Govt must take real action<\/p>\n
When reading statements from the President and ministers,
\nespecially about how rebellions are being handled in certain
\nareas one cannot escape a feeling of satisfaction for the
\nresoluteness shown in those statements. But after a few days,
\noptimism dies down and doubts regain the upper hand.<\/p>\n
The President has many times issued tough warnings, like
\narresting those rebels and stating that the government has no
\nintention of compromising with law breakers. If those statements
\nwere followed by resolute actions, I am sure law and order would
\nbe restored and peace would prevail. And I am sure that our
\ngovernment can do that and Atambua is proof of that.<\/p>\n
In the case of Atambua we see that the government is capable
\nof making tough decisions and at the same time executing those
\ndecisions in a very short time. Why? Is it because it concerned
\nlives of foreigners which are more valuable than Indonesian
\nlives? I hope not.<\/p>\n
Every day lives are lost in Aceh and other places, and yet no
\ndecisive action has been taken and instead a MOU was signed
\nabroad, and not domestically, giving prestigious status to the
\nFree Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, who misused this act to their
\nadvantage. GAM cleverly misused this internationally known
\nhumanitarian pause and continued their attacks disguised as
\n\"unknown gangs\" and terrorized the population.<\/p>\n
Only recently 11,000 people from Central Aceh and West Aceh
\nregency abandoned their homes because the security situation was
\nunbearable. These evacuations wee done because their homes were
\nburned and people were shot. Three members of the police's Mobile
\nBrigade were killed by grenades thrown by unknown people. These
\natrocities happened a few days ago and nothing has been done.<\/p>\n
I cannot understand the underlying motive of the government's
\ninaction, which only benefits GAM.<\/p>\n
The other day I read in Suara Pembaruan a statement by the
\nnew Minister of Defense saying that the government has no
\nintention to free Aceh or Papua and separate them from the
\nunitary Republic of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The Minister of Defense is also of the opinion that the
\nhumanitarian pause is only to the advantage of the GAM, but for
\nthe Republic it is a loss. It is a pity that this tough statement
\ncomes from the Minister of Defense, who in the new set up has no
\nsay in domestic peace keeping efforts.<\/p>\n
What we need are not statements, but actions, like the late
\nSukarno's government coping with the PRRI and PERMESTA
\nrebellions, which were more serious, covered a larger area and
\nhad experienced military commanders. And on top of that, they had
\nthe support of the USA. Now the rebels are completely on their
\nown and the international world has expressed its political
\nsupport for an integrated republic. I wish our government had
\nlearned from history and acted accordingly.<\/p>\n
SOEGIH ARTO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-must-take-real-action-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }