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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Jaw, jaw rather than war, war


Has the Opposition Leader, Anwar Ibrahim, in very clear terms, made a statement asking the government to shoot them dead if they refuse to leave Malaysia in the next 24 hours? Is Anwar Ibrahim prepared to declare that he will support any drastic action taken by the Malaysian government, including shooting them dead if they refuse to leave Malaysia?
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Many people are screaming about the ‘terrorist invasion’ of Lahat Datu, Sabah, and they are upset that the Malaysian government has not taken drastic action against these infiltrators. What drastic action are you talking about? Do you want the army to shoot them all dead?
The Muslim Bangsamoro come from the Philippines and they make up about 5% of the 95 million or so population of that Roman Catholic country. This means there are millions more from where these people came from. And many of the Moro are not only armed but are battle-seasoned as well after going through two generations of civil war since 1969.
Shooting these infiltrators dead is not a problem. In fact, that is the easiest thing to do. The problem would be what then? Are we prepared to risk retaliation after that? We must remember that shooting a few hundred ‘illegals’ dead is not that difficult. All it takes is guns and bullets, and Malaysia has plenty of that. It is what comes next that we have to worry about.
Sabah has always been a dicey issue in the Malaysia-Philippines relationship. It is also an issue for the Malaysian-Indonesian relationship as well for those like me who are old enough to remember the Konfrontasi of the early 1960s.
Sure, in the early 1960s the Indonesians invaded parts of Malaysia such as Johor and North Borneo and, sure, we whacked them good and proper. But the ‘we’ at that time included soldiers from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and many more -- the British Ghurkhas and British Special Forces included. Almost 30,000 military personnel were involved -- plus 80 ships from the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Malayan Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy.
In North Borneo there was a secret and undeclared war going on along the Kalimantan border that the world did not know about. And it was more serious than many Malaysians are aware of. More than 1,100 people were killed and wounded (almost 100 of them civilians). But we were not told this because the government did not want the people to panic.
I know many Malaysian are blaming Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Hishammuddin Hussein, the Malaysian government, Barisan Nasional, Umno, and so on for what is happening. They say that this is the government’s fault for not taking drastic action in shooting them all dead.
What is the opposition view on this? Does the opposition, too, want the government to shoot these people dead? Is the opposition prepared to set aside politics and stand united with the government in asking the government to take drastic action?
Has the Opposition Leader, Anwar Ibrahim, in very clear terms, made a statement asking the government to shoot them dead if they refuse to leave Malaysia in the next 24 hours? Is Anwar Ibrahim prepared to declare that he will support any drastic action taken by the Malaysian government, including shooting them dead if they refuse to leave Malaysia?
When push comes to shove, are Malaysians prepared to face the risk of retaliation in the event the action the government has to take triggers an armed conflict with our neighbours?
There are about 350 million Indonesians and Filipinos in total as opposed to less than 30 million Malaysians. And about 3 million of these Indonesians and Filipinos live in Malaysia, all over the country, and some even possess Malaysian ‘papers’.
As a responsible Malaysian I would first like the government to explore a peaceful solution to this standoff. Only if that is not possible and only if they start shooting first should we fire our guns. And even then the guns should be fired as an act of defence and not as an act of aggression.
Sure, infiltration itself is an act of aggression. Hence shooting them can be interpreted as an act of defence and not an act of aggression. But was that not also what they said in Lebanon, Bosnia, Rwanda, and many other places all over the world that saw bloodshed?
The United Nations was formed so that we can avoid wars. And the United Nations is where we go to settle disputes. As what the late Tun Ghazali Shafie once said: as long as can continue to jaw, jaw we can avoid war, war.
In other words, keep talking (jaw, jaw) until it is no longer possible to talk before we go to war. Starting a war is easy. Ending it is difficult. Nevertheless, a long-term solution needs to be found to settle this matter, which is a decades old problem.
Now, assuming Pakatan Rakyat wins the coming general election in the next month or two and it gets to form the new federal government. And, say, this standoff has still not been settled by then (meaning the infiltrators are still in Sabah). How does Pakatan Rakyat propose to solve this issue? Will Anwar get sworn in as the new Prime Minister and then the very next day he sends in the army to shoot everyone dead?
I doubt Anwar will do that. Anwar, too, will try to negotiate a peaceful end to this standoff. There is one thing we must remember. The creation of Malaysia was not exactly ‘kosher’, if you know what I mean. There is a lot of ‘history’ behind the creation of Malaysia. And some of that ‘history’ has now surfaced to bite us in the butt.
