achieving independence for their region, and to a lesser extent autonomy, self rule and the control of development in the area. A peace process was started in 2013, facilitated by Malaysia, but was derailed by the instability and eventual collapse of the Central Government in Bangkok and infighting within the Patani groups.

Philippines

The Bangsamoro of Southern Philippines is a Muslim minority group living in a country dominated by the Christian Filipinos. Bangsamoro is divided into 13 ethnolinguistic groups and are spread out throughout the mid and western Mindanao, as well as in the smaller islands of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi Tawi and Palawan. They have fought the Spanish invaders since the 17th century only to be included as part of the Philippines by the Americans in the late 19th century and eventually by Manila.

Comparatively underdeveloped and poor, the Bangsamoro people also lost their land to land-grabbing activities and trans-migration programs supported by Manila. They now constitute only about 25 percent of the island population and are concentrated in the middle and western parts of the island.

The Mindanao Independence Movements in the 1960s gave way to a more organised liberation movement in 1970 led by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). An Islamist faction broke out of the MNLF in 1977 and became MILF. These two became the major movers of the self-determination struggle in Southern Philippines.

While the MNLF started negotiating with Manila in 1976, culminating in the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) of 1996, MILF started their talks with the government in 1997. Indonesia represented the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the MNLF talks, while Malaysia facilitated the MILF talks.

The MNLF talks resulted in the creation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which consisted of five provinces and a city. It was a failed experiment with autonomy for the MNLF.

MILF signed a few notable agreements - the most important being, as mentioned above, FAB in 2012 and CAB in 2014. CAB laid out provisions for a new Bangsamoro Basic Law, power and wealth sharing between Manila and the Bangsamoro, and what they termed 'normalisation' of relations.

The conflict is poised to be resolved with the creation of the Bangsamoro Government and parliament scheduled for 2016. This will be the climax of the self-determination struggle of the Bangsamoro people of Southern Philippines.

Aceh

Aceh used to have its own Sultanate ruling over the Acehnese people. The Acehnese fought against the Dutch valiantly during the colonial period and are proud to say that they have never lost their independence to the Dutch. After the independence of Indonesia in 1949, Aceh was incorporated into the new nation under promises of Islamic solidarity and nationhood.

They were also promised a province of their own and self rule within Indonesia. The promises were not fulfilled resulting in the first phase of Aceh self-determination struggle in the 1950s led by the Ulamas. The conflict ended when they were given special autonomy status and freedom of religion in the late 50s.

The second phase of conflict was more secular in nature and started with the formation of the Free Aceh Movement in 1976 to fight against economic and political injustices. The war was bloody and protracted and ended only in 1998 when President Suharto was ousted.

Aceh then went on a couple of phases of peace processes, a military and civil emergency, a tsunami, and finally a peace agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two sides facilitated by the Crisis Management Initiative of Finland. This MoU was then translated into the Law on Governing Aceh (LOGA) of 2007 to structure and guide new relations between Aceh and Jakarta.

Among the notable new arrangements are the reverse in the formula for wealth sharing from 30-70 to 70-30; the constitutional amendment allowing for the formation of local political parties in Aceh; and the enhanced decentralisation and autonomy formula for Aceh including consultation with the Acehnese on any decisions affecting them. Conflicting issues, however, continue to linger amidst accusations of abuse of power, neglect and incompetency of the current Acehnese administrators, lawmakers and leaders, most of whom were former combatants in the long self-determination struggle in Aceh.

Myanmar

Myanmar is currently undergoing a process of limited transformation and 'guided transition' after being in political isolation for many years. The problem in Myanmar is symptomatic of a problematic decolonisation process that has never been properly addressed. The current on-off ceasefire agreement with the 14 ethnic nationalities in the country shows just how difficult a nation building process is and can be.

The 1947 Panglung agreement could have paved the way for peace with at least some of the minority ethnic groups but was never fully accepted and implemented. The result has been the continuation of pre-independence era issues of nation and state-building, compounded by internal struggle for power and dominance within the country.

Further, it has resulted into military domination and oppression as well as violation of civil and political rights of the people, the continuous bloody self-determination struggle of ethnic minorities and persecution of other ethnic minorities, most notably the Muslim Rohingya population in the Rakhine state.

Pressures from outside including ASEAN 'constructive engagement' and sanctions from many countries has resulted in the 'softening' of the military approach and the opening of Myanmar to outsiders, including investors. This year's ASEAN Civil Society Conference organised in Yangon in March drew about 3000 people all demanding change and faster transformation of Myanmar, albeit under the watchful eyes of the State.

It is accepted that Myanmar needs a constitutional reform to resolve the existing problems, and this would only come about after a national dialogue and successful peace process with the ethnic minorities. While all these are being planned, the self-determination struggles of the minority ethnic groups continue.



Profile of Speaker

Prof. Dr. Kamarulzaman Askandar is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is the Coordinator of the Research and Education for Peace at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (REPUSM). He is also the Regional Coordinator of the Southeast Asian Conflict Studies Network (SEACSN). He sits on the board of many international networks including the Southeast Asian Human Rights Network (SEAHRN) and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). He is active in peacebuilding and conflict transformation activities around the Southeast Asian region and has worked in Aceh – Indonesia, Patani – Southern Thailand, Mindanao – Philippines, and Myanmar. He has published many articles and edited books on peacebuilding in these areas. He can be reached at zam(at)usm(dot)my

To be continued...