Aceh enigma: Old sins with long shadows<\/p>\n
By Johannes Nugroho<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): The saying \"Old sins have long shadows\" seems
\nto be reverberating in the country's westernmost province Aceh,
\nmaterializing in the mounting pressure for a self-determination
\nreferendum. In the face of damning evidence of human rights
\nviolations in Aceh perpetrated by the Indonesian Military (TNI)
\nduring Soeharto's regime, coupled with the incessant milking and
\ndraining of the region's resources, Aceh has become a vexed
\ndilemma for the incipient administration.<\/p>\n
Aceh and the recently seceded East Timor are arguably two
\ndivergent issues. While historically as well as culturally
\nIndonesia has remote ties with the former Portuguese colony, it
\nis almost the opposite when it comes to Aceh.<\/p>\n
Being one of the last conquests of the colonial Dutch Indies
\ngovernment, Aceh has come to symbolize the most resilient
\nstruggle against colonialism through its 1873-1904 war. The
\nSultanate of Aceh was still fighting when its Javanese
\ncounterparts had long bowed to the Dutch Crown. The Acehnese
\nnames Teuku Umar, Commander Polim and Cut Nya Dien -- declared
\nnational heroes by Soeharto, inspire visions of valor amongst
\nIndonesian history students.<\/p>\n
What has been forgotten, however, is that those \"national\"
\nheroes were first Acehnese and were, strictly speaking, never
\nIndonesians. They waged their battles against the Dutch
\nencroachment on their sultanate as they have been for the last
\ndecades against what they, presumably, see as the Javanese
\nusurpation of their rights.<\/p>\n
There's no denying that Soeharto's regime was Java-centric,
\nwhile the fact that military's non-organic troops stationed in
\nAceh were probably mostly Javanese did not help to dispel the
\nperception that Aceh was being overrun by Javanese. The fact that
\narguably most Javanese people themselves were kept in the dark
\nabout the military's atrocities in Aceh does not appear to
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
As if to add insult to injury, while Acehnese were being
\nmassacred and raped by Javanese soldiers, more and more Javanese
\ntransmigrants were being settled across Sumatra under Soeharto's
\nonce lauded transmigration policy.<\/p>\n
The policy was implemented supposedly to even out population
\ndistribution in the country and to relieve the island of Java of
\nits overcrowding by relocating whole villages to underpopulated
\nregions throughout the country. This imposed, as well as
\nengineered, movement of people was most unnatural and has brought
\nabout ethnic tensions between the Javanese transmigrants and the
\nnon-Javanese indigenous people.<\/p>\n
The resettlement policy has arguably been deemed by the locals
\nas yet another attempt at \"Javanization\" by Jakarta. Most of the
\nethnic clashes in recent years, such as the Dayak-Madurese
\nincidents in Kalimantan, have arisen from the local's resentment
\nagainst the new comers. Indeed, had it not been for this policy,
\nthe refugee problem besetting East Timor now would probably be
\nminimal. Consequently, referring to the East Timorese debacle, if
\nAceh were to secede from Indonesia, it would certainly result in
\nanother wave of refugees.<\/p>\n
Conjointly, the loss of Aceh would inevitably become a
\ncataclysmic precedent and omen for the probable disintegration of
\nthe country. Hence, it is imperative that the present government
\nstrive at all costs to prevent Aceh from breaking away without
\nmilitary might or further insult and condescension towards the
\nAcehnese.<\/p>\n
If the Acehnese were vehemently resentful of the attempt by
\nthe Dutch to curb their sovereignty then, now they are ostensibly
\nincensed by the unavenged murders and rapes. To top it all, their
\nnatural resources have been exploited without their having a say
\nin it or receiving an overdue slice of the cake.<\/p>\n
In due course, it is only fair that the government should
\ngrant full autonomy to Aceh, with prerogatives like those of a
\nstate within a federation: To manage its own internal affairs,
\nincluding a separate legal and educational system, police force
\nand so on. Aceh should be offered the status of a self-governing
\nintegral territory of Indonesia, as Greenland is to Denmark.<\/p>\n
However, the gift of autonomy would understandably be
\ninsufficient to soothe Aceh's long-borne pain. Thus, it will be
\nnecessary to accord the Acehnese the justice to which they have
\nbeen denied, in the form of punishment for those responsible for
\natrocities committed against them.<\/p>\n
Yet, this might prove to be complex, considering the powers
\nthat be in this country still rely on the goodwill of the
\nmilitary for stability. Should it refuse to have its former
\nofficers charged with crimes against humanity, it should at least
\nconsider a public apology to the Acehnese.<\/p>\n
It is also of paramount importance that the government
\ndesignating financial retribution and compensation for the
\nvictims or their relatives. The scheme could either involve one-
\noff payments or lifetime contributions. Furthermore, the rape
\nvictims of Aceh should be entitled to psychological counseling to
\nbetter equip them to recover from their traumatic experiences.<\/p>\n
Most important of all, Indonesians as a nation must not forget
\nthe crimes against human dignity that have taken place in Aceh.
\nThe nation must not commit the same mistake as the post-World War
\nII German and Japanese governments were guilty of: historical
\ncensorship and a \"shame-burying\" sham.<\/p>\n
Future generations of Indonesians must not be deluded into
\nignorance of what occurred in Aceh, nor should they be deprived
\nof the painful chapter of atrocities and subjugation. They must
\nnot be led into recoiling in shame and denial, while
\nproclaiming,\" Those things never happened. Those things were only
\nfabricated to discredit my country,\" as the neo-Nazis are now
\nsaying about the Third Reich's genocide against the Jewish
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Already we have been culpable for this timorous act in the
\nEast Timorese case. There are those of us who would rather
\nbelieve that East Timor was never annexed by Indonesia, that the
\nalleged genocide there was trumped-up by foreign governments and
\nso on. If Indonesia could pinpoint Australia's own attempt at the
\nethnic cleansing of the Aborigines, then why can't we just say,
\n\"Mea culpa. We've been guilty of what other nations have also
\nbeen guilty of and we are prepared to address it.\"<\/p>\n
Transparently, the separatism rampant in Aceh derives from the
\ngovernment's dogged reluctance to pursue and administer justice
\nuntil pressurized to do so. The Oriental culture of \"saving face\"
\nis arguably evident in the improbability of bringing the military
\ngenerals responsible for atrocities in Aceh to justice as it is
\npalpable in Gus Dur's \"political\" solution to Soeharto's crimes.<\/p>\n
The Aceh question may well be the first stumbling block for
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid's administration. It is tempting to
\nsuggest that the administration's tackling of the issue will
\ndetermine its own survival as any further disintegration of
\nIndonesia, after the loss of East Timor, might render the new
\nadministration, in the eyes of the people, incapable of guiding
\nthis nation to a better future.<\/p>\n
The writer works at the International Language Program,
\nSurabaya.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aceh-enigma-old-sins-with-long-shadows-1447893297",
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