Acehnese remain defiant amid efforts to sway them
By Tiarma Siboro
LHOKSEUMAWE, North Aceh (JP): Winning the hearts and minds of the Acehnese is just as difficult as healing a long-sustained wound, or so it has turned out.
The Acehnese have perceived themselves as being a victim of numerous injustices. Their major complaint is that while Aceh is a natural-resource rich province, much of the earnings from these resources have been centralized in Jakarta.
Some groups have been waging a guerrilla war for an independent state. The government has responded by sending thousands of troops to suppress the separatist rebellion.
When the wind of reform swept the country in 1998, the central government softened its stance. The then Indonesian Armed Forces chief Gen. Wiranto declared lifting a 10-year military operation there. Jakarta initiated talks with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders and Aceh was given autonomy.
Under special autonomy status, Aceh has been called Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. But the status has failed to impress GAM rebels. They have stuck to their demand: independence.
The autonomy status has met with a skeptical response from people in the street.
"What is Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam? I've never heard of it," Nasrun, 25, a local civil servant said when The Jakarta Post asked him whether he was happy about the status, the law that was signed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
"I am saddened that the local government and legislators have never informed the public about it. They have done nothing."
The common person's skepticism about national identity was obvious during National Independence Day on Aug. 17. and also GAM's anniversary on Dec. 4. Many people in Lhokseumawe hoisted both flags.
According to Nurul Aflah, an 18-year-old student, people have hoisted the red-and-white national flags or else they risk harassment by security officers. It has nothing to do with their sense of nationalism. On Dec. 4, many people raised the GAM flag for fear of harassment by the GAM.
"Many of them, including my family, keep two flags, one is the red-and-white national flag and the other is the GAM flag. Throughout the year, people hoist the flags twice, on Aug. 17 and on Dec. 4. They do it because they want to be safe, not for any other reason," she said, adding that people, nevertheless, were more excited about hoisting the GAM flag.
"It can happen that somebody gets shot while lowering the red- and-white flag at their home because he is suspected of being a GAM supporter," Nurul said.
On last week's Independence Day, Lhokseumawe was eerily quiet and the red-and-white flags flew high all over the place.
"You must come here (Lhokseumawe) to see the eagerness of these people to hoist the GAM flag on Dec. 4. In comparison to this day (Indonesian Independence day), the town is more cheerful when celebrating the GAM anniversary," a soldier who has served in the province for almost 25 years, told the Post.
"The current situation is much better than it was a year ago when nobody wanted to hoist the Indonesian flag," he said.
Security authorities in Aceh have categorized Lhokseumawe, Pidie, Bireun, East, West and South Aceh regencies as "black regions" -- meaning they are GAM strongholds.
Chief of the Aceh Operation Security Brig. Gen. Zamroni claimed that 6 out of 20 subdistricts in North Aceh regency returned to normal after the Indonesian Military (TNI) dispatched troops to restore security and order there in May on the former president's order.
The operation, however, has made GAM switch their tactics to terrorism, according to Zamroni. "They terrorize people with the aim to force them to join GAM."
"This is a dilemma for us. Should we resort to the repressive tactics. People have yet to forget their suffering from military action in the past and so they will hate us.
I admit that we may have committed human rights violations and I cannot blame the Acehnese either if they hold a grudge against us. But we've tried to change now, can't they forgive us?", said Zamroni, a former deputy chief of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus).