Word: muslims
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...bloodshed persists despite a new campaign by the current Democrat-led government to win the hearts and minds of Thailand's Muslim population through community-led initiatives and development aid. In fact, if the rate of violence in the first eight months of 2009 continues through December, this year will be bloodier than 2008. In June, unidentified gunmen sprayed a mosque with bullets, killing 12 people, while late last month a 50-kg car bomb detonated at a packed restaurant, wounding some 50 bystanders. (Read "Anatomy of a Forgotten Conflict...
...Unlike with many other Muslim terror groups, the insurgents in Thailand's deep south don't tend to claim responsibility for their actions, nor have they publicly stated the reasons for their violent handiwork. Nevertheless, there's no doubt that Muslims in largely Buddhist Thailand have faced decades of prejudice, even on an official level. In a particularly tragic incident in 2004, hundreds of Muslim protesters in the village of Tak Bai were rounded up by security forces, stuffed like sardines into trucks and left to roast in the heat during a drive to an army detention center in Pattani...
...contrast to Thaksin's iron-fisted approach, the current government led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has adopted a far more conciliatory attitude toward Thai Muslims. He has unveiled a $1 billion-plus economic stimulus plan for Thailand's deep south in an effort to counter deep-seated Muslim antipathy toward the central government. But despite the rubber-plantation and road projects, these three southernmost provinces have also turned into a giant militarized zone over the past couple years. Some 60,000 Thai military and police forces patrol the region, a troop surge that has frightened many locals who complain...
...deep south fully agreed that a military solution was the right one for these three troubled provinces. An Amnesty International report released earlier this year condemned Thai security forces for using torture against detainees, not least because such violations would only stoke further radicalization among already disenchanted Muslim youth. Given the steady number of deaths that continue to convulse the region, the government's campaign to win hearts and minds hasn't paid off yet. All the more disheartening information to keep out of those sunny tourist brochures...
...Fellow members of the ruling Pakistan People's Party are convinced that Kazmi was targeted for his outspoken opinions. "[Kazmi] has been at the forefront of our government attempt to unify all the senior most Muslim leaders of this country who are all opposed to the militant viewpoint on Islam," says presidential spokesperson Farahnaz Ispahani. "He has been out there, he is a mild and soft-spoken man who has spoken out publicly about the sufi Islam that is the true Islam of Pakistan...