May people establish an army?

Intensified media reports on the Aceh question, usually dwelling on the conflicts between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and its armed wing (AGAM) on the one hand and the Indonesian Military (TNI) on the other, very clearly indicate that the mass media favor GAM and AGAM and tend to take the TNI to task. Of so many reports and analyses published in the mass media, only very few question whether or not individual groups of people, like the Acehnese, for example, are allowed to set up their own armies and what the legal sanction would be if they set up such armies.

This is something that I really fail to understand. The people of Aceh, which is still a legitimate part of the Republic of Indonesia, now have an illegal army known as AGAM, and many of our national and political elite simply let them get away with it. As a result, AGAM is getting stronger and stronger and has now openly declared war against TNI, which is the legitimate military force of Indonesia.

So where is the concern of our elite? They have instead shaped a public opinion which turns everything upside down so that TNI is cornered in such a way that it is considered proper to be crushed by AGAM.

Let me now ask our political elite, intellectuals, ulemas, community figures, artists and cultural activists in this republic whether as social groups we can also set up our own armies in our own neighborhoods. As for the weapons, all sorts or weapons, traditional or otherwise, are relatively easy to obtain now.

If we are allowed to set up our own army, we will recruit thousands of people to be members of our army. As everybody knows, there are many unemployed people now. Therefore, once we can establish our own army we can easily order the army to rob, terrorize and intimidate people anywhere. There are many rich people in this country: Javanese, Bataks, the Minang, Acehnese and so forth. So we can rob them of their assets to finance our army.

We have posed this question as a manifestation of our envy of the Acehnese people, who easily managed to set up their AGAM. If they can establish AGAM, we can also set up an Army of Mataram, an Armed Forces of Surabaya, an Armed Forces of Betawi and so forth. However, we realize that if we do this, there will be a civil war in the end.

The problem is whether or not this idea to set up private armies comes from a sane mind. As long as we sane enough, we will never set up such armies. Once we lose our sanity, we may decide to set up such armies. You want evidence? Well, when the Acehnese set up their AGAM, our political elite and intellectuals seem to give them a green light and defend them. On the other hand, the TNI, which is the legal military force in this republic, is always criticized when trying to subdue this illegal army.

TONI PONIMAN

Depok, West Java