Has GAM bitten off more than it can chew?<\/p>\n
Shukor Rahman, New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
It looks as if it has badly underestimated the new-found
\nsteely resolve of President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Two years
\nago, Indonesia was wracked by internal turmoil and the dithering
\nleadership of Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur). This writer met with
\nGAM leaders in Banda Aceh in March 2001 and also looked up their
\nexiled leaders in Stockholm the following month. In Banda Aceh,
\nthey met at Kuala Tripa Hotel, reputedly the best in town and
\nalso a known GAM hangout.<\/p>\n
The leaders had come in through secret entrances as the front
\nwas perpetually being watched. It was also at this hotel that
\nfive senior GAM officials were recently arrested. In Sweden,
\namong the exiles the writer met were Dr Zaini Abdullah who told
\nhim that \"nothing happens in Aceh without our knowledge.\" Zaini,
\nwho was among the delegates in Tokyo on May 16, is the heir
\napparent to GAM chief Hassan Tiro. The ailing Hassan, also an
\nexile in Sweden, has always maintained that Aceh was never a part
\nof the Dutch East Indies, and the Dutch therefore had no business
\nto cede Aceh to become part of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Aceh is rich in petroleum and gas but everywhere you go, the
\nclaim that \"Jakarta has bled Aceh dry and has given little back\"
\nseem to bear out.<\/p>\n
Banda Aceh itself looks as if it has not progressed beyond the
\n1960s. The market looked primitive and eateries looked anything
\nbut inviting, while streets were also poorly lit. An
\ninternational hotel chain has also abandoned a hotel project. At
\nthe small airport, crowds swamp ticket counters but only a few
\nmanage to obtain plane seats.<\/p>\n
Just outside, villagers were jostling to sell fresh produce
\nand fruits such as bananas and ciku at unbelievably low prices.
\nAn old man was even offering a bird in a cage and enquiries
\nrevealed it was a talking burung tiong! It is no longer safe to
\ntravel by road, and you do so at your own peril, one is told.
\nPolice or soldiers manning roadblocks or carrying out patrols do
\nnot care two hoots whether you are a foreigner, journalist or Red
\nCrescent volunteer. Yes, life is dirt cheap here.<\/p>\n
Several bloody massacres of villagers including women and
\nchildren over the years have escaped the world's attention.<\/p>\n
Rapes, murders, robberies, burning of homes and destruction of
\nproperty have been perpetrated. Abductions take place almost
\ndaily, and people often disappear only to turn up very dead a few
\ndays later. Such brutal operations merely serve to alienate many
\nof Aceh's four million people.<\/p>\n
Many senior GAM leaders including those in Sweden still carry
\ntorture scars. There is no way Jakarta will let Aceh go. Period.
\nEven GAM leaders concede that if Aceh goes, a few other regions
\nwill follow suit and this can only mean the end of the Indonesian
\nRepublic.<\/p>\n
GAM should have been more flexible this time as the odds are
\nheavily stacked in Jakarta's favour. Megawati has brought about a
\ndegree of political stability which few thought she was capable
\nof.<\/p>\n
The worst fears about last October's Bali bombings did not
\nmaterialise. Islamic extremists have not retaliated for the U.S.
\ninvasion of Iraq and neither has the economy suffered. In actual
\nfact, it is growing between three to four per cent. This
\nstability has lowered interest rates, encouraged more companies
\nto tap the capital markets, and miraculously made the rupiah (up
\n5.95 percent) Asia's best performing currency this year.<\/p>\n
An Aceh community leader now domiciled in Malaysia suggested
\nthat GAM, the ulama (religious leaders) and intellectuals hold a
\ncongress to seek a common stand.<\/p>\n
\"People are sick and tired of the killings, bloodshed and
\nsuffering. It is a no-win situation that has driven Aceh to
\npoverty,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The proud, hardworking Acehnese whom even the Dutch had failed
\nto subjugate certainly deserve better.<\/p>\n
A distraught GAM delegate Mahmood Malik mentioned the
\npossibility of seeking UN intervention. One cannot help thinking
\nthat he must certainly have an undying faith in the UN or it
\ncould have been a sign of total desperation as the world has
\nclearly seen how impotent the UN has been in Palestine, Bosnia
\nand more recently in Iraq.<\/p>\n
So far only Sweden to her credit has offered sanctuary to GAM
\nleaders, while the Henry Dunant Centre based in Geneva and Japan
\nhave tried to bring the adversaries to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
GAM must be pragmatic and realise it is fast running out of
\noptions. GAM is today outnumbered, outgunned and outmanoeuvred.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta too, people seem to be more interested in the
\ngyrations and pelvis pumping of sexy singer Inul Daratista who
\nseem to be getting more television airtime and press coverage
\nthan any Indonesian including Megawati.<\/p>\n
More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians have been killed in
\n27 years of simmering conflict. GAM has bitten off more than it
\ncan chew and it would be a real pity if innocent villagers and
\ncivilian population continued to pay the price.<\/p>",
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