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.