Locals, TNI disagree on GAM commemoration
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Acehnese leaders and the Indonesian Military (TNI) are still at loggerheads over the Aceh "independence day" the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) wants to commemorate on Dec. 4.
Tengku Imam Suja, a community leader, said the planned celebration of the GAM-declared 26th anniversary of Aceh's "independence" would not necessarily disrupt the peace accord scheduled to be signed on Dec. 9, as long as the celebration did not involve the Acehnese people.
"The independence celebration is an internal matter of GAM and is not a problem as long as the Acehnese people do not join in. The ongoing peace process will likely be threatened if we interfere in GAM's internal matters," he told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.
Muhammad Nasir Djamil, a member of the Aceh legislature's commission for defense and security, agreed and said GAM and TNI should pursue positive steps to strengthen the peace process.
"It would be better if GAM commemorated its anniversary modestly and in a remote area that cannot be seen by security personnel or reached local people," he said.
GAM reiterated that it would go ahead with plans to commemorate the anniversary on Dec. 4 despite a ban by the government and military posturing.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has warned separatist movements in Aceh and Papua against holding any celebrations, including flag-raising ceremonies, to commemorate self-declared independence anniversaries.
Meanwhile, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto warned that the independence celebration would demonstrate a lack of political commitment on the part of GAM to the peace process.
"TNI is waiting for GAM to get serious about creating peace in the province. If GAM fails to sign the proposed peace accord on Dec. 9, TNI will have no other alternative but to quell the rebellion with force. If that is the case, we will hunt them down wherever they go," he said before more than 2,900 combat troops in Batujajar, Bandung.
The troops, who just completed a 45-day training course under the Army's Special Forces, will be deployed to Aceh soon.
"If by Dec. 9 they (GAM) refuse to sign the peace accord and we do nothing, it will undermine the hope of the people," Endriartono said.
He called on the people of Aceh to persuade any of their relatives who joined GAM to return home and give up their weapons rather than fight a war they will certainly lose.
However, Endriartono said the government was still willing to search for a comprehensive economic, law enforcement and cultural solution to the Aceh problem.