By Ezra Sihite, Nurdin
Hasan & Arientha Primanita (THE JAKARTA GLOBE)
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| Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ~ WIKIMEDIA.ORG PHOTO |
Jakarta, TAG – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) admitted that he has sent a
government minister to Aceh to dissuade local officials from adopting a
separatist symbol as the once-restive province’s official flag.
Speaking at the
State Palace on Monday, SBY said the adoption of the crescent star flag, a
symbol of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) that led a bloody armed rebellion
against Indonesia before signing a peace deal with Jakarta in 2005, “needs to
be evaluated.”
The move, the
president said, could destabilize the ongoing peace in Aceh and make the resource-rich
province “prone to influence by irresponsible parties.”
SBY said that
Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi went to Aceh on Monday to hold talks with
members of the Aceh Regional Representatives Council (DPRA), which enacted a
bylaw on the adoption of the flag last week.
Gamawan
criticized the DPRA’s move, saying that the body should have consulted with
Jakarta on the proposal to ensure that it would not violate the 2005 Helsinki
Treaty, which ended a 30-year war that killed at least 25,000 people, mostly
civilians.
The treaty
stipulates that the GAM must demobilize all of its military troops and bar them
from wearing uniforms or displaying military insignia or symbols, although it
allows the people of Aceh to “use regional symbols including a flag, a crest
and a hymn.”
But Gamawan
argued that the province could have found a less controversial symbol, adding
that the adoption violates a 2007 government regulation that bans the use of
separatist symbols.
“There are
symbols from the time of Iskandar Muda. Why can’t Aceh adopt those symbols?”
the minister asked in reference to a 17th century Acehnese Sultan who
transformed Aceh into one of the most powerful kingdoms in the region.
“As far as
symbols go, there are regulations controlling them. We will have [Aceh] follow
[such stipulations].”
Earlier, Aceh
Governor Zaini Abdullah, former GAM Foreign Minister in exile in Sweden,
defended the adoption of the crescent star flag, saying that it “is a
manifestation of the people of Aceh’s cultural struggle. This [adoption] is
what Aceh desires.”
Zaini and the
DPRA also made the buraq and lion, another GAM symbol, Aceh’s official crest. The
governor instructed all public offices in Aceh to gradually adopt the flag and
the crest.
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| The flag rally ~ NURDIN HASAN PHOTO |
Meanwhile, more
that 1,000 people descended onto the streets of Banda Aceh, the provincial
capital, on Monday to show their support for the adoption of the GAM’s flag and
crest.
Crowds gathered
in the heart of Banda Aceh and paraded across the city with cars, pickup trucks
and motorcycles while waving the crescent star flag and shouting “long live
Aceh.”
“We are just convoying
across Banda Aceh to demonstrate the people’s voice and demand that the flag be
approved by the central government,” said Marzuki, a flag supporter.
Another
protester, Indra, who hailed from Southwest Aceh, said the demonstration was a
spontaneous response to Jakarta’s objection.
“The flag
represents Aceh’s pride. This is what we want. We can’t wait to wave the Aceh
flag,” he said.[]
Source link:
SBY Not a Fan of Aceh Flag
Reviewed by theacehglobe
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April 02, 2013
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Reviewed by theacehglobe
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April 02, 2013
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