South Asian's problems holding together

[azizgilani]

India and Pakistan (East/West now Bangladesh/Pakistan) had concocted borders with no real historical precedent. The result is that these countries (Bangladesh less so for lots of reasons) spend more time fighting to hold themselves together than with each other.

Do any Southeast/East Asian countries have a similar problem?

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Indonesia, for one. Everyone there (eg all the thousands of other islands) are sick of the Javanese-dominated system which centers all the political influence around Jakarta, and sends colonization parties and ABRI (the army) out to remote areas to impose their own culture. As a result, East Timor already broke away (after having been invaded), and Irian Jaya is lining up to do the same. The radicalization of Islam among Javanese, thanks to Saudi petrodollars pouring in to their religious schools for the purpose of displacing native moderate scholars, isn't helping, either. (Especially in the case of Bali, a mostly Hindu population.

Malaysia has a similar but lower-key problem, mainly due to the fact that we beat the hell outta the indigeneous minorities, and have only immigrant minorities to replace them, who were never geographically concentrated enough to constitute much of a separatist thread (aside from Singapore, who we already kicked out). East Malaysia is always grumbling about separating from Peninsular Malaysia, but no one takes them that seriously. Though they might just get some momentum going if PAS ever gains more influence and trying to implement Syariah law at the federal level rather than just pissing around and making rules about men and women standing in line at the grocery store in Kelantan. (see map (http://www.hoteltravel.com/malaysia/maps/malaysia_map.htm); not as bad as Pakistan/Bangladesh, but still, lots of people think it's kinda ridiculous that our country is split in half by the sea, and that the half on the other side of the sea isn't even fully ours, but we gotta share it with Brunei and Indonesia).

[tommyhtown]

In Thailand, the four most southern provinces want to break away and form their own coutry, an Islamic state, which historically was not part of Thailand or the Siam Kingdom until 1700's. The fragmentation is an unlikely scenario, but there are occasional school arsons, cop killings and occasional bombings at touristy places committed by this secessionist movement.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

<!--QuoteBegin-tommyhtown+Aug 12 2003, 04:11 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (tommyhtown @ Aug 12 2003, 04:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> In Thailand, the four most southern provinces want to break away and form their own coutry, an Islamic state, which historically was not part of Thailand or the Siam Kingdom until 1700's. [/b][/quote]
Personally? I'd wish them the best of luck in their separatism if they'd be willing to take Kelantan state (in north Malaysia, home of our own foreign-funded Islamic radicals) with them also ... get it the hell outta our country ...

[azizgilani]

<!--QuoteBegin-AliBabaIncorporated+Aug 12 2003, 03:26 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AliBabaIncorporated @ Aug 12 2003, 03:26 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Personally? I'd wish them the best of luck in their separatism if they'd be willing to take Kelantan state (in north Malaysia, home of our own foreign-funded Islamic radicals) with them also ... get it the hell outta our country ... [/b][/quote]
Radical Islam tends to thrive in areas where there is a lot of dis-enfranchisement. People can complain about Petro dollars worstening the situation all they want, but without legitimate greivances militants wouldn't be able to attract any followers.

People in crappy situations look for a means out. If they weren't Radical Muslims, the would be socialist guerillas like in Colombia.

There is a good Washington Post Article from 2000 that describes the various movements in Southeast Asia. It says:

Southeast Asia Shaken by Rise Of Strict Islam
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, November 5, 2000; Page A01

The growth of fundamentalist and extremist movements across the region is the result of unique factors in each country, but there is one common thread: a sense of economic disenfranchisement. The Asian financial crisis caused the standard of living for tens of millions of people to plummet, fueling resentment of the predominantly Christian business elite in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.