Muslim separatism: the moros in Southern Philippines and the Malays in Southern Thailand

Abstract

Despite the assumptions of both the 'modernization school' and Marxist theorists that ethnicity was a transitory phenomenon along the path to political development, the past few decades have seen a resurgence of ethnic nationalism. In recent years a number of explanations has been offered for the persistence and resurgence of ethnicity. Within this context, this thesis looks at ethnic separatist politics among the Muslim minority populations in Mindanao, the Philippines and in Patani, Thailand. It addresses several questions: having regard to the alternative explanations offered for the persistence and resurgence of ethnic nationalism, how does one account for the survival of Moro and Malay identity over centuries in the face of repeated attempts to integrate these ethnic communities into the larger political entities of the Philippines and Thailand? More specifically, what immediate factors triggered the recent emergence of armed separatist movements in the two areas? Chapters 2 and 3 describe the historical, economic and social background of the Moro and the Malay communities. They discuss how these two distinct ethnic communities evolved and examine the socio-economic conditions of the communities as minorities under the domination of Filipino-Christian and Thai-Buddhist majorities. They depict also the history of the Moro and the Malay resistance movements in the 20th century, which culminated in the emergence of full-fledged organized separatist fronts. The particular role of Islam in creating a sense of ummah (community) that distinguished Muslim from non-Muslim communities, and in shaping and legitimating the separatist movements both within the Moro and Malay societies and in the context of the larger Islamic world community is explored. Beyond these broader questions, the study scrutinizes the form which the separatist struggles have taken over time and examines in detail the structure, leadership and ideology of the separatist movements. It suggests that, unlike most revolutionary fronts,the ethnic separatist movements in the Philippines and Thailand have been loosely structured,with a broadly-defined programme, and apparently vulnerable to factionalism,yet capable of coming together and mobilizing large numbers of people under the banner of Islam when their communities felt their way of life threatened. The importance of the world Muslim community in sustaining the Patani and especially the Moro movements, and in shaping the nature of struggle, is studied in this context. An account is also given of the responses of the Philippine and Thai governments to the separatist movements and it is argued that attempts to solve the problems of ethnic separatism through either socio-economic programmes or military action are doomed to failure. During the course of this study it is clear that there are both similarities and differences between the Moro and Malay separatist struggles. But the basic similarities are striking, and suggest parallels also with ethnic separatist movements elsewhere in the world. The thesis concludes with some comments on the long-term prospects for the separatist movements in the two countries.