இஸ்லாமிய பயங்க்ரவாதிகளால் தாய்லாந்தில் 43 புத்தக்கோவில்கள் இடிப்பு: 266 தாக்குதல்

இஸ்லாமிய பயங்க்ரவாதிகளால் தாய்லாந்தில் இதுவரை 43 புத்தக்கோவில்கள் இடிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. 266கோவில்கள் தாக்கப்பட்டு அங்குள்ள பௌத்த துறவிகள் துரத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன்ர்.

இந்த் இஸ்லாமிய தீவிரவாதிகள் தங்களது வன்முறை பாதையை விட்டு அமைதி ஆன்மீகப்பாதைக்கு வர விரும்புவோம்

Thai queen calls on monks to head south

BANGKOK, Thailand's Queen Sirikit, in an effort to bring peace to the wartorn southern provinces, called on Buddhist monks to go south and live in abandoned monasteries during the three-month Buddhist Lent that started Monday. For years the area suffered from violence between the military and Islamic separatists, AsiaNews reported Tuesday.

So far 347 monks heeded her appeal and moved into 266 temples that had been abandoned because Islamic separatists had targeted them as symbols of Thailand's Buddhist majority. Destroyed temples number 43 in in Yala province, 81 in Pattani along with seven monasteries, temples and 16 monasteries in Narathiwat. In many other locations monks were able to go out asking for alms only under police or army escort.

Phra Somchai Kitiwuthto is among the volunteers. "Spreading the teachings of the Buddha and encouraging the faith are part of the mission of a Buddhist monk. Violence is not an answer to our problems. Dhamma (or Dharma, i.e. the Buddha's teachings) must help bring solidarity among all Thais."

Thailand's population of 62.8 million is 95 per cent Buddhist. Another 4 per cent is Muslim, but concentrated in the southernmost provinces.

Rebel groups have been fighting for independence. Since 2004 about 2,200 people have died in the clashes.