By Max Constant
BANGKOK
Thailand's Muslim population is concerned about a clause in a recently-approved constitution, which appears to attempt to further marginalize Islam and push for Buddhism to be considered the country's de-facto religion.
The country's Malay Muslims -- long alienated in three insurgency-wracked provinces on the southern border with Malaysia -- came out in force against the draft in an Aug. 7 vote -- a declaration that many see as representing disillusionment with the new clause.
Talking to Anadolu Agency on Friday, Angkhana Neelapaijit -- one of seven members of the country's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) -- voiced her concerns about article 67, drafted to "prevent the desecration of Buddhism".
“Thai Muslims are afraid that the state may no longer support Muslims. There are now some obstacles for Muslims to have full rights to practice their religion in Thailand," she said.
Section 67 of the constitution, written by a legal committee appointed by the junta who seized power in 2014, stipulates "[The] state shall patronize Buddhism and other religions”, but it will “establish measures and mechanisms to prevent the desecration of Buddhism and encourage the participation of all Buddhists in the application of such measures and mechanisms”.
The section also drops a reference to “an appeal to religious harmony”, which was included in several of the previous constitutions.
Independent academic Gothom Arya told Anadolu Agency by phone Friday that the power of the nationalists is growing.
“Each time there is a new reincarnation of the constitution, there is a very strong Buddhist lobby to make Buddhism the national religion,” he said.
Arya, a former chair of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council who has extensive experience in inter-religious dialogue in the roughly 95 percent Buddhist country, says Thailand now faces a battle to stay secular.
“Up to now, we have always maintained the principle of a secular state, but each time this Buddhist lobby initiative gains ground.”
On May 22, the junta issued a decree to correct any negative impact the new constitutional clause may have on religious relations, but many analysts see the problems as a sign of the times.
The decree aimed to “prevent acts threatening Buddhism and other religions”, recalled the traditional “appeal for religious harmony in the country”, and also established a “panel to prevent acts which threaten Buddhism and other religions”.
Religious tensions have still to hit the nationalist anti-Muslim fervor of Thailand's Buddhist neighbor Myanmar, but instances have been on the rise.
In February, hardline Buddhist groups and monks came out in droves to protest a plan to establish a halal food zone near the northern city of Chiang Mai, claiming it would “destroy the cultural heritage” of the province, while in November 2016, a monk in Bangkok called on people to “burn a mosque for each Buddhist monk killed” in the three southernmost provinces.
His cry -- a reaction to the killing of several Buddhist monks by southern Muslim insurgents -- was largely spread on social networks until the government asked him to cease discussing the topic.
Arya says that the May decree -- under Section 44 of the interim constitution -- was quickly drafted after the junta analyzed the results of the referendum in the southernmost provinces.
Prior to the Aug. 7 vote, a group of politicians named the Wadah Faction in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat had heavily criticized the clause, saying Section 67 put Buddhism above the country's other religions.
Subsequently, the number of “no” and spoiled votes in the provinces was among the highest in the country.
“Many analysts said that one of the reasons was because of the clause on religion. The decree is attempting to rebalance things. It is a way of saying: ‘be reassured. All religions recognized in Thailand are protected by the State',” Arya added.
On Friday, the NHRC's Neelapaijit -- the Muslim wife of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, who "disappeared" after being publicly seized by a group of men in 2004 -- said her fears went beyond Section 67.
The junta-appointed National Legislative Agency is currently scrutinizing a “Hajj bill” which stipulates that the state must support Thai Muslims to go on Hajj.
“Some Buddhists are against the bill," said Neelapaijit.
"They say it will protect more the rights of the Muslim than the rights of the Buddhists. But Thai Muslims have been fighting for years for it."
The southern insurgency is rooted in a century-old ethno-cultural conflict between Malay Muslims living in the southern region and the Thai central state.
The confrontation is one of the deadliest low-intensity conflicts on the planet.
