Political views of the Free Aceh Movement

the Free Aceh Movement is one of the main forces of the secessionist movement in Aceh, which is called the Acheh/Sumatra National Liberation Front in Aceh, and is usually abbreviated as GAM(Gerakan Aceh Merdeka). It was founded in 1976, and its main leader is Hasan.D.Tiro.

Hassan Diro was born on September 4th, 193. He is said to be a descendant of Teungku Chik di Tiro, an anti-Dutch hero in Aceh. When Aceh participated in the Islamic State Movement in 1953, Hassan Diro was working in the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations. With the support of local rebel leaders in Aceh, he became the ambassador of the Islamic State Movement to the United Nations. Thanks to his efforts, the Islamic State Movement obtained some military materials in difficult times. After the failure of the rebellion, he stayed in the United States and obtained a doctor of law, and established good business cooperation relations with many large companies in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Although living abroad for a long time, Hassan Diluo has always been concerned about the development and changes in Aceh. In 1976, he returned to Aceh, established the "Free Aceh Movement" and launched guerrilla struggle. After the failure of the first movement in 1979, he has been in exile in Sweden ever since.

On the issue of Aceh, Hassan Diluo initially advocated federalism in Indonesia, and gradually turned to seek the independence of Aceh and put it into armed struggle. The development and change of this political proposition is a microcosm of the evolution of the nature of the whole Aceh separatist movement, and it is also an important way to understand the Aceh separatist problem.

In the 195s, Hassan Diluo believed that due to historical reasons, all ethnic groups were in different positions in Indonesia's political structure, among which the Javanese had political and economic advantages for a long time. The unitary system implemented after the founding of the Republic of Indonesia further strengthened this trend and protected the interests of Javanese at the expense of other ethnic groups. In order to solve this problem, Indonesia should implement federalism, and achieve equality and common development among all ethnic groups by creating a balance-Javanese let other ethnic groups share political power, while the latter can let the former share their economic resources.

However, with the "leading democracy" replacing parliamentary democracy, especially after Suharto established the "new order" rule, state power is increasingly concentrated in the central government. Aceh's status as a special administrative region is nominal, with long-term economic stagnation and slow social development. Faced with this encounter, Hassan Diluo realized that it was no longer feasible to implement federalism in Indonesia, and his thoughts began to change. He clearly advocated Aceh's struggle for independence, believing that it was the only choice for the outer islands.

To sum up, Hassan Diro's separatist thoughts mainly include the following aspects. First of all, it emphasizes the sense of historical honor of the Aceh people and the legitimacy of establishing an independent country. Hassan Diro repeatedly pointed out that "when the Netherlands declared war on Aceh in 1873", Aceh was already an independent nation with its own country, and "the sovereignty throughout Sumatra has been widely and formally recognized as belonging to Aceh". The Aceh War was a war between two countries-the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Aceh. Based on this history, "... after World War II, the whole Sumatra should be returned to the Aceh regime and its independence should be restored automatically." In addition, Hassan Diluo described the indomitable struggle of Aceh people against Dutch in his works, pointing out that Aceh people regard independence as the most important thing, and now Aceh people should also inherit this national tradition and fight for their own independence.

Secondly, it denies the legitimacy of the "Republic of Indonesia". Hassan Diro believes that historically, Indonesia is not a natural geographical whole. Although the islands were once ruled by the same colonial sovereign state, there is no historical connection between Java and the outer islands, and there is a lack of "* * * sense of destiny" between the various parts. Moreover, after World War II, Dutch colonists transferred "Indonesia" to Java rulers without the consent of other regions and nations. According to international law and relevant UN regulations, this "transfer" is illegal, as is the establishment of the Indonesian Republic. Not only that, in the name of "Indonesia", Javanese practiced "new colonial rule" against other ethnic groups. Politically, Javanese control Indonesian politics, and a few non-Javanese in the government are just a propaganda tool, in order to create the illusion that the islanders are not completely deprived of power in the administrative agencies. Economically, under the guidance of the so-called "development principle", the development of natural resources in Aceh only serves the interests of Java. Javanese use the army to maintain control over foreign islands and ensure long-term control over Aceh through a large number of Javanese immigrants. Therefore, if Aceh is a member of this country, it has not enjoyed fair treatment. Javanese rule is illegal and a new colonizer, which is destroying the political, social and cultural traditions of Aceh.

Third, it advocates that Aceh should break away from Javanese "colonial rule" and establish an independent country. Based on the long history of Aceh as an independent country and the illegality of "Indonesian Republic", Hassan Diluo pointed out that all Aceh people should strive for independence and ensure the existence of Aceh-Sumatra as an independent country. The "Aceh-Sumatra" regime includes not only the Aceh people, but also all ethnic groups on Sumatra Island who want Sumatra to be a Sumatran and reject "Java colonial rule". His plan is to establish a Swiss-type free federation, so that every nation has its own political power (equal to Aceh in status) and can choose its own form of government.

As for the nature of the movement, Hassan Dillo, in his published diary The Prcie of Freedom, The Unfinished Diary, elaborated on the religious nature of the movement, and believed that the Aceh regime and Islam were inseparable, and the struggle for independence was for God and Allah. However, as can be seen from the whole writing, some contents were supplemented in the 198s. In addition, when analyzing the reasons for the first failure of the Free Aceh Movement, some scholars pointed out that Hassan Diluo did not want to openly put forward the idea of establishing an Islamic regime at first, in order to win more support from western countries, but because of this, he lost the support of the local people in Aceh. But what is certain is that since the 198s, Hassan Diluo clearly proposed to establish an independent and Islamic Aceh regime.

referring to the analysis of relevant scholars, this paper holds that: firstly, the viewpoint of "Aceh-Sumatra" is fundamentally wrong. Hassan Diro's concept of Aceh territory refers more to the situation under the rule of Iskandar Muda in the early 17th century. In fact, by the time of the Dutch invasion in the mid-18th century, the rule of Aceh had shrunk to the eastern coast of Sumatra, not the whole of Sumatra. Moreover, the cruelty of Aceh's expansion period is comparable to that of "Javanese Indonesia". Therefore, Hassan Diro claims that the Aceh people's right to rule Sumatra is as unfair as the Dutch transferring Sumatra to "Javanese Indonesia" after 1949. Second, on the issue of the legitimacy of Indonesia's Republic, Hassan Diro could not give a reasonable explanation to the declaration made by Aceh Ulema in October 1945, which clearly brought Aceh into Indonesia's independence struggle. His simple explanation for non-Javanese's desire to be part of a new country is that they lack political consciousness and were cheated by Javanese colonists. Most of the modern national concepts in developing countries were formed in the process of anti-colonial movement. It is undeniable that Aceh is an independent nation, but not every nation must establish an independent country accordingly. Historically, the concept of a unified Indonesian nation appeared in the process of Indonesia's national liberation movement in the 192s. Aceh participated in this movement and had a sense of identity with modern Indonesian national and national concepts. Especially in the 194s, during Indonesia's anti-Dutch war, the Aceh people gave active support to the Central Committee. Therefore, when the Republic was founded, Aceh naturally became a part of the new Republic. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Aceh was completely willing to accept the leadership of the central government. Unlike Hassan Diro, Aceh was passively transferred by the old Dutch colonists to the "new Javanese colonists".