top of page

By:

Ruddhi Phadke

22 September 2024 at 10:17:54 am

Sacred Stones, Shifting Lines

An 11th-century temple and 21st-century nationalism are keeping the Thai–Cambodia border perpetually on edge. Once again, artillery has spoken along the jungle-clad frontier between Thailand and Cambodia. As fighter jets roar overhead, civilians have fled to makeshift shelters even as a ceasefire signed only weeks ago collapsed with indecent speed. The latest bout of violence, featuring air strikes, casualties and mass displacement, has revived a familiar question in South-East Asia: why does...

Sacred Stones, Shifting Lines

An 11th-century temple and 21st-century nationalism are keeping the Thai–Cambodia border perpetually on edge. Once again, artillery has spoken along the jungle-clad frontier between Thailand and Cambodia. As fighter jets roar overhead, civilians have fled to makeshift shelters even as a ceasefire signed only weeks ago collapsed with indecent speed. The latest bout of violence, featuring air strikes, casualties and mass displacement, has revived a familiar question in South-East Asia: why does this border, more than a century after it was first drawn, remain so combustible? The immediate trigger was banal enough. On December 7, a Thai engineering team was working on an access road in a disputed stretch of the frontier when, according to Thailand’s army, Cambodian troops opened fire. Two Thai soldiers were injured, neither of them seriously. While Cambodia disputes this account, Thailand says multiple positions came under attack and that it was forced to respond. Within hours, the issue escalated as Thai jets struck Cambodian military positions. Bangkok accused Phnom Penh of moving heavy weapons towards the border. Cambodia’s defence ministry countered that Thai forces had launched tank and artillery attacks deep inside its territory, hitting provinces such as Pursat, Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey. Villages on both sides of the frontier have emptied while hundreds of families have been displaced. Each capital accuses the other of violating international law as a ceasefire brokered in October now lies in tatters. Unconventional Conflict Given that both countries are overwhelmingly Theravada Buddhist, there is no sectarian hatred to inflame passions. Nor is this a conventional resource war. What Thailand and Cambodia are fighting over is heritage in form of a temple laid nearly a millennium ago and a map inked barely a century back. The roots of the conflict lie in the colonial age. In 1907, when Cambodia was part of French Indochina, Paris and Bangkok produced a map demarcating the border. Thailand disputed parts of it almost immediately. To this day, sections of the frontier remain unmarked, creating grey zones where patrols overlap and tempers fray. The most sensitive of these is the Preah Vihear temple, an 11th-century Hindu sanctuary perched dramatically atop a ridge overlooking the plains. Both countries have claimed Preah Vihear for decades. In 1962 the International Court of Justice ruled that the temple itself belonged to Cambodia, a judgment Thailand accepted. What the court did not do was clearly demarcate the surrounding land. That omission has proved fateful. While the temple flies the Cambodian flag, the approaches to it remain contested. Troops from both sides have dug in around the site, turning a place of worship into a military tinderbox. Clashes have erupted there repeatedly, but this year has been particularly bloody. In July, fighting over five days killed 48 people. Alarmed by the prospect of a wider conflict, regional and external powers intervened. A ceasefire was signed in Kuala Lumpur in October after mediation by Malaysia, with the United States lending its weight. Donald Trump, never shy of superlatives, called it a “major breakthrough.” It lasted only weeks. The Thailand–Cambodia border sits astride a vital Asian trade corridor. Both countries are important American partners. Air strikes between members of ASEAN are almost unheard of; their recurrence now has rattled a region already uneasy about China’s assertiveness and paralysed by Myanmar’s civil war. ASEAN, which prizes consensus and non-interference, looks particularly ill-equipped to manage multiple security crises at once. At heart, this is a conflict sustained by ambiguity and nationalism. Unclear borders invite patrols; patrols invite incidents; incidents invite politicians to don the mantle of defenders of sovereignty. Domestic politics in both Bangkok and Phnom Penh reward toughness far more than compromise. Each skirmish hardens public opinion, making the next one more likely. There are remedies, though none are easy. Technical border demarcation, overseen by neutral experts, would remove much of the uncertainty that fuels clashes. ASEAN-led monitoring could lend credibility to ceasefires. Joint economic projects and cultural exchanges around disputed areas might shift the narrative from zero-sum ownership to shared stewardship. Above all, a permanent settlement would deprive nationalists of their favourite grievance. For now, distrust runs too deep. The rapid collapse of the latest ceasefire shows how fragile existing arrangements are and how readily both sides reach for force. Until the stones of Preah Vihear are matched by lines on a map that both sides accept, the border will remain a place where history, pride and geopolitics collide and where peace is always provisional.

BMC auctioning three land parcels to raise funds, says Aaditya

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Aaditya

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday alleged Mumbai’s civic body had decided to auction three land parcels to raise funds and make up for the “loot” of the metropolis by the Eknath Shinde government.


The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is being run by an administrator now, has decided to auction the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mandi (Market), the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Malabar Hill Receiving Station and the Worli Asphalt Plant, Thackeray pointed out.


“The sale of Mumbai is being done by the Eknath Shinde regime to benefit its favourite builders and contractors,” he alleged.


A criminal investigation will be conducted into the matter after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government comes to power, Thackeray added.


“So on one end, they looted the BMC and Mumbai and gave the money to their favourite contractors. Now, by auctioning these iconic and important land parcels, the BMC will be left without both funds and plots,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister claimed.


When Shiv Sena started controlling the BMC in 1997, its finances were in deficit but by 2022 his party turned around the fiscal health of the civic body, Thackeray said.


Alleging that the Shinde government wants to drive Kolis and fisherfolk out of Mumbai, he said, “We will oppose this. It has to remain and be made into a fish market, and (should be) in the ownership of the BMC.”

ree

Aaditya puppet for urban naxals: Shelar

Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar has called Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray as a puppet for urban naxals after former’s comments on the Dharavi Redevelopment project and has also challenged him for a debate.

Ashish Shelar said that the project is a necessity and a priority project, adding that Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Congressleader Varsha Gaikwad are peddling lies.

Aaditya Thackeray seems to have become the spokesperson of urban Naxals. Without studying the subject (Dharavi) in detail, Aaditya Thackeray is speaking like an ignorant. I have seen that these people have been trying to set a narrative regarding Dharavi and the re-development work,” Ashish Shelar said.

He challenged Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad in a debate on the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

“Uddhav ji and the people of his party – Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad have started this false narrative regarding Dharavi. I openly challenge Aaditya for a debate. I want to ask him that 70 per cent of the homes in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project will go to Marathi people, Muslims and Dalits. It is their rightful home, so why are they putting roadblocks by creating a false narrative?”

Comments

bottom of page