A new approach needed

A new approach needed

The riot near Jayapura, the provincial capital of Irian Jaya,
in which at least four people were killed, and the demands of
local tribal chiefs of Timika that the PT Freeport Indonesia
mining corporation be closed show that the social problems in the
"wild east" province have grown more complicated.

The riot was ignited by supporters of Dr. Thomas Wanggai, a
separatist leader who died in a Jakarta prison on March 12 and
whose body was then flown to Jayapura for a family burial. The
people were disappointed when they failed to take custody of the
body which they had planned to carry to his home, 40 kilometers
away. The local authorities did the job.

The latest development, which included kidnapping and
subsequent painstaking efforts to free the 11 hostages still in
the hands of an armed separatist gang in the remote jungle in the
province, culminates the 32-year-old battle to put an end to the
separatist rebellion.

With such a complicated political map, one may well ask why
the struggle to crush a rebellion led by poorly armed locals has
taken so much time and funding. Why is the military finding it
more difficult to squelch this operation than that of the young
colonels in Sumatra and North Sulawesi between 1958 and 1961,
which was supported by no less than the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency?

The first reason may be that Irian Jaya is not only the least
populated province of Indonesia, but also has the most difficult
terrain and wildest jungles. The second is that the province
still attracts large international attention because many
foreign-based organizations suspect that so many things have gone
wrong with the prolonged drama. The position has placed Indonesia
in an unpleasant situation. While on one hand the conflagration
should be put down as soon as possible, on the other it needs to
be handled with care. So far the authorities have tried to solve
it through the "military approach," plus an apparently extra
carefulness, especially since foreigners are among the hostages.

Indonesia has enough experience to know that local rebellion
can not be extinguished by bullets alone. It needs political,
psychological and social approaches which in Irian Jaya have been
lacking. There has been no research done on the part of the
authorities as to why more and more people, especially youngsters
and educated persons, feel disappointed with government policy.
What simmers inside these citizens' hearts and minds? What are
the established beliefs and traditions of the tribes, especially
those in rural and jungle areas? How unique and sacred is their
relation with their traditional lands and environment?

When the Dutch fought their most expensive war at the end of
last century to win Aceh, the last piece of independent
Indonesia, they sent a scholar to conduct research on the origins
of Islam in Mecca, the heartland of the religion. He then did
research in the Northern Sumatra area to have a better
understanding of the area and how the religion played a powerful
and dominant role.

Although the aim of the colonial measure was worth
condemnation, the approach to overcome the impasse in Irian
through a scientific way is worth consideration today. Wouldn't
it help if we knew more about our own people who are divided into
hundreds of tribal affiliations, traditions and cultures?