The Aceh peace agenda

The Aceh peace agenda

If anyone in Jakarta at present can be regarded as having the
right qualifications to resolve the decades-old Aceh problem once
and for all, it must be President Abdurrahman Wahid -- or Gus
Dur, by which he has long been known to his followers and
admirers, and his preferred mode of address outside of formal
state occasions.

A moderate Muslim scholar and intellectual of impeccable
personal integrity, a democrat and leader of Indonesia's biggest
Islamic organization -- the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) -- Abdurrahman
understands perhaps better than any other government leader who
has held the reins of power in Jakarta the Aceh problem. He
understands not only the problems, but also the wishes and
aspirations of the staunchly religious Acehnese, whose homeland
on the western tip of Sumatra Island is often referred to as
"Mecca's front verandah".

Aceh, a province with a population of only about 4.3 million
people, has a history of rebellion against foreign rule. The
Dutch only managed to wholly "pacify" the territory in the 1930s,
long after they had firmly established themselves in the rest of
the Indonesian archipelago, and that at the cost of thousands of
soldiers' lives.

When the Indonesian Republic proclaimed its independence from
the Dutch in 1945, Aceh emerged as a strong backer of the
Indonesian nationalist cause, supporting the new republic with
donations of money and materials, including an aircraft bought
with money donated by the people. However, in the 1950s, a
popular insurgency movement against the Jakarta administration
arose, bringing new unrest to the territory for many years. Since
then, trouble has continued to brew, on and off.

On the face of it, religion has been a major factor in
breeding the unrest. In part at least, that argument may be true.
Not only in Aceh, but elsewhere, such as during the 1950s Darul
Islam uprising in West Java, radical Islamic movements have
existed that objected to participation in a secular state. Most
analysts however, describe an earthly motive as underlying the
current proindependence movement in Aceh.

The Acehnese, like people in many other resource-rich
provinces of Indonesia, have long complained about unfair
treatment from Jakarta. In particular, this concerns the lopsided
distribution of the national wealth among the regions. Java, they
feel, receives a disproportionate portion of the revenue, much of
which is earned by other provinces. The national development
efforts are largely concentrated on Java, while revenue-earning
provinces are perceived as having been left to lag behind.

In part at least, the religious issue has been addressed by
Jakarta's recognition of the Acehnese's right to have the
essential prescripts of Islamic law applied in their daily lives.
President Abdurrahman Wahid has promised the Acehnese greater
autonomy from Jakarta; a move which should ensure that it would,
among other things, obtain a much fairer share of the revenue it
earns from the exploitation of its considerable natural
resources.

With the military accused of gross human rights abuses in the
province during the past several decades, the President has
ordered a thorough investigation of the alleged cases. The
investigation will include the recent fatal shooting incident in
Beutong Ateuh in which at least 51 people died, including the
religious leader Tengku Bantaqiah. For the first time, leaders of
the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were received last
weekend at the State Palace for discreet talks with the
President.

Earlier this week Jakarta made its latest reconciliation
gesture by stating that it was ready to abandon its "security
approach" in the province. Conceding that a security approach
could not solve the problems in Aceh, Armed Forces chief Admiral
Widodo said that the proper way to approach the issue would be
through communication and dialog.

All these developments are encouraging. The problem is that at
this point, Jakarta's offers of a new and more humane approach
could be regarded as too little too late by the Acehnese. Only
last Tuesday at least 23 people were seriously wounded when
troops shot at demonstrators who were demanding an independence
referendum in Meulaboh, West Aceh.

Such incidents notwithstanding, we hope the two sides engaged
in the conflict can establish a mutual understanding that will
lead to a final solution of the Aceh problem. With Abdurrahman as
the President of Indonesia, now is the time to push for a
settlement that will restore the peace in Aceh once and for all.