Civilian resistance movements take up arms against GAM<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Takengon, Aceh<\/p>\n
Marsito Mertoredja, a 69-year-old retired civil servant, should
\nhave been enjoying his pension and playing with his
\ngrandchildren. Instead, he led villagers in a war against
\nAcehnese separatists that should have been fought by the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI).<\/p>\n
\"Life is not about having fun -- it's about taking
\nresponsibility,\" he said at his house in the lakeside town of
\nTakengon, the capital of Central Aceh regency.<\/p>\n
Clad in a turban and wearing red sunglasses, Marsito is the
\nfounder of the Puja Kesumah Tanoh Gayo organization, a local
\nresistance movement pitted against the rebels, which was once a
\nforum for Javanese living in Central Aceh like himself.<\/p>\n
From Central Aceh, the current war against the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) stands in contrast to the picture of the war that
\nhas unfolded in the rest of the province.<\/p>\n
\"News from here has often been misleading,\" Marsito said.<\/p>\n
As most Acehnese relished the December peace agreement with
\nGAM, Takengon was the location where a mob assaulted peace
\nobservers earlier this year. The peace deal eventually collapsed
\nin May, five months after it was signed.<\/p>\n
Reports of militia groups in Takengon came as an eerie
\nreminder of the TNI-supported East Timor militias, who allegedly
\nkilled thousands when the people voted overwhelmingly for the
\nformer province's independence in 1999.<\/p>\n
Here in Central Aceh, affinity for the unitary state of
\nIndonesia is strong. Worn-out Indonesian flags decorate homes and
\nshops along Takengon's streets.<\/p>\n
A few cities in Aceh offer the same sight. In GAM-controlled
\nregencies such as Bireuen and Pidie, flag vendors appear to be
\ndoing a brisk trade after four weeks of military operations have
\ndelivered more areas into the hands of the TNI.<\/p>\n
The military operation was launched on May 19 when final
\nefforts in Tokyo to save the five-month-old peace accord
\ncollapsed.<\/p>\n
\"What good was the peace deal for us?\" asked Warsito, who
\nsupports the war. \"GAM personnel entered our villages with their
\nweapons in full view, extorting money from everyone, while the
\nTNI did nothing to stop them.\"<\/p>\n
Just as the TNI is often accused of committing rights abuses
\nagainst civilians in GAM-controlled areas, the rebels are
\nnotorious for doing the same thing in Central Aceh.<\/p>\n
Marsito said the abuses began in late 1999, when an
\nintensified military operation flushed out the rebels from their
\nstrongholds in Bireuen and North Aceh into Central Aceh, located
\nsouth of the two coastal regencies.<\/p>\n
\"They targeted Javanese villages, burning their houses and
\nkilling the people,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Around 30 percent of the 237,000 people in the regency are
\nJavanese, many of whom have settled here since the Dutch era. The
\nlocal Gayo population amounts to just 60 percent, while the
\nremainder consist of settlers from the surrounding Aceh areas and
\nother ethnic groups, such as Minangkabau of West Sumatra, Bataks
\nand ethnic Chinese.<\/p>\n
At that time, his Puja Kesumah group was meant only to
\nrepresent the Javanese community in Central Aceh, but Marsito
\nrealized that asking the police and TNI to protect the Javanese
\nfrom GAM was not enough.<\/p>\n
Once recruited by the TNI to help fight the DI\/TII rebels in
\nthe 1950s, Marsito said he ordered the villagers to make weapons.
\nThese were spears and swords at first, but some of the former
\nDI\/TII rebels in Central Aceh made use of their experience to
\nproduce homemade guns and rifles.<\/p>\n
He set up Puja Kesumah, comprising villagers, to protect their
\nhomes, requiring them to hold night vigils regularly.<\/p>\n
The villagers' greatest asset had to be their sheer number,
\nMarsito explained.<\/p>\n
He said that hundreds could be called upon to confront the
\nhandful of rebels who often raided their villages. Over time, GAM
\navoided the Javanese villagers and turned their attention to
\nother communities, including the local Gayo community, to seek
\nmoney.<\/p>\n
\"I told other villages that sought help to form their own Puja
\nKesumah,\" he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, Puja Kesumah has thousands of members. The
\nforum's name now means \"praising peace in the land of Gayo\",
\ndissolving any reference to the Javanese community it once
\nrepresented.<\/p>\n
Central Aceh Military Command chief Lt. Col. Amrin
\nacknowledged the effectiveness of the local resistance movement.<\/p>\n
\"It really does help us in our job,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Asked about TNI and the movements' relationship, he said it
\nwas restricted to providing them moral support.<\/p>\n
\"They may give us information on GAM members when they see
\nthem,\" he said, but the rest was left up to the soldiers.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/civilian-resistance-movements-take-up-arms-against-gam-1447893297",
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