Hasan di Tiro
Encyclopedia
Tengku Hasan Muhammad di Tiro (25 August 1925 – 3 June 2010), born Hasan Bin Leube Muhammad, was the founder of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
, an organization which attempted to separate Aceh
from Indonesia
from the 1970s. It surrendered its separatist goals and agreed to disarm as agreed to in the Helsinki
peace deal of 2005. He was a descendant of Tengku Cik di Tiro on maternal side, an Indonesian national hero who was killed fighting the Dutch in 1891. In 2010 he obtained his Indonesian citizenship back shortly before his death.
, where he did part-time work for Indonesian Mission to the United Nations. While a student in New York
in 1953, he declared himself the "foreign minister" of the rebellious Darul Islam
movement, which in Aceh
was led by Daud Bereueh
. Due to this action, he was immediately stripped of his Indonesian citizenship, causing him to be imprisoned for a few months on Ellis Island
as an illegal alien. The Darul Islam
rebellion in Aceh
itself ended in a peace deal in 1962. Under the peace deal Aceh was granted nominal autonomy.
area. He was outbid by Bechtel
, in a tender process in which di Tiro thought the central government had too much control. It has been claimed that, as result of this loss and the death of his brother due to what he considered to be deliberate neglect by a doctor of Javanese ethnicity, di Tiro began organising a separatist movement using his old Darul Islam
contacts.
He declared his organisation as the Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front, better known as the Free Aceh Movement
("Gerakan Aceh Merdeka") on December 4, 1976. Amongst its goals was the total independence of Aceh from Indonesia. Di Tiro chose independence as one of GAM's goals instead of autonomy due to his focus on Aceh's pre-colonial history as an independent state. The ASNLF was distinct from the former Darul Islam
rebellion which sought to overthrow the secular Pancasila
ideology of Indonesia and create a pan-Indonesian Islamic state based on sharia
, if with a high degree of autonomy for Aceh within such a state. In his "Declaration of Independence", he questioned Indonesia's right to exist as it was a multi-cultural state based on the Dutch colonial empire and consisted of numerous prior states and multitudes of ethnicities with little else in common. As such, di Tiro believed that the Acehnese people should restore the pre-colonial state of Aceh and should be separate from the "fraudulent" state of Indonesia.
Due to this new focus on Aceh's history and distinct ethnic identity, some of GAM's activities involved attacking transmigrants, particularly those who worked with the Indonesian army, in an effort to restore Acehnese land to Acehnese people. Ethnic Javanese transmigrants were among those most frequently taregetted, due to what were often their close links to the Indonesian army. GAM's principle military activities, however, involved guerrilla attacks against Indonesian soldiers and police.
In 1977, after leading a GAM attack in which one American engineer
was killed and another American and South Korean engineer injured, Hasan Tiro was hunted by Indonesian military. He was shot in the leg in a military ambush, and fled to Malaysia.
From 1980, di Tiro lived in Stockholm
, Sweden
and had Swedish citizenship. After the tsunami
of 2004 the GAM and the Indonesian government agreed to a peace treaty in which more autonomy for Aceh was accepted by GAM's poltiical leadership and endorsed by di Tiro. In October 2008, after 30 years of exile, di Tiro returned to Aceh.
During the course of the conflict, the Indonesian government mistakenly declared that Hasan had died three times.
in a Banda Aceh
hospital after two weeks in intensive care.
Free Aceh Movement
The Free Aceh Movement , also known as the Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front , was a separatist group seeking independence for the Aceh region of Sumatra from Indonesia. GAM fought against Indonesian government forces in the Aceh Insurgency from 1976 to 2005, costing over 15,000 lives...
, an organization which attempted to separate Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
from Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
from the 1970s. It surrendered its separatist goals and agreed to disarm as agreed to in the Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
peace deal of 2005. He was a descendant of Tengku Cik di Tiro on maternal side, an Indonesian national hero who was killed fighting the Dutch in 1891. In 2010 he obtained his Indonesian citizenship back shortly before his death.
Background
Coming from a prominent family, from village of Tiro (Pidie Regency), di Tiro studied in Yogyakarta before proceeding to pursue further studies in United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he did part-time work for Indonesian Mission to the United Nations. While a student in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1953, he declared himself the "foreign minister" of the rebellious Darul Islam
Darul Islam
Darul Islam is an Islamist group in Indonesia that aims for the establishment of an Islamic state of Indonesia. It was started in 1942 by a group of Muslim militias, coordinated by a charismatic radical Muslim politician, Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwirjo. The group recognised only Shari'a as a...
movement, which in Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
was led by Daud Bereueh
Daud Bereueh
Teungku Daud Beureueh , military Governor of Aceh and leader of the Darul Islam rebellion in the province ....
