290 islam, politics and change
When, like now, it is the season of tenders, I see many Acehnese – though
not just Acehnese – who are suddenly crazy (tergila-gila) because they
want to buy a deluxe car of theHarrierbrand. This desire is stronger
than the year before, when they just wanted to own a Honda crv or
New crv. Such people are commonly referred to by villagers as ‘Pungo
Moto’ [crazy for cars].
This type of desire reminds me of the early days ofreformasiin
Aceh. During that period the Acehnese just asked for the human rights
violators to be brought to trial, but this was ignored by the central
government. Then the Acehnese raised their demands, requesting the
Federal government that Aceh would be given a share of 70 per cent of
the financial balance, leaving 30 per cent for the centre [i.e. ‘Jakarta’].
This request was also ignored, so Aceh asked for a Referendum. This
demand was not met either. Because they were angry, the Acehnese
simultaneously demanded Independence.
This shows us that the Acehnese are veryPungoin their demands,
and that they always try to raise the offer. For the Acehnese, this is a
matter of pride. But evidently, Indonesia can be morepungostill. The
Acehnese asked for independence, and they got a military emergency
instead.Biet-biet pungo[crazy indeed].⁵⁸The challenge that Aceh is facing, Taufik seems to imply, goes beyond
the struggle against ‘outsiders’. It involves a critical perspective on
contemporary society, formulated wholly from within Aceh, emphasising,
one might say, not only the struggle against others, but also the struggle
against oneself.
5 Conclusion
At first sight there seems to be little common ground between the
Acehnese history of resistance against state power and the sudden
appearance in February 2010 of the forces of global jihad. The members of
the jihadi cell led by the ‘famous’ terrorist Dulmatin were not particularly
interested in the Acehnese cause. Although they had hoped for more
sympathy among the notoriously pious Acehnese, as becomes clear from
their failed attempts to gain support from Acehnese religious leaders,
Taufik Al-Mubarak, ‘Pungo’, inAceh Pungo, 173–174, 174. Originally printed in
Harian Aceh, 17 June 2008. n.b.: ‘Season of tenders’ refers to the yearly period
during which government projects are put out to tender, after the approval of the
state budget.