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Aceh: On the way toward a closed society
Aceh will become more conservative unless a social catastrophe triggers a social revolution.
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A convicted gambler is caned at Baitul Makmur Grand Mosque in Meulaboh, West Aceh regency, Aceh in this file photo. (JP/Hotli Simanjuntak)
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iscussion of the implementation of sharia in Aceh has always been related to alleged human rights abuses. Many people, especially activists, think that by criticizing sharia they can stop or change public policies in Aceh. Yet sharia in the province will remain resistant to insiders’ or outsiders’ criticism. In fact Aceh will become more conservative unless a social catastrophe triggers a social revolution.
This is because first, Aceh is a capitalist province without a strong bourgeois class, as class analysts would say. Industrialization in Aceh failed to produce a bourgeoisie with enough capital to create new industry, contributing to high unemployment. What exists is a petty bourgeois class with enough capital only to serve their hedonistic lifestyles. Moreover, some prefer to live outside Aceh since other provinces provide more freedom and a higher standard of lifestyle.
That leads to great poverty in Aceh. Based on Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, Aceh is the poorest province in Sumatra and fifth poorest nationwide, with high rates of long-term unemployment. The Acehnese are angry about their social-economic conditions while they need to make sense of it. These poor urban and rural groups are vulnerable to being mobilized by the ruling elite.
Without a strong progressive or liberal Islamic tradition, as in Java, the elite only articulate narratives of ethnonationalism and Islamism to gain popularity. The ideas of leading Islamic figures like Nurcholish Madjid or Abdurrahman Wahid are not widespread in Aceh.
