The President of Indonesia Megawati Sukarnoputri has asked her armed forces, popularly known as TNI (Tentara Nasional Indonesia), to crush the 27 years-old GAM movement – Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, the Free Aceh Movement, in Aceh, and imposed martial law.  The military is involved in executing the task assigned to it by the supreme authority of the state.  The Chief of the Armed Forces General Endriartono Sutarto told hundreds of officers in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, that the rebel Free Aceh Movement, in his words, must be “wiped out.” The Indonesian military with its 50,000 troops launched its latest attack on the rebels’ camps and hideouts a day after the breakdown of peace talks in Tokyo. According to a report on the Voice of America, the present military offensive is the largest offensive since the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975.

The United States, Australia, Switzerland and Japan have expressed deep disappointment at the offensive, saying that the problems in Aceh cannot be settled by force. These countries have called for an immediate resumption of peace talks. Although Indonesia is embroiled in several secessionist movements in its different provinces like Irian Jaya, which shares the island of New Guinea with Papua New Guinea and Maluku, Aceh is the most pronounced rebellious regions Indonesia is struggling with. Aceh is located on the northwestern tip of Sumatra, once considered to be one of the most suitable harbours for traders sailing through the Sunda and Malacca straits.  The trade links with the Middle East and India made this area prosperous and also religiously influenced turning it into an epicenter of Islam.  Acehnese consider their Islam to be more orthodox than the mainstream liberal Islam of Indonesia.

The Aceh rebellious movement arose in the 1950s when Indonesia experienced the Darul Islam rebellion based in Java, which was fully supported by the Acehnese religious fanatics.  The Darul Islam wanted to establish a theocratic state.  The movement was ultimately crushed by the government which took several years and also a heavy toll of human lives. However, the Acehnese rebels continued their resistance on a low scale against the Indonesian government.  Embittered and frustrated by the continuing rebellion in Aceh, the Indonesian government finally granted Aceh the status of a "special territory" in 1959, which ostensibly provides a high degree of autonomy to the region in all religious, educational, and cultural matters.  

The policy which successive governments in Indonesia, mainly under Suharto, adopted towards the Acehnese continued to make them conscious of their identity as distinct from Indonesian nationhood.  The government encouraged transmigration of people to Aceh from other islands, mainly from overpopulated Java. Aceh’s rich natural gas and other mineral reserves, including petrochemicals, have been exploited by the central government while leaving the majority of the indigenous people deprived of their basic needs.

Dissatisfied by the center’s attitude, a few Acehnese founded the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) in 1976 as an armed resistance group. The movement was headed by Tengku Hasan M. di Tiro who has been in exile in Sweden since 1980. Since then tensions between the central government and the rebels have continued. In 1991, Indonesia sent its army to crush the separatists. The Amnesty International reported that between 1989 and 1992 about 2,000 people were killed in military operations in Aceh. 

On 9 December 2002, a peace meeting between the rebels and the central government took place.  This meeting was mediated by the Switzerland-based Henry Dunant Center. This peace plan was widely hailed as the best chance Aceh has had since the conflict erupted in 1976 to put an end to the fighting that has claimed more than 10,000 lives. The plan called for both sides to stop engaging in violence to demilitarize the province, and for elections to be held to form a new legislature.  The plan also has a provision for some more powers being accorded to increase Aceh’s autonomy, not available to the other provinces.

After the peace meeting held in Tokyo on 17 May 2003 hosted by the Japanese government, the Acehnese rebels claim that it was organized due to the pressures exerted by the US and the EU. However, Jakarta ensured the collapse of this meeting.  The government said that by agreeing to the December 9 peace plan the rebels should give up their campaign for independence. But, the rebels claimed that special autonomy was a step towards achieving complete independence from Indonesia. However, granting independence to Aceh is hardly likely to be entertained by Indonesia as this will trigger a series of claims by rebels on other islands seeking independence on the right of self determination.