Aceh peace possible
Aceh peace possible
A poor peace is better than a great war, so the old adage
goes.
Recently, life in Aceh has been peaceful as a result of
negotiations, not a military victory. This peace must be
maintained and improved. A military operation must not be too
hastily considered.
Ordinary people will become victims in any military operation.
In the case of Aceh, the victims will be ordinary Acehnese and
Indonesian soldiers. Some of the Indonesian soldiers may be
Acehnese, while some members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) may
be non-Acehnese Indonesians.
It is wrong to believe that only those demanding a military
operation in Aceh, regardless of the potential victims, love the
integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
People trying patiently and indefatigably to prevent bloodshed in
Aceh also want to see the integrity of the Republic of Indonesia
intact.
The Aceh question is a domestic problem and must be solved in
the way a father solves his family problems. Both conflicting
parties keep their heads cool and ensure that a rational solution
will prevail: A father fosters, not kills, his son.
If the Henry Dunant Center is deemed ineffective as a
mediator, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) may
take its place. The OIC successfully ended the war between Iran
and Iraq and brought peace to the Islamic fighters in Moro and
the Philippines government.
In the context of Aceh, it may be necessary to have an OIC-
supervised, all-inclusive negotiation that will involve many
parties, such as ulemas, non-governmental organizations,
students, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
farmers and so forth, apart from the Indonesian government and
GAM.
In this way, GAM will eventually realize the need to help
maintain the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of
Indonesia, as in the past it also helped fight for it. GAM will
no longer mean "Free Aceh Movement" but "Independent Aceh
Movement", with a special wide-ranging autonomy within the
Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
H. IFRODI SUKANTO, Jakarta