A Short History of Indonesia
was faced with a situation very similar to that which the Dutch had had to face 60 or 70 years earlier. Daud Beureueh’s revolt clearly had a degree of local support, and the natural environment of Aceh was such that relatively small numbers of guerrillas were able to tie down much larger government forces with comparative ease. The leaders of the revolt against Jakarta were men with impeccable revolutionary credentials, men who had led the local struggle against the Dutch. The only significant group in Acehnese society which was opposed to these Islamic groups, and which could thus have served as a useful base on which to build an opposition, was the uleebalang: the very people the Dutch had used to spearhead their own anti-Islamic activities. During 1954–56 the central government tried to defeat Daud Beureueh’s forces by military means. Troops were sent to the region, and extensive military operations undertaken. Again, it is difficult to avoid the comparison with the approach taken, at least initially, by the Dutch. By around mid-1956 the Jakarta government came to the conclusion that it was just not going to win a military campaign in Aceh, and began serious attempts to find a negotiated settlement to the dispute. In March 1957, a cease-fire was arranged, though its enforcement was patchy and sporadic for some time. It was not until two years later, in May 1959, that formal negotiations involving representatives of the central government and Daud Beureueh finally took place. A compromise was reached under the terms of which Jakarta recognised Aceh’s status as an autonomous region, with the administrative status of a province. Daud Beureueh remained at large until 1962. When he finally returned to his home village, he was accorded formal recognition for his services to the Republic during the revolution, and granted a government pension. This marked the virtual ending of the revolt in Aceh, at least in a form that posed any serious threat to central power and national cohesion, for the time being. 216