Asking question about the word "separatism"

[M Chuk]

In Québec there is the mouvement indépendantiste or souverainiste.
For the most part, it is referred to as an independence or
sovereign-association movement by the francophone population and as a
separatist movement by the anglophone population. These terms are
strongly ideological especially in their juxtapositioning, i.e., they
reflect social positioning and subsequent [potential] degrees of
success; much in the way polarisation may be seen in parallel terms
such as 'rebel' and 'revolutionary'.

I suspect one might be more hard-pressed to find neutral instances
where populations and territorial controls are concerned.

I hope this helps.
Marsha Chuk
---


Dear friends,
I want to ask you  about the words 'separatist' or 'separatism' or
'separation movement'. What do you think about those words? Is there
any 'ideological meaning' in those words?

Seeing from the 'formal defintion' in some encyclopedia (i.e.
'separatist': 'an advocate of separation, esp. ecclesiastical or
political separation' (Encyclopedic World Dictionary) or 'a person
who advocates the secession of a province, esp. Quebec from Canada'
(Wordreference.com)) on in a scientific writing (like Daniel Tan Kuan
Wei's  "Investigating the Dynamics of Separatism", in which he said
'separatism can be broadly defined as a "process whereby territorial
units consisting of a minority or subordinate ethnic group, or a
coalition of ethnic groups assert themselves politically, challenging
the scope of a particular authority and seeks to secede or gain
autonomy from the control, de facto and de jure, of a central
government predominantly administered by a different ethno-linguistic
and/or religious group'),
it seems that the words 'separatism', 'separatis' do not have any
'ideological meaning'. But reading the following documents of the
ASNLF, (Acheh Sumatra National Liberation Front, the organization in
Acheh, Indonesia, wich demands self-determination for the Achehneese
people), in which they denied the word "separatism", it seems that
the word 'separatist', 'separatism', 'separation movement', has an
'ideological meaning':

'Secondly, to call the world's attention to the fact that the
question of Acheh Sumatra is not a question of "separatism" as
alleged by the Javanese/Indonesian colonialist regime and the Western
press, but a question of self-determination of the people of Acheh
Sumatra, and a question of decolonization of the Dutch East Indies
alias "Indonesia" which has not been decolonized legally and properly
in accordance with the purpose and meaning of the Charter of the
United Nations, with the principles and procedures of International
Law, and with the UN Resolution on the Granting of Independence to
Colonial Countries and Peoples.'

Also, the above statement by the ANSLF is similar to the refusal of
the Tamil guerilla movement to be called "separatism", like in the
following news from Asia Times, November 29, 2001:

"Sri Lanka's Tamil guerrilla movement "is neither separatism nor
terrorism", the head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
has declared. It is the closest a Tamil guerrilla leader has come to
suggesting that a homeland separate from the Sinhalese majority on
the island may not be essential to ending the bloody, decades-long
conflict."

  "The Tamil people want to maintain their national identity and to
live in their own lands, in their historically given homeland with
peace and dignity. They want to determine their own political and
economic life; they want to be on their own. These are the basic
political aspirations of the Tamil people," Pirabhakaran said in his
annual Heroes Day speech on Tuesday. "It is neither separatism nor
terrorism."

>>From what the ASNLF and the Tamil Eelam said, it seems that
>'separatism' has a negative connotation, and so that's why they
>don't want to be called 'separatist'.

So what do you think, do the words "separatist", "separatism", or
"separation movement" have an 'ideological meaning"?

I think that's all for now. Thank you very much.

Best Regards,
Zaki
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