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Aceh 14 years on: Peace by fiat?
With the wave of formalization of sharia and even calls for a caliphate in the rest of Indonesia, these are the kinds of questions that we are asking ourselves throughout the nation, not just in Aceh. On Aug. 17, Indonesia celebrated 74 years of independence. Are we really free? Are we really at peace?
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Performers take part in the Rapa'i Geleng dance, using a traditional tambourine, to celebrate Indonesia's 74th Independence Day in Blang Pidie, Aceh province on August 17, 2019. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
The Bible says the world was created by fiat.
No, no! I don’t mean Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, the Italian automotive company, but the word taken from Latin which means “let it be done”. God just needs to proclaim, command, suggest it, and sim sala bim! It comes into existence!
If only humans could do that! We declare peace, and peace reigns on Earth!
Aug. 15 this year marked the 14th anniversary of the Aceh Peace Agreement which ended 30 years of conflict between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and Indonesian military forces. The war lasted from 1976 to 2005, claiming an estimated 15,000 lives.
The background of the conflict is complex, stemming from historical mistreatment, distribution of resources (Aceh’s gas reserves were then among the largest in the world), disagreements over the implementation of Islamic law, etc. Aceh had been a bastion of resistance against Dutch rule, so when the former colonizers were replaced with Indonesian rule, the Acehnese said, hey, not so fast! So the GAM was born. In their eyes, one oppressor is as bad as the other.
Then in December 2004, the 9.2-magnitude Boxing Day tsunami hit Aceh. In one day it claimed an estimated 170,000 lives — 11 times that of the 30-year war — imagine! So it’s not surprising that GAM declared a cessation of hostilities to allow aid from all over the world to reach the affected areas. A tsunami of aid for the tsunami victims. Ironic that it took a massively tragic disaster to precipitate peace.
Sure, peace talks had been conducted since 2000, but they had never worked out. Negotiations between GAM leaders and Indonesian government officials were reopened in February 2005, mediated by Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president. Finally, on Aug. 15, the historic signing of the Aceh Peace Agreement took place in Helsinki.
