On Wednesday, 27th Ramadhan 1416 Hijria, or to be exact, February 17, 1996, became a fateful day for the people of Serah Gele, Serah Reje, and Tanah Merah. Imagine, three days before Idul Fitri; zakat fitrah has not been paid yet, Eid clothes for children and wives have not yet been bought.
While for years, the HPH company has been arrogantly controlling, cutting down, and picking up trees with heavy equipment that are certain to no longer comply with logging block permits.
People who live on the edge of the forest and along the Jambo Aye riverbank; The villages of Serah Reje, Serah Gele, and Tanah Merah, let alone pick up logs, carry branches too, will be punished.
HPH of PT. RGM pays for the security of the TNI who established a security post opposite Tanah Merah Village, on the riverbank which has entered East Aceh Regency whose border with North Aceh Regency is the Jambo Aye River.
Difficult and economic situation that makes people desperate to reduce the size of small blocks of wood in the hope of celebrating Eid like other people who stay three more days. Unfortunately, that intention did not materialize, a TNI person who "clamored" on the riverbank confiscated their timber and boats. The TNI person accused them of being timber thieves.
Not accepting of the arbitrariness, the community was holding a demonstration at the TNI Post with demands that their timber and boat be removed.
Exactly at 08:00 on Friday, 29 Ramadhan 1416 Hijri or February 19, 1996, the leader of Aman Ringkel flocked by boat to the TNI Post, but the response from the TNI was even wanting to kill the people.
"Shoot! ... shoot! ... shoot!" commanded the Danpos person angrily.
Strangely, every time the weapon is fired at the community it always gets stuck. However, when the weapon was directed at the Danpos individual, the TNI immediately shot and struck his knee.
People are getting angry. They attacked the TNI personnel with their bare hands. Except Aman Rahim who pelted the post with stones. His pitch pierced the walls of the post. Some people dragged the TNI into the Jambo Aye River and buried it.
In that incident, three TNI personnel died on the pos and his Danpos was shot in the knee by a soldier's weapon. While others were seriously injured.
In response to the incident, on Friday afternoon, the TNI / Polri conducted operations and arrested 47 people. They were all taken to Langsa; tortured and jailed for 37 days.
The incident has passed 24 years ago, but there are many lessons we can learn from the incident. Among these, glory goes hand in hand with the sanctity of the heart. Sacredness will come naturally when our hearts are clean from unclean souls. So that any sophisticated weapon in the opponent's hand can be controlled.
Mendale, Aceh Sumatra, Senin, 15th June 2020
BAHASA INDONESIA
PELAJARAN DARI PERISTIWA MASA LALU;
“MASYARAKAT SERANG POS PENGAMAN PT. RGM, TIGA ANGGOTA TNI GUGUR”
Pada hari Rabu, 27 Ramadhan 1416 Hijriah atau tepatnya tanggal 17 Pebruari 1996 menjadi hari naas bagi masyarakat Serah Gele, Serah Reje dan Tanah Merah. Betapa tidak, tiga hari menjelang hari raya Idul Fitri; zakat fitrah belum dibayar, baju lebaran untuk anak istri pun belum terbeli.
Sementara bertahun-tahun sudah dengan sombong sebuah perusahaan HPH menguasai, menebang dan mengambil pohon-pohon dengan alat berat yang dipastikan tidak lagi sesuai dengan izin blok tebangan.
Masyarakat yang tinggal di pinggiran hutan dan bantaran sungai Jambo Aye; Kampung Serah Reje, Serah Gele dan Tanah Merah, jangankan mengambil kayu balok, membawa rantingnya pun akan dihukum.
HPH PT. RGM itu membayar pengaman oknum TNI yang mendirikan pos pengamanan di seberang Kampung Tanah Merah, di bantaran sungai yang sudah masuk Wilayah Kabupaten Aceh Timur yang batasnya dengan Wilayah Kabupaten Aceh Utara adalah Sungai Jambo Aye.
Situasi paceklik dan ekonomi yang sulit membuat masyarakat nekad menurunkan kayu balok ukuran kecil dengan harapan bisa merayakan lebaran seperti orang lain yang tinggal tiga hari lagi. Sayang niat itu tidak terwujud, oknum TNI yang “ngepam” di bantaran sungai itu menyita kayu dan perahu boat mereka. Oknum TNI itu menuduh mereka sebagai pencuri kayu.
Tidak terima dengan kesewenang-wenangan itu, masyarakat bermusyawarah akan melakukan demonstrasi di Pos TNI itu dengan tuntutan agar kayu-kayu dan boat mereka dilepas.
Tepat pada pukul 08:00 hari Jum’at, 29 Ramadhan 1416 Hijriah atau 19 Pebruari 1996 masyarakat pimpinan Aman Ringkel berbondong-bondong naik boat menuju Pos TNI, namun sambutan oknum TNI malah ingin membantai masyarakat.
“Tembak!...tembak!...tembak!” perintah oknum Danpos itu dengan marah.
Anehnya, setiap kali senjata itu ditembakkan kepada masyarakat selalu macet. Namun ketika senjata itu diarahkan kepada oknum Danpos TNI langsung meletus dan mengenai lututnya.
Masyarakat mulai marah. Mereka menyerang oknum-oknum TNI itu dengan tangan kosong. Kecuali Aman Rahim yang melempari pos itu dengan batu. Lemparannya menembus dinding-dinding pos itu. Beberapa masyarakat menyeret oknum TNI itu ke Sungai Jambo Aye dan membenamkannya.
Dalam peristiwa itu, tiga oknum TNI meninggal dunia di tempat dan Danposnya tertembak pada bagian lututnya oleh senjata prajuritnya. Sementara yang lainnya luka-luka berat.
Menyikapi peristiwa itu, pada Jum’at sore, TNI/Polri melakukan operasi dan menangkap 47 masyarakat. Mereka semua dibawa ke Langsa; disiksa dan dipenjara selama 37 hari.
Peristiwa itu sudah berlalu 24 tahun, tetapi banyak pelajaran yang bisa kita petik dari kejadian itu. Di antaranya, kemuliaan seiring dan sejalan dengan kesucian hati. Kekeramatan akan datang dengan sendirinya tatkala hati kita bersih dari najis bathin. Sehingga secanggih apapun senjata di tangan lawan bisa dikendalikan.
Mendale, Aceh Sumatra, Senin, 15 Juni 2020