Life far from normal as tensions rise in Aceh
Edith Hartanto and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Banda Aceh is not a dead capital, but one could not call it alive. Unlike major cities in Indonesia like Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya or even Medan, Banda Aceh has no mall.
The only shopping center in Banda Aceh, Geunta Plaza, was shut down because nobody shopped there and its parking lot has now become a parking lot for angkot or public minivans.
One rarely sees a taxi on the road, unlike the ubiquitous becak (pedicabs) which are run by a motorcycle, and not pedaled by a person as in Jakarta.
There is only one cinema in Banda Aceh near the Simpang Lima traffic circle, and the last show each day, of the latest movie running here currently -- an old flick called Forces of Nature starring Sandra Bullock -- is at 7 p.m.
"This is for security reasons. I like watching movies. but it is safer to watch one at home on video compact disks (VCDs), than outside," said Ida, a hairdresser in Banda Aceh.
Hermanto of the People's Crisis Center, a non-governmental organization which works on refugee problems, added that in troubled regencies of Aceh, as the prolonged conflict sharply increased suspicion among armed security forces, people were unable to work in the fields freely.
"Just because they carry machetes or spades, their tools to work in the fields, they could be considered as the enemy by the security forces, in other words, a GAM member or a friend of GAM members," Hermanto said, referring to the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Razali, the driver who took The Jakarta Post reporters around Banda Aceh and other parts of Aceh, said driving in Aceh could be very dangerous.
"Here you could get shot just because you drive in a car with dark or tinted windows. Security forces think you're an enemy. GAM will also suspect the car and think their enemies (security officers) might be inside," Razali said.
"So the safest way is to have transparent windows. Sometimes, this is not a guarantee. If they get suspicious and shoot, you are gone."
Local public figures spoke of the same fears.
Aceh's Muhammadiyah leader Imam Suja' said that he and his driver were locked in a verbal clash with officers of the elite Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in the Matang area of North Aceh, simply because the driver did not slow down when passing a police security checkpoint.
"A small matter, could have fatal consequences. We could lose our lives over a small incident," Imam said on Saturday from Lhokseumawe, the capital of North Aceh.
People here fear the fact that a civilian emergency could rob them of their simple luxuries in Banda Aceh, like walking safely to the only Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant here, for a quick bite to eat.
The government is scheduled to decide whether to impose a state of civil emergency, on Aug. 5, following frequent bloody and fatal clashes in parts of Aceh on an almost daily basis.
Iqbal Farabi of the National Commission on Human Rights in Aceh, said on Saturday that there would be curfews, and security forces would do as they please under the "legal blanket" of this civil emergency.
"The military will control the social, economic and political life of civilians in Aceh with this civil emergency.
"We could be facing another crisis here," Iqbal said.