Kelantan Orang Asli leader claims 'a silent majority' opposes blockades

A Temiar Orang Asli leader from Gua Musang, Kelantan, today claimed that there is a "silent majority" within his community who are against the efforts to erect blockades around the Pos Tohoi area since early this year.

Tok Batin Awin Pedik, 64, told reporters in Putrajaya that he believed the Orang Asli's ongoing standoff with logging and plantation companies were backed by NGOs with vested interests.

He also accused the NGOs of having bypassed the authority of the community's leaders.

"Security in the village has been jeopardised with the blockades because they (the Orang Asli) are seen as trying to provoke.

"We are the headmen and we want everything (blockades) to be cleared out. As their leaders, we just want peace and security in the village," said Awin, who earlier had a brief meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's political secretary Abu Bakar Yahya at the Prime Minister’s Department.

"Our concern is the security of the villagers. These things (the blockades) are taking place without our permission.

"In our tradition and culture, everything must go through the leaders, go through the Tok Batin," said Awin, who claimed that only around 10 percent of some 15,000 Orang Asli in Kelantan were in favour of the efforts to confront the logging companies.

On Aug 4, Jaringan Kampung Orang Adli Kelantan president Mustafa Along said a Musang King durian plantation company tore down a blockade set up by the Temiar community in Pos Tohoi.

This escalation came despite a recent visit to the blockade by Deputy Rural Development Minister R Sivarasa, where he promised to help resolve the dispute between Orang Asli villagers and the plantation company.

Last Friday, Mustafa and a larger group of some 200 Orang Asli from Pos Tohoi met with Mahathir to seek the federal government's intervention in their ongoing struggle for the recognition of customary land.

Asked whether he disagreed with the group's demands, Awin said his contention was with the way they chose to voice their concerns.

"We don’t need to come with a large group. We don’t want to show like we are forcing the government.

"We only want law and order to be implemented and it is not nice to bring such a large group to meet the prime minister," he said.

Only Sabah, Sarawak have customary land law

Awin also argued that while the Orang Asli have demanded for recognition of their customary land, such a definition under the law existed only in Sabah and Sarawak, and not in the peninsula.

"In Kelantan, what we have is hereditary land (tanah pusaka). What that means is, it was previously a virgin forest area.

"Our forefathers cut them down and planted tapioca, maize, padi… so that land belonged to us because we planted food from one generation to the next," he said.

"We don’t claim (ownership) of the virgin forest. Virgin forest is God’s plantation.

"We go for rayau (roaming) only… hunting or whatever. That is the meaning of roaming land," Awin said. "There is no customary land. No such thing."

Aside from a local network of Orang Asli NGOs, other groups that have come forward to assist them included Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and environmental group Peka.

When contacted, Suaram coordinator Amir Abdul Hadi admitted that his group did not engage with the Tok Batin.

However, Amir argued, even the younger generation of the Orang Asli themselves were reluctant to follow the Tok Batin appointed by the previous BN government.

"There was no issue of inciting the Orang Asli because when we went to bring aid, the blockades were already there," said Amir, who, along with Suaram and a group of volunteers, had gone to the blockade site last weekend. Mkini