GAM not only for Acehnese; peace and prosperity top rebel wish list
GAM not only for Acehnese; peace and prosperity top rebel wish list
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Tamiang, Aceh
Fatigued after a long journey, four journalists, one from The
Jakarta Post, received a fright when a gunman suddenly stepped
out from behind some trees near Paya Reyeuk, a remote village in
Tamiang that is home to a large population of ethnic Javanese and
Bataks.
The gunman, who later introduced himself as Kancil, trained
his AK-47 on us and ordered us to identify ourselves and our
reason for being in the area.
He relaxed somewhat when we told him we had permission from
his chief to stay in a Free Aceh Movement (GAM) camp in the
regency.
Rebels and villagers interact easily and often here, to the
extent that the rebels have become just another part of society
in the regency.
"Arep nandi, Cil? (where are you going, Cil?)" a passerby
asked Kancil in Javanese.
"Bar teko seko kono (I just came from there)," Kancil replied
while guiding us into the village.
After contacting a GAM leader in the regency by radio, Kancil
escorted us to an empty hut in the village.
"I have been ordered to guard you during your stay here.
Please, feel free to ask anything about GAM and its operations,"
Kancil said.
Treated as special guests, we were free to ask questions and
look around the area during our four-day stay, as well as to talk
to the villagers about their lives.
The village is dominated by ethnic Javanese and Bataks. The
village has thousands of hectares of farmland surrounded by oil
palm plantations, making it difficult to access.
It is the most unique of 17 villages and base camps controlled
by GAM because it is so pluralist. Locals use three languages
--Javanese, Taming and Melayu since it borders North Sumatra.
"Who says GAM hates the Javanese and Bataks? I'm Javanese and
a majority of GAM members here are Javanese and Batak, and we can
live in peace with the indigenous Acehnese. Of the utmost
importance is that we are all of the same vision and ideology,
and the solidarity among the people is maintained and developed,"
Kancil said.
Asked about his family background, Kancil, whose real name is
Supriyadi, told the Post he was the eldest son of a poligamic
family.
"I have 11 brothers and sisters from my father's three wives.
I and eight of my siblings joined GAM, but one brother joined the
Army in the Bukit Barisan Military Command overseeing security in
North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Riau," he said, adding that his
father retired from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus).
He said he joined GAM six years ago, after his uncle was
tortured and killed by security personnel in 1996.
"I started asking myself why the military oppressed the
Acehnese," he said.
The 24-year-old Kancil said he rarely saw his wife and son as
a consequence of his decision to join GAM, "and my wife is really
aware of this situation".
Adi Dharma, a 20-year-old ethnic Javanese villager, said the
rebels were an integral part of society in the regency because
they came from local families.
"We are afraid of the security personnel but not the rebels
because the obligation and mission of the rebels is to protect
the people from oppression and torture," Adi said.
Kancil said the GAM barracks accommodated some 200 rebels and
that their daily activities were similar to those of military
soldiers, only they had more modern weapons than the soldiers.
"We have AK-47s, M-16s and grenades. The weapons were supplied
from China and Russia but we still use bullets produced by
state-owned PT Pindad in Bandung, West Java," he said.
He declined to answer where GAM got the money to purchase the
weapons.
"The most important thing is that the rebels are able to live
in decent conditions and improve the lives of the people in the
province," Kancil said.