According to the Americans, the South China Sea region is the most likely region for the outbreak of the Third World War in the event a Third World War does break out. So let us ponder on that before we ask the government to do a John Wayne and go in with our guns blazing.
And now read that statement by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) below.
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Statement by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
MILF to Sulu sultan’s heirs: We consulted you on peace talks
(luwaran.com) -- “We have reached out to you as we did to other groups in Mindanao on the subject of resolving the conflict in Mindanao.  We did this on several occasions particularly when the MILF peace panel had a sortie in Zamboanga City more than a year ago.”
This was the explanation of Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF Committee on Information, in response to allegation purportedly coming from one of the spokesmen of the Sultan of Sulu that they were not consulted on issues surrounding the GPH-MILF peace negotiation.
Currently, followers of the Sulu sultan are reportedly involved in the standoff in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia.
In the Zamboanga forum, one of the relatives of the Sulu sultan asked the policy of the MILF regarding the sultanate especially the Sulu sultanate and the answer was: “We want to preserve it but we will not revive it.”
“The sultanate is part of Moro history and heritage and it is one of the basis of the present Moro’s assertion of its right to self-determination,” Musa stressed.
He, however, clarified that the MILF will not stand on the way if the various sultanates would want to revive themselves.
“We respect their decisions,” he added.
In 1935, Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon abolished the sultanates and the datu system. In one of his meeting with them, he had this blunt message:
“… The sultans have no more rights than the humblest Moro and that under my administration the humblest Moro will be given as much protection as any datu under the law, and that his rights will be recognized exactly as the rights of a datu will be, and that every datu will have to comply with his duties as citizen to same extent and in the same manner that the humblest Moro is obligated.”
In the sultanate or datu system, the people are generally divided into three categories: the nobles, the commoners, and the slaves. Some say correctly or wrongly this system has roots in the caste system in India. The only difference is that amongst Moros, slaves were at times given the chance to buy his or her freedom or were freed by benevolent nobles.
Asked to comment on the Sabah standoff, Musa declined to make any statement, saying it is highly sensitive issue that the MILF Central Committee has not yet made the necessary guidelines.
“It is better to remain silent,” he confessed.
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Sabah a sanctuary for the people of Bangsamoro
(The Star) -- The Malaysian Government has done more for the displaced people in the former conflict zone of Southern Philippines than just brokering a peace agreement.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Murad Ebrahim said the Malaysian Government as well as its people contributed much by opening their doors to the Bangsamoro people in Sabah when they had to flee from their homes because of the conflict since the 1970s.
“At that time, there was no peace and order, and the economy was in tatters.”
“Sabah was near and I suppose the Bangsamoro found it better to seek opportunities there.”
“We are thankful for that because at the time there was no way for us to help our own people,” he said.
At the same time, he said he was appreciative of the Government for allowing qualified Bangsamoro people to apply for citizenship and identity cards after having stayed in the country for decades.
The ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry heard a testimony by a former Moro National Liberation Front leader who slipped into Sandakan in 1975 and has since become a permanent resident.
However, Murad said since the restoration of peace in the region, the doors were now open for the Bangsamoro people to return and rebuild their homeland.
“Now many of them are well-off. If they choose to come back to the Bangsamoro area, they can help with development and investment in the Bangsamoro, like how we also welcome Malaysian investors.”
“But we give them a choice. If they choose to stay in Malaysia, we won't have objections,” he said.
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The term Bangsamoro refers to a people who are natives of the Sulu archipelago, parts of Mindanao, parts of Palawan in the Philippines, and parts of Sabah in neighbouring Malaysia at the time of conquest or colonisation. It comes from the Malay word bangsa, meaning nation or people, and the Spanish word Moro, from the Spanish word for Moor, the Reconquista-period term used for Muslims.
Bangsamoro covers the provinces of Basilan, Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay; and the cities of Cotabato, Dapitan, Dipolog, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, and Zamboanga.
Other interpretations may include territories that used to form North Borneo including Sabah, Labuan and the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan. These areas are currently under the Sabah dispute. Historically, the island of Mactan plus the provinces of Manila and Cavite also formed part of Bangsamoro, as they were under Muslim rule.
The Moro ethnic group comprises the following population located in the southern islands of the Philippines.
    Bajau
    Banguingui
    Illanun
    Kalagan
    Kalibugan
    Maranao people          
    Maguindanao
    Tausug
    Samal people
    Sama
    Sangir
    Yakan

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