Acehnese pray for peace ahead of Helsinki talks<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida and Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Vendors outside the Baiturrahman mosque are doing brisk business,
\nselling handmade peci (hats for male Muslims), which they say
\nmany foreign volunteers and soldiers have bought up in bulk.<\/p>\n
The vendors are just one sign of life returning to the capital
\nof Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. Nevertheless, Sunday provided
\nanother occasion to commemorate the December tsunami three months
\non, an earlier event being the mass prayer last Monday on the
\ndevastated Ule Lheue Beach.<\/p>\n
Imam T. Nurul Zahri led the congregation in the city's
\nlandmark mosque, praying for \"resilience\", that God would spare
\nthe Acehnese from any more suffering, and that this week's
\nscheduled talks in Helsinki, Finland, would help bring them peace
\nafter decades of being caught in between the warring parties of
\ngovernment soldiers and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
Later on, sobs were heard through the loudspeaker, making it
\ndifficult to hear the prayer being read by another man. He spoke
\nof the prevailing sense of helplessness among survivors in
\nfailing to bury thousands of loved ones properly, and asked God
\nfor forgiveness for the thousands who \"we didn't know who would
\npick them up\" and were later buried in mass graves.<\/p>\n
In Banda Aceh alone, it is estimated that half of the town's
\noriginal population of some 250,000 is missing. In the
\ncongregation, Hafsah said she lost 100 family members -- none of
\nwhom she managed to find, let alone bury.<\/p>\n
After the prayers, a representative of some 600 mullahs
\nconveyed the results of a two-day discussion since Friday, which
\nrecommended that the government blueprint for Aceh's
\nreconstruction be improved to reflect the spirit of syariah and
\nthe role of ulema, and also appealed to all sides to accept the
\nresults of the Helsinki talks.<\/p>\n
At the following press conference, T. Ibrahim Bardan, who
\nchairs the association of Islamic school (dayah) leaders in the
\nprovince said, \"we hope the talks will not be protracted, the
\npeople are tired\".<\/p>\n
On their criticism of the blueprint, the mullahs acknowledged
\nthey had not read and discussed all 12 chapters of the plan,
\nsaying they had not had access it to, other than from
\nexplanations provided by authorities in their talks at Syiah
\nKuala University campus.<\/p>\n
Among their 11 recommendations are that the ulema need to be
\nmore involved in decision-making regarding plans for Aceh's
\nreconstruction, and that government bodies and non-governmental
\norganizations need to consult the ulema in their plans.<\/p>\n
\"That's because people more often address their questions to
\nulema rather than to the authorities,\" T. Faisal Ali, who heads
\nthe association of Islamic scholars, Rabithah Taliban, said.<\/p>\n
\"This is also in line with the 1999 law on Aceh's autonomy,
\nwhich states that all policies regarding Aceh must be deliberated
\nwith the ulema,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Particular attention was given to people's sense of security.
\n\"We need a special government regulation to further establish the
\nbasic legal rights of the Acehnese,\" Faisal said.<\/p>\n
Many people are not aware of their rights as citizens, he
\nsaid, adding that they often felt afraid to help people in need,
\nsuch as if they saw the victim of a shooting. \"Frequently people
\nwho want to help a victim are accused of siding with the group
\nthat is associated with the victim,\" he said.<\/p>\n
On another recommendation that female mullahs be considered as
\non a par with male mullahs, a participant in the earlier prayers
\nat the mosque said she was not too sure of the issue.<\/p>\n
\"But if a woman mullah is the one reading the prayers at a
\ngathering, everyone around her is blessed. That is the greatness
\nof a woman mullah,\" Hafsah said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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