. Due to this action, he was immediately stripped of his Indonesian citizenship, causing him to be imprisoned for a few months on Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
as an illegal alien. The Darul Islam
Darul Islam
Darul Islam is an Islamist group in Indonesia that aims for the establishment of an Islamic state of Indonesia. It was started in 1942 by a group of Muslim militias, coordinated by a charismatic radical Muslim politician, Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwirjo. The group recognised only Shari'a as a...
rebellion in Aceh
Aceh
Aceh is a special region of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its full name is Daerah Istimewa Aceh , Nanggroë Aceh Darussalam and Aceh . Past spellings of its name include Acheh, Atjeh and Achin...
itself ended in a peace deal in 1962. Under the peace deal Aceh was granted nominal autonomy.
Creating GAM
Di Tiro re-appeared in Aceh in 1974, where he applied for a pipeline contract in the new Mobil Oil gas plant to be built in LhokseumaweLhokseumawe
Lhokseumawe is the second largest city in Aceh province, Indonesia. It faces the Malacca Strait, and is surrounded by North Aceh Regency . The city covers an area of 212 square kilometres. According to the 2000 census Lhokseumawe had a population of 188,974 people...
area. He was outbid by Bechtel
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S...
, in a tender process in which di Tiro thought the central government had too much control. It has been claimed that, as result of this loss and the death of his brother due to what he considered to be deliberate neglect by a doctor of Javanese ethnicity, di Tiro began organising a separatist movement using his old Darul Islam
Darul Islam
Darul Islam is an Islamist group in Indonesia that aims for the establishment of an Islamic state of Indonesia. It was started in 1942 by a group of Muslim militias, coordinated by a charismatic radical Muslim politician, Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwirjo. The group recognised only Shari'a as a...
contacts.
He declared his organisation as the Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front, better known as the Free Aceh Movement
Free Aceh Movement
The Free Aceh Movement , also known as the Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front , was a separatist group seeking independence for the Aceh region of Sumatra from Indonesia. GAM fought against Indonesian government forces in the Aceh Insurgency from 1976 to 2005, costing over 15,000 lives...
("Gerakan Aceh Merdeka") on December 4, 1976. Amongst its goals was the total independence of Aceh from Indonesia. Di Tiro chose independence as one of GAM's goals instead of autonomy due to his focus on Aceh's pre-colonial history as an independent state. The ASNLF was distinct from the former Darul Islam
Darul Islam
Darul Islam is an Islamist group in Indonesia that aims for the establishment of an Islamic state of Indonesia. It was started in 1942 by a group of Muslim militias, coordinated by a charismatic radical Muslim politician, Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwirjo. The group recognised only Shari'a as a...
rebellion which sought to overthrow the secular Pancasila
Pancasila
The Five Precepts constitute the basic Buddhist code of ethics, undertaken by lay followers of the Buddha Gautama in the Theravada as well as in Mahayana traditions. The precepts in both traditions are essentially identical and are commitments to abstain from harming living beings, stealing,...
ideology of Indonesia and create a pan-Indonesian Islamic state based on sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
, if with a high degree of autonomy for Aceh within such a state. In his "Declaration of Independence", he questioned Indonesia's right to exist as it was a multi-cultural state based on the Dutch colonial empire and consisted of numerous prior states and multitudes of ethnicities with little else in common. As such, di Tiro believed that the Acehnese people should restore the pre-colonial state of Aceh and should be separate from the "fraudulent" state of Indonesia.
Due to this new focus on Aceh's history and distinct ethnic identity, some of GAM's activities involved attacking transmigrants, particularly those who worked with the Indonesian army, in an effort to restore Acehnese land to Acehnese people. Ethnic Javanese transmigrants were among those most frequently taregetted, due to what were often their close links to the Indonesian army. GAM's principle military activities, however, involved guerrilla attacks against Indonesian soldiers and police.
In 1977, after leading a GAM attack in which one American engineer
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was killed and another American and South Korean engineer injured, Hasan Tiro was hunted by Indonesian military. He was shot in the leg in a military ambush, and fled to Malaysia.
From 1980, di Tiro lived in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and had Swedish citizenship. After the tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
of 2004 the GAM and the Indonesian government agreed to a peace treaty in which more autonomy for Aceh was accepted by GAM's poltiical leadership and endorsed by di Tiro. In October 2008, after 30 years of exile, di Tiro returned to Aceh.
During the course of the conflict, the Indonesian government mistakenly declared that Hasan had died three times.
Return to Aceh
When he returned to Aceh after 30 years of exile on October 11, 2008, as a consequence of previous strokes, he was too frail to deliver his own speech at his welcome rally and did not play an active role in Aceh's ongoing political process. He stayed for two weeks before returning to Sweden. On October 17, 2009 he returned to Aceh for the second time and stayed there ever since. On June 2010, he obtained his Indonesian citizenship back after living years with a Swedish passport. Shortly afterwards, he died on June 3, 2010 of multiple organ dysfunction syndromeMultiple organ dysfunction syndrome
Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome ', previously known as multiple organ failure or multisystem organ failure , is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring medical intervention to achieve homeostasis...
in a Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra, with an elevation of 35 meters. The city regency covers an area of 64 square kilometres and according to the 2000 census had a population of 219,070 people...
hospital after two weeks in intensive care.