The Government of Indonesia led by President Abdulrahman Wahid has reached agreement with the ‘Free Aceh Movement’ for a truce, in effect a cease-fire, in the resource-rich region lying in the northern part of the Island of Sumatra, the largest of the islands comprising Indonesia.
The agreement for the cease-fire, which became effective from June 2 of 2000, was signed at a ceremony in Geneva on May 12, 2000, a Friday.
The Indonesian Ambassador to the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Mr. Hasan Wirajuda signed for the Indonesian Government and Mr. Zaini Abdullah, Minister for Health of the self-proclaimed Aceh Freedom Movement signed for his organisation. The truce was brokered by international arbitrators from Norway and the stress was on the humanitarian problem. Both sides signing the agreement in Geneva hailed it as the first step in the direction of a solution of the problem. Indonesian Ambassador Hasan Wirajuda said that the agreement for truce spread over three months was the first in over two decades of fighting and unrest in the Aceh area and described the agreement as the first step in the direction of a one hundred steps journey in the efforts for finding a final solution to the Aceh issue
The Aceh Minister for Health in the Aceh Free Movement, Zaini Abdullah, hailing the agreement promised that the truce would hold and the Achenese will observe the agreement. He said that the people in Aceh had been waiting for this moment of peace, and he also described it as the first step towards building confidence.

The truce agreement came about after President Abdulrahman Wahid promised a solution to the problem, but within the framework of the Indonesian State.
The truce for three months is the litmus test for both sides to prove their sincerity in reaching a just solution of the issue. On the part of Indonesia the Indonesian President took a bold step in reaching out for talks with the Free Aceh Movement representatives in Europe. It was at his initiative that the agreement for the 3-month truce was signed in Geneva. The two sides have pledged to observe the agreement in good faith and defeat all designs by opponents of the truce agreement to spread acrimony and rancour against each other.

Detractors defeated

Viewed in the context of the recent developments in Indonesia and South East Asia specially the East Timor vote and its separation from Indonesia by the full agreement of the Indonesian government led by President Abdulrahman Wahid, the agreement on Aceh truce has defeated the designs of the detractors of Indonesia who wanted that Indonesia should have a festering sore in its northern tip after having suffered ‘withdrawal’ from East Timor in the southern tip. The detractors of Indonesia wanted that Aceh should develop into a hot spot for insurgency and rebellion as also bloodshed so that the western media attention could be focussed on the issue and a clamour raised for on independent Aceh. The Indonesian President Abdulrahman Wahid saw through the game and went for a truce in Aceh in spite of the opposition by many prominent persons in Indonesia itself to such a truce. In the time of General Soeharto, there was total refusal to even acknowledge that there was an Aceh problem and dissent in Aceh was suppressed with an iron hand, causing much bloodletting and violation of human rights there.
When President Abdulrahman Wahid stepped in as President, defeating the US designs on the Indonesian Presidency and succeeded in having Soekarnoputri Megawati as his Vice President, Indonesi’s detraetors whipped up the East Timor issue to un-nerve and scuttle the efforts of the new Government. However, President Abdulrahman Wahid was aware of the game of the inimical elements opposed to Indonesian sovereignty and unity. Before the coterie could turn Aceh into an East Timor like situation he took the initiative by promising more autonomy to Aceh, ordered an inquiry into military excesses there in the past and promised that those responsible for these excesses would be punished. The same elements who had puffed up the East Timor situation before the UN supervised vote there, now began reporting on events in Aceh as if everything was on fire.

However, the sensible policies pursued by President Abdulrahman Wahid led to the establishment of contacts between the Free Aceh Movement leaders and authorised the Indonesian diplomats in Europe to go ahead. Thus the negotiations were pursued quietly and then came the dramatic signing of the agreement on May 12, 2000, in the city of Geneva. Some outside elements in Aceh tried to raise problems and create strife but since the signing of the agreement there is comparative peace. Prospects are that three month of peace and ceasefire would provide the basis for reappraisal on both sides of their attitudes and policies and should lead to reconciliation and accommodation, a classic feature of the Indonesian political psyche. However, it is equally important that the friends of Indonesia such as Malaysia and Brunei should also play their role. They should stress upon the Achenese the pitfalls posed by the demand for separation and instead to settle for more autonomy as a regional province or special administrative region within the framework of a united Indonesia.
The OIC should also join in such efforts. When China can have two-systems one in nation, surely the Achenese and the Indonesian Federal Government should be able to reach agreement whereby Aceh comes to enjoy maximum autonomy and yet remains within the Indonesian national state as its very important part. The evolution of such a situation would be through a long drawn out process but it is within the realm of possibility and hopes are that President Abdulrahman Wahid would be able to do it.

Western designs

A very moot point to appreciate here is the fact that the Western nations are interested in the fragmentation of large Islamic countries.
Any country seeking economic freedom within this belt of Islamic countries extending from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the Malacca Straits is subject to intense pressure from Western countries monetarily as also politically. A classic example is that of Malaysia, which has survived all these pressure because it has an inbuilt mechanism which protects it from the onslaughts of the West. Mahathir Mohammed had led the way for this defiance of the West and continues to do so. Now, President Abdulrahman Wahid has taken up the challenge. His election as the Indonesia President was a defeat of the USA and a victory of the four main political parties in the Indonesian Parliament, which were both nationalistic and Muslim oriented at the same time. President Abdulrahman Wahid has shown the ability to accommodate other points of view within the Indonesian nation so that the Indonesian philosophy of consensus or Musjawirah prevails.
It is this policy of dialogue and consultations which is part of the five principles of the Indonesian state called Panchasils which is a pointer to the possible developments in the future on Aceh. There months of truce and cease-fire along with the opening of a meaningful dialogue where old animosities are replaced by new-born confidence could do the trick, which many Indonesian expect from President Abdulrahman Wahid. In his declaration at the G-77 he has been very vocal in saying that the Indonesian nation and state are not a lackey of the USA. He went to Havana in spite of the ‘advice’ from Tom Pickering, the US State Department official. That is how President Abdulrahman Wahid put it in his address at the Havana moot in the middle of April, 2000. The same way he rejected the objections by many in Indonesia that he should have no dialogue with the representatives of the Free Aceh Movement. President Abdulrahman Wahid ignored the voices of dissent and has embarked on an almost revolutionary policy on the Aceh issue.
One should wish him good luck in his efforts. That is what I feel on the issue, knowing the background of the Indonesian freedom movement, which has always come up with solutions that have effectively defeated the detractors of Indonesia.