Aceh's ache ending

Aceh's ache ending

There appears to be a marine equivalent to the old saying
about it being "an ill wind that blows no good". For it was the
devastating tsunami of Dec. 26 that projected the insurgency-hit
Aceh region of Indonesia into international focus, and the relief
and rehabilitation exercise acquired such momentum that a
European-brokered peace deal between Jakarta and the Free Aceh
Movement is now being played out.

While Aceh may have appeared a dull blip on New Delhi's
politically-cluttered radar screen, for those safeguarding our
island territories the troubles there were "live".

Aceh is so close to the Nicobar group that is so far --
geographically and otherwise -- from the Indian mainland. That
was one apprehension, remote perhaps. The other, less remote, was
that if violence in Aceh escalated beyond a point, refugees may
have moved to our smaller, sparsely populated islands. The head
of the Andaman & Nicobar Integrated Command has now been relieved
of one potential headache.
-- The Statesman, Calcutta