Banda Aceh – Up to a million people rallied here Monday to demand a referendum for self-determination in Indonesia's volatile province of Aceh and show they had popular backing.
In the largest public rally for a referendum in Aceh so far, Muslim leaders, student representatives, non-governmental activists and officials took turns to address the crowd, massed in and around the Baiturrahman main mosque in the center of Aceh's provincial capital.
While the organizers and some of the speakers emphasized that the gathering was a peaceful venture, one of the speakers, a woman activist from Pidie district, Cut Nur Asyikin, roused the crowd asking if they were prepared "to go on Jihad if the referendum does not take place." She was refering to a Muslim holy war. Aceh is a staunchly Muslim stronghold.
A petition in support of a referendum for Aceh, to be sent to the leaders of the Indonesian legislature and to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, was also signed at the mosque by the leader of the Aceh parliament, Muhammad Yus and Vice Governor Bustari Mansyur.
"Today, it has been proven that all the people of Aceh are united, and came to Banda Aceh to voice their aspiration and demand for a referendum," Teungku Bulkaini, a traditional Muslim leader, told the crowd according to the Detikcom online news service.
The organizers unveiled a huge billboard in front of the mosque's main minaret that read "The People of Aceh Want a Referendum on Staying or Breaking Away from RI [the Republic of Indonesia,]" to heavy applause.
Yells of "Merdeka (Freedom)", "Long Live the People of Aceh" and "Long Live Referendum," and "A united Aceh people cannot be defeated," resounded.
In Jakarta, Indonesian House Speaker Akbar Tanjung called on Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to visit Aceh as soon as possible.
"If this is not done, I am afraid that unwanted things could happen," Tanjung said after a Golkar party meeting. He reminded Wahid of his promise that one of the first Indonesian regions he would visit would be Aceh.
Wahid had pledged to personally handle the problems of Aceh while he assigned Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri to deal with the country's other troubled provinces such as the Maluku islands and Irian Jaya.
Elected last month, Wahid has promised wider autonomy for the country's disparate regions, including Aceh.
The "General Assembly of the Fighters for Referendum" (SU-MPR), organized by the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), a group gathering students and non-government organizations, was started at around 8:45am with the raising of a giant flag.
A four by eight meter white flag carrying the word "Referendum" in bold blue letters, was hoisted on the mosque's front flag pole.
Young and old, men and veiled women, almost all wore bandanas inscribed with the word "Referendum." Some wore the bandana over their black "Kopiah" hat, a Malay hat which has come to mostly symbolize Muslim Malays.
The rally ended at around noon, and the participants, many of whom had travelled at day-break from the far corners of the province, jammed the city's streets on their way home.
There was no reported violence and not a single uniformed Indonesian soldier or police officer was seen in the area. The head of the Aceh Besar police command which oversees security in the capital, Lieutenant Colonel Dedy Suryadi was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying security personnel had been ordered not to use their weapons.
The opportunity was not missed by some 100 inmates of the state jail here who forced open the main gate to escape. Aceh activists also held pro-referendum street rallies in Medan, North Sumatra and in the capital, Jakarta.