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LIVE – A mass group commemorating the 44th anniversary of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). They also raised the Bulan Bintang flag at various locations in Banda Aceh.
The crowd had mobilized around Banda Aceh city and waved flags of the moon and stars along the Simpang Surabaya causeway. However, the raising of the flag did not last long.
TNI officers and Polri immediately lowered the flag. The crowd ended the convoy at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque. There they wanted to raise the flag of the moon and the star, but they were blocked by officers who were already on duty at the site.
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There was a dialogue between the security apparatus and the masses. Finally, the masses only got engaged in the courtyard of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque and urged the Indonesian government to perform all the points of the Helsinki MoU.
“Today’s Milad GAM, the flag of the Moon and the Star must be flown, there are rules,” said one of the crowd as he hoisted the flag in the courtyard of the Great Mosque of Baiturrahmam, Friday, December 4, 2020.
The commander of Kodim 0101 / BS, Lieutenant Colonel Inf Abdul Razak Rangkuti, said that the hundreds of people only conveyed their aspirations, even though the sacred GAM flag had briefly flown.
“They made the promise that their flag was not a separatist flag. But I say there is no other flag than the red and white flag,” Razak told reporters.
He also conveyed to the masses that they must maintain the health protocol to prevent COVID-19 and keep their distance. “Before we just reminded ourselves to keep our distance. But it had flown (the flag of the moon and the star) but for a while,” he said.
The issue of the Bulan Bintang flag remains a matter of debate at the Central Government level because it is considered similar to the flag of the separatist movement. Whereas previously, on March 25, 2013, the Government of Aceh together with the DPR of Aceh had ratified the Qanun Number 3 of 2013 in relation to the determination of the flag and symbol of Aceh. However, the Central Government has not yet approved the raising of the flag. (North American stock market)
