Independence: Always a Good Thing?

by Songül Arslan

Yes, I do think that independence is always a good thing but I have some question marks when it comes to methods used to maintain independence. Throughout history the ideal of independence has always been something worth fighting for. People and cultures the world over recongnize that freedom is a precious commodity. I could drown you with examples of people and countries that have fought for or are still fighting for independence, but instead I want to focus on one example that might not to be the one that first comes to mind.

The example is Aceh, Indonesia's most northwestern province, with a population of about 4 million. It is a special territory also known as Acheh, Atjeh or Achin. The people of Aceh fight mightily for political independence and resist being controlled by the Indonesian government and the former Dutch colonists. Because Aceh is rich in natural sources like liquid natural gas, control over the province is sought both by local separatists and the Indonesian government. In addition to this economic motive, there is a cultural motive behind Aceh's resistance to being part of a unified Indonesia: while Aceh joins the rest of Indonesia in the practise of Islam, observance in Aceh is more conservative.

The conflicts in Aceh started way back in history. In reading the province's history, one wonders if there was ever a time when there wasn't any fighting. The Aceh War, for example, lasted roughly from 1873 to 1942, though the actual warfare was intermittent. When Indonesia became independent, it wanted to annex Aceh and it is since this time that there has been a permanent conflict between Indonesia and the local separatists.

The local separatists from Aceh fight for greater autonomy and greater separation from the Indonesian government. They already have a relatively great autonomy which was granted in 1959 in the form of a special territory, called in local language daerah istimewa. But this is not enough for the Acehnens and they still fight. The freedom fighters have joined in a movement that is called the Free Aceh Movement. They also sometimes call themselves the Acheh Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF). This makes understanding the fight even more complex because western media has little access to information about the movements, and we have to rely on the Indonesian media, whose information is confusing and brings us no closer to knowing what is really happening. Not only that, but what is known is hardly worth knowing. Numerous murders, rapes, disappearances and other atrocities have been committed in Aceh, and it is difficult to say which of the opposing groups did what. Rumours abound blaming both sides for every atrocity. This is the downside of the fight for freedom: inevitably there are casualties and more often than not they are the innocents and the powerless, the man on the street.

Like I said earlier, independence is always a good thing but methods of achieving it must be considered separately. Maybe these methods are the only methods we know and that are available to us but in that case we have to wonder about the price of independence. Despite the sanctity of the ideal, I guess in my mind it is always a price too high to pay.