Angry Muslims stop officials from entering boarding school
Hundreds of Muslims in Songkhla's Saba Yoi district yesterday confronted officials as they refused to allow experts to examine an Islamic boarding school where two students died in an attack on Saturday night.
Some 200 women and children gathered at Bamrungsart Pondok School to bar officials and forensic experts. Saba Yoi district chief Preecha Damkerngkiart led a group of officials and journalists to inspect the school yesterday to see the damage and collect evidence. Protesters accused military rangers of attacking the school and demanded the troops be withdrawn from the area. They also alleged that local media distorted the story by reporting that a bomb hidden at the school accidentally went off. After hours of negotiation, the protesters allowed six officials to enter the school. Meanwhile, some 500 Buddhist residents of Saba Yoi gathered at the district hall demanding authorities impose harsh penalties against militants, protect and rehabilitate Buddhists and Muslims equally and find a solution to end the violence in the deep South. They passed a statement to the district authorities and will submit it to Songkhla's governor and the Fourth Army Region commander later. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said he was aware of a militant movement to deepen the rift between Buddhists and Muslims. He urged local people and the mainly Buddhist population elsewhere in Thailand to refrain from religious prejudice. Religious division would be useful for the insurgents to increase violence, he said. The premier yesterday confirmed a Malaysian media report that some 20 Muslims fled from the South to Malaysia due to fears for their safety. But Surayud declined to say whether the group was manipulated by any parties to seek refuge in a neighbouring country in order to discredit the government.
The Nation Songkhla
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