Govt
in disgrace over protest violence
THE NATION EDITORIAL:
July
19, 2000
The government should be ashamed of its handling of
the break-in at Government House by the Pak Mool villagers over the
weekend. A total of 223 people, including women and children, were
apprehended and several were injured by rough manhandling by security
guards. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.
It is not acceptable to treat the villagers as a
terrorist gang. That they certainly are not. So it was understandable why
Chiang Mai University professor Nidhi Eoseewong launched a tirade against
the government, furiously branding its action as dictatorial.
This incident is not the first of its kind. Not so
long ago the same group of villagers forced their way into Government
House during a weekend of protests to make the government sit up and pay
attention to their plight resulting from the Pak Moon Dam.
The government should have learnt from this and
instituted measures for dealing peacefully with future incidents instead
of letting a clash occur. Lacking directions from the government, the
security guards, authoritarian by nature and who seem to take on an extra
degree of self-importance when they don their uniforms, no doubt felt they
were not obliged to use pacific measures against protestors. Therefore, to
lay the blame on the villagers as the instigators of the violence is out
of line, especially as the government has a specific duty to understand
their grievances and, where necessary, accommodate their demands. On
balance, it must be pointed out that there are certain rogue elements
among the protestors who need to take the blame and share the
responsibility of this mishap.
The Pak Moon Dam has been a long time in the making
and cannot be easily undone now. That's why both sides need extraordinary
spirit and patience to jointly settle the problems it has caused. To let
the protests go on without any attempt to bring sanity to the situation is
not going to solve anything. Conversely, there is nothing whatsoever to be
gained, other than discontent and tragedy, by pushing or beating the
protestors.
Obviously, the villagers do not want to be put in
the position of having to confront the government, which has all the
necessary means and legal powers to crush them if need be. Therefore, the
Chuan government, which has gained a measure of international acceptance
for its respect of human rights, must be reminded that the Pak Moon
villagers see the manifestation of their protest in terms of salvation for
all the downtrodden and disaffected in Thailand, not just in narrow
political terms.
Government officials, in particular the prime
minister and his spokesman, need to understand this. Otherwise their words
will simply fall on deaf ears and eventually lead to more confrontation
and destruction. It is foolish for the authorities to take the position
that the protestors broke the law by trespassing on government property.
The Pak Moon episode is not just concerned with people breaking into
Government House, nor is it about the instigation of a mob by a third
hand. It is more about the future of Thailand - it is about relations
between the state and communities throughout the country. Why should they
obey the state if the state fails to respond to their needs?
We have arrived at a very delicate time in terms of
relations between the people and the government. It is a time for cool
heads to prevail and common sense solutions to be sought. We live in a
democracy and the civilised way to solve problems is to get down to brass
tacks and talk about them. The government must strive to prevent a
repetition of the weekend's events, as violence only begets violence,
which benefits no one.
Likewise, all those arrested have to be released
immediately as a show of faith that the government is prepared to take a
conciliatory stand and begin efforts to appease the villagers. The longer
it drags on the more tempers will rise. The non-partisan committee which
was recently appointed to address the demands of the villagers should be
allowed to do its job and work out solutions that are acceptable to all.
There is after all a lot of faith at stake here.
The Nation |