The remembrance prayer was centered at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, a historic landmark that survived the catastrophic tsunami.
Aceh Vice Governor Fadhlullah led the ceremony alongside regional officials, religious leaders and survivors, as worshippers filled the mosque’s courtyard and surrounding streets.
Fadhlullah said the prayers were dedicated to the victims of the December 26, 2004 tsunami as well as to those who died in floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra last month.
The recent disasters killed at least 1,135 people across the three provinces, including 503 in Aceh, according to official data.
“Besides praying for the victims of the tsunami 21 years ago, today we also pray for the victims of last month’s natural disasters,” Fadhlullah said.
He described the recent calamity as a “tsunami from the mountains” that swept through 18 of Aceh’s 23 cities and districts, underscoring the province’s continued vulnerability to natural hazards.
Prominent Muslim preacher Abdul Somad, who delivered a sermon during the event, warned that environmental degradation had worsened the impact of recent disasters.
He said human actions, including deforestation and damage to coastal and upland ecosystems, had weakened natural defenses against floods and landslides.
“When trees are cut down, there is nothing left to hold back the water,” Somad told the congregation.
“Humans must reflect on their responsibility to protect the land and the sea,” he added.
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The annual prayer gathering is organized by the Aceh provincial government as a way to honor the memory of tsunami victims and to remind future generations of the scale of the tragedy that reshaped the region.
The December 26, 2004 tsunami, triggered by a 9.1-magnitude undersea earthquake off Sumatra, killed more than 170,000 people in Aceh and destroyed around 250,000 homes, along with vast swathes of infrastructure, in Indonesia and other Indian Ocean countries.
Beyond its human toll, the disaster marked a turning point in Aceh’s history, helping pave the way for peace after decades of separatist conflict.
The Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement signed a landmark peace agreement in Helsinki on August 15, 2005, ending years of violence in the province.
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Translator: Haris Setiady Agus, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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