ABSTRACT
The process of national integration differs from one nation to another. Some have been fortunate to be able to graduate from a fragmented feudal society to become one unified nation without much physical pain and psychological trauma. Others have had to go through various national ordeals with much travail and, in some cases, bloody experiences. In southern Thailand the Malay Muslims are making selective use of Islamic religious symbols to express their grievances and articulate their demands to the state authority. The foundation of political conflict and armed violence between state security officials and Malay Muslim dissidents at present is the differences in the cosmological structures of their two distinct religions. The 'integrative revolution' or 'nation-building' will never find a happy ending until each and every community within the state finds its own comfortable niche conducive to the fulfilment of its own aspirations.
