Burning schools condemned

Burning schools condemned

From Koran Tempo

A week after the declaration of martial law in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, about 350 school buildings have been burned down, causing some 100,000 students to be without a school.

It would make sense to say that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has burnt these buildings because it is at school that Indonesian nationalism, which GAM hates most, is being nurtured.

The burning of schools must be condemned. By committing this crime, GAM has prevented the younger Acehnese generation from pursuing knowledge. Ironically, GAM leaders keep saying that they are trying to elevate the living standard of the Acehnese.

One of GAM leaders, Teungku Amri bin Abd has returned to the fold of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia. He said that GAM had now deviated from the original spirit of their struggle. Acehnese are now distancing themselves from GAM. Therefore to win the hearts and minds of the Acehnese, the government must immediately repair or replace public facilities that GAM has destroyed.

The integrated operation and the security restoration operation must proceed.

Pressure must be applied on GAM through international lobbying to ensure that it gives up its ambition to set up a separate Aceh state. This is the consequence of maintaining Aceh as an integral part of Indonesia.

IFUL SAMEY Bogor, West Java