Born in the family of Tiro on September 4, 1930, he obtained his formal education in Acheh and in the United States. He com-pleted his tertiary education at the Colombia and Fordham universities obtain-ing degrees in political, economic sciences and in governmenatal administration as well as international law.
He is also a well-known international businessman, a revolutionary, a world traveler who feels at home in the West as much as in the East. As a successful businessman he presided the Doral Interna-tional Ltd. New York, a company active in the field of investment banking, petroleum, natural gas, agriculture, husbandry, shipping and aviation industries.
In 1946, when he was 16, he wrote a book on Achieving Independence, a study and analysis of the French Revolution, the independence struggles of the Irish, Venezuelan, Columbian and Turkish peoples. It was from these sources that his ideal was born to return the glory and freedom of the Achehnese nation. Other books he wrote included the The Principles of an Islamic Nation (1947), and The Ducth-Acheh War (1948).
In 1958 he wrote Democracy for Indonesia in Malay and English that proposes the disbandment of the Javanese styled unitary state and replacing it with a federal system. The final words of that book say that if such proposal were not realized, the separation between the Javanese and the peoples of the other islands in the archipelago would be inevitable. The Javanese should have considered the proposal carefully, but chose instead to ban the book.
In 1965 he wrote The Political Future of the Malay World, in English and Malay, in which he proposes the return of the rights to self-determination for all the peoples of the Malay world and the ending of the Javanese colonization that has only replaced that of the Dutch.
In 1968, he wrote Acheh In The Eyes Of The World in Achehnese that analyses the position of the nation of Acheh throughout the centuries of its existence as a free, independent and sauvereign state which is well documented in world litterature and cartography.
The University of Plano in the US awarded the Tengku with a honorary degree of Doctor-at- Law (LL.D) in 1975, with the following citation: “For his long and dedicated devotion to the cause of liberty in Asia; for his successful efforts in international economic affairs that have bound men together; for his exemplary leadership in the Moslem World; and for his ecumenical efforts in banishing the religious barriers that have caused antagonisms among men”.
As an author, he has written more than 2 dozens of books on politics, history and law. Among these is a historical drama in English entitled: “The Drama of Achehnese History, 1873 – 1978″, that he wrote in the jungle of Acheh, in between battles and his sparetimes, with translations into Achehnese and Malay, explaining the origins of the The Declaration of Independence of Acheh on December 4, 1976. This work made the Javanese iisue a public order to capture him dead or alive! But he is still very much alive, safe and sound, leading the Armed Forces of the Free Acheh-Sumatra movement and heading the Nation of Acheh that has now liberated some ¾ of the national territory from the colonial occupation.
In 1978, the government of the Republic of Indonesia, its press, television, radio and other mass media means under the strict control of the Suharto dictatorial regime, announced his death. In fact, at that very time he was with members of his Cabinet in Acheh under the protection of the loyal people of Acheh. Such is the way and wish of the Suharto regime that even went against the Devine Decision.
In 1982, the Suharto regime again announced the demise of Tengku Hasan di Tiro, this time in the US.A book entitled “Indonesia handbooks”, the publication of which was sponsored by Suharto’s regime, reported his supposed death. It was very embarrassing for the regime when a little bit later, a well-known Canadian magazine, the Crescent International, commented that Teungku Hasan was seen walking around safe and sound in several cities in the US and Europe. But then of course, shame doesn’t seem to be in the vocabulary of the Javanese, as such blatant faking of reality did not stop there.
In 1984, Tengku Hasan was again reported dead by this regime. At that very time he was in fact fulfilling an invitation to deliver a speech at the Portuguese Parliament. After delivering the speech, he was shown the newspaper article that made everyone present burst into laughter over that shameful, crude and cheap propaganda ploy by the Javanese regime. The Tengku proceeded with the struggle for the independence of his nation. He managed to educate thousands of Acheh-Sumatran youngsters through the “ACHEHNESE EDUCATION” in order to “think free”. This education program ran through 1975 to 1990. Although Acheh now is in the phase of a military struggle, this educational program will not be stopped until independence is achieved.
Tengku Hasan di Tiro realizes that to achieve the independence of Acheh-Sumatra, an internal struggle alone won’t be sufficient; it must be supported by other peoples in the world, especially within the United Nations, who will eventually participate in the determination of the success of the struggle. It is for this reason that in 1991, the nation of Acheh-Sumatra obtained for the first time a chair in the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations, in which the Tengku delivered a speech.
In 1993, Tengku Hasan di Tiro successfully obtained a voting on the Acheh-Sumatra conflict in the UN Human Rights Commission. This voting, No. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/L.21 dated August 17 1993 that co-incided with the Indonesian national day, and was witnessed by the 29 members of the Javanese-Indonesian delegation, obtained the support 7 out of 13 votes necessary to pass the resolution by the Commission that has 25 members. The supporting votes came from the US, France, Great-Britain, Austria, Greece, Algeria and Ukrine.
In 1994, Acheh-Sumatra again obtained a special supporting Resolution No. CN.4/Sub.2/1994 L.25 dated August 18, 1998. On this occasion Acheh obtained an additional vote from Cameroun.
This development is very menacing for the Javanese-Indonesian regime’s position in international fora. Seeing the international political progress achieved by the Acheh-Sumatra nation that the Jakarta regime finds unable to contain, once again it resorted to blatant falsifaction of the truth by spreading rumours that Tengku Hasan di Tiro had died. Such repeated ridiculous move proves that the Jakarta regime is out of its depth in facing the Achehnese people in international arena.
Death is a certainty that is not a matter to be debated. The question of life and death is the domain of Allah Almighty; it is not for Suharto, Try Sutisno, Harmoko or any other Javanese Sontoloyo to contemplate. “All that is alive will die”. Says the Quran, and that is the truth and will happen.
