Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Acehnese appealed once again for an end to lingering suspicion about their allegiance to the country as the House committee deliberating the bill on the province's governance made a weekend trip to Banda Aceh.
With the looming deadline of early April for the passing of the law, legislators, scholars and military figures are among those who have expressed fears the proposed bill from the government, which only partially accommodates the original draft from the legislative council in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, leaves loopholes for the separation of the province.
"We reject any suspicion that the bill is a move by Aceh to separate from Indonesia," said Junardi Al Jundi, who led a peaceful protest on Saturday held the provincial branch of a Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI).
Antara newswire reported that Junardi presented a rencong (traditional Acehnese dagger) to the committee's deputy chairman Soekartono Hadiwarsito to symbolize that "... the Acehnese will fight and are ready to sacrifice themselves for the bill".
Soekartono, who is from the Democrat Party, said legislators "were listening and understood the aspirations of the Acehnese".
The protest in the provincial capital occurred in the middle of the legislators' meeting with the deputy chairman of the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, Tengku Kamaruzzaman, a former negotiator of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Similar appeals to end suspicions toward the Acehnese were made in other demonstrations and during the House committee's meetings with local figures during their three-day visit, which ended Sunday.
Last Monday, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono was quoted as telling a House hearing that GAM was intensifying its "propaganda" through meetings with local figures, in response to similar suspicions raised by a number of legislators.
In another meeting in Banda Aceh, a local Muslim cleric assured the committee that Acehnese were loyal to the unitary republic and the Constitution.
If they seemed aggressive in their demands, T. Abdurrahman Kaoy said, it was only to ensure the government "fulfilled its promises".
Legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have repeatedly said that several clauses in the government draft contradict principles of the unitary republic and the nation's sovereignty.
Advocates of the draft drawn up by the Aceh legislative council say the government draft contradicts the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding signed last year in Helsinki, and effectively diminishes the autonomy promised to Aceh.
Another Muslim cleric, T. Mohamad Husaini, asked the legislators to accommodate Acehnese aspirations, which he said were reflected in the draft from the province's legislative council.
"The Acehnese would be very disappointed if their aspirations are not accommodated – they were all involved in the drafting process," he said.
On Sunday, the House delegation was reminded of the aspirations of some Acehnese for separate provinces.
Antara quoted local figures as saying that people of at least five regencies, who had declared their intention to establish provinces last year, said the demand was "non-negotiable". The regencies are Southeast Aceh, Central Aceh, Gayo Lues, Aceh Singkil and Bener Meriah.
The representatives, who attended a meeting of the committee with regents and local council speakers in Banda Aceh, said residents of mountain areas and the southern coast said they lagged behind other parts of the province for development. They are demanding the establishment of new provinces of Aceh Leuser Antara and Aceh Barat Selatan.
"We have long raised this request to the government and the House but it has been neglected," representative Tjut Agam said.