The Roots of Acehnese Rebellion, 1989-1992

114 Pages·31.475 MB·English

by  Kell Tim.

1996
" B
673
Ihe Roots of Acehnese Rebellion,
1989-1992
Tim Keil
Cornell Modern Indonesia Project

The Roots of Acehnese Rebellion,
1989-1992
Tim Keil
(Publication no. 74)
Cornell Modern Indonesia Project
Southeast Asia Program
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
1995
© 1995 Cornell Modern Indonesia Project
ISBN 0-87763-040-2
Price: $10.00
Typeset by Roberta H. Ludgate
For my father, Richard, and my late mother, Muriel

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vi
Note on Spelling, Usage, and Translations vii
Glossary and Abbreviations viii
Map of Aceh x
Introduction 1
Part One: Historical Background 3
Part Two: Aceh Under The New Order 13
The Economy 13
Aceh's Contribution to the National Economy 14
The Impact of Industrial Growth in Aceh 16
Impasse in the Acehnese economy 21
Summary 28
Government, Politics, and Society 28
The Emergence of the Technocrats 29
Centralized Power and the Absence of Autonomy 31
Governors and Bupati: The Center's Choice 32
Finance and Development: The Center's Preserve 40
Electoral Politics 41
Army and Technocrats 43
Social Transformations 45
The Eclipse of the Ulama 47
The Majelis Ulama Indonesia 50
The Roots of Rebellion 52
Part Three: The Rebellion 61
Hasan Di Tiro and the Free Aceh Movement 61
Insurgency 66
Counterinsurgency 74
Nonmilitary Responses: The Ulama and the Civil Government 77
Part Four: Conclusion 83
Bibliography 87
Name Index 93
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
M
y interest in Indonesia began when I worked in that country for over
three years in the mid-1980s. I subsequently studied for an M.A. in
South-East Asian Studies at the University of Huil in 1990-91. This
monograph began life as my M.A. thesis, which I submitted in October
1992.1 wish to thank Clive Christie and Tim Huxley of Hull's Centre for South-East
Asian Studies for their supervision, guidance, and encouragement.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to John A. MacDougall of Indonesia Publica-
tions (7538 Newberry Lane, Lanham-Seabrook, Maryland 20706, USA), who gave me
the benefit of his hospitality during the summer of 1991 and allowed me full use of
his library and technological resources for research purposes. It was John who had
first stimulated my interest in Aceh with a translation assignment for Indonesia News
Service in 1990, and he who subsequently passed a copy of the completed thesis to
the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project. I am also indebted to Sidney Jones of Human
Rights Watch/Asia (New York) for her generosity in helping me carry out research;
to Geoffrey Robinson and his colleagues on the Indonesia research team at Amnesty
International for their invaluable assistance with information; and to Carmel
Budiardjo of Tapol for providing a quantity of Indonesian-language news material.
Special thanks are, of course, due to my editor at Cornell, Audrey R. Kahin, for
her guidance, encouragement, and patience. In addition, I am grateful to the staff of
New Consumer, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for the use of their computer equipment and
accompanying brain-power. Last but not least, loving thanks to Mandy for her
patience and support.
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