Has GAM bitten off more than it can chew?

Has GAM bitten off more than it can chew?

Shukor Rahman, New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur

It looks as if it has badly underestimated the new-found
steely resolve of President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Two years
ago, Indonesia was wracked by internal turmoil and the dithering
leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur). This writer met with
GAM leaders in Banda Aceh in March 2001 and also looked up their
exiled leaders in Stockholm the following month. In Banda Aceh,
they met at Kuala Tripa Hotel, reputedly the best in town and
also a known GAM hangout.

The leaders had come in through secret entrances as the front
was perpetually being watched. It was also at this hotel that
five senior GAM officials were recently arrested. In Sweden,
among the exiles the writer met were Dr Zaini Abdullah who told
him that "nothing happens in Aceh without our knowledge." Zaini,
who was among the delegates in Tokyo on May 16, is the heir
apparent to GAM chief Hassan Tiro. The ailing Hassan, also an
exile in Sweden, has always maintained that Aceh was never a part
of the Dutch East Indies, and the Dutch therefore had no business
to cede Aceh to become part of Indonesia.

Aceh is rich in petroleum and gas but everywhere you go, the
claim that "Jakarta has bled Aceh dry and has given little back"
seem to bear out.

Banda Aceh itself looks as if it has not progressed beyond the
1960s. The market looked primitive and eateries looked anything
but inviting, while streets were also poorly lit. An
international hotel chain has also abandoned a hotel project. At
the small airport, crowds swamp ticket counters but only a few
manage to obtain plane seats.

Just outside, villagers were jostling to sell fresh produce
and fruits such as bananas and ciku at unbelievably low prices.
An old man was even offering a bird in a cage and enquiries
revealed it was a talking burung tiong! It is no longer safe to
travel by road, and you do so at your own peril, one is told.
Police or soldiers manning roadblocks or carrying out patrols do
not care two hoots whether you are a foreigner, journalist or Red
Crescent volunteer. Yes, life is dirt cheap here.

Several bloody massacres of villagers including women and
children over the years have escaped the world's attention.

Rapes, murders, robberies, burning of homes and destruction of
property have been perpetrated. Abductions take place almost
daily, and people often disappear only to turn up very dead a few
days later. Such brutal operations merely serve to alienate many
of Aceh's four million people.

Many senior GAM leaders including those in Sweden still carry
torture scars. There is no way Jakarta will let Aceh go. Period.
Even GAM leaders concede that if Aceh goes, a few other regions
will follow suit and this can only mean the end of the Indonesian
Republic.

GAM should have been more flexible this time as the odds are
heavily stacked in Jakarta's favour. Megawati has brought about a
degree of political stability which few thought she was capable
of.

The worst fears about last October's Bali bombings did not
materialise. Islamic extremists have not retaliated for the U.S.
invasion of Iraq and neither has the economy suffered. In actual
fact, it is growing between three to four per cent. This
stability has lowered interest rates, encouraged more companies
to tap the capital markets, and miraculously made the rupiah (up
5.95 percent) Asia's best performing currency this year.

An Aceh community leader now domiciled in Malaysia suggested
that GAM, the ulama (religious leaders) and intellectuals hold a
congress to seek a common stand.

"People are sick and tired of the killings, bloodshed and
suffering. It is a no-win situation that has driven Aceh to
poverty," he said.

The proud, hardworking Acehnese whom even the Dutch had failed
to subjugate certainly deserve better.

A distraught GAM delegate Mahmood Malik mentioned the
possibility of seeking UN intervention. One cannot help thinking
that he must certainly have an undying faith in the UN or it
could have been a sign of total desperation as the world has
clearly seen how impotent the UN has been in Palestine, Bosnia
and more recently in Iraq.

So far only Sweden to her credit has offered sanctuary to GAM
leaders, while the Henry Dunant Centre based in Geneva and Japan
have tried to bring the adversaries to the negotiating table.

GAM must be pragmatic and realise it is fast running out of
options. GAM is today outnumbered, outgunned and outmanoeuvred.

In Jakarta too, people seem to be more interested in the
gyrations and pelvis pumping of sexy singer Inul Daratista who
seem to be getting more television airtime and press coverage
than any Indonesian including Megawati.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians have been killed in
27 years of simmering conflict. GAM has bitten off more than it
can chew and it would be a real pity if innocent villagers and
civilian population continued to pay the price.