History lesson

A plea recently filed by the attorney of Theys H. Eluay reminded me of Theys' statement that the Dutch government in 1961 recognized the independence of Dutch New Guinea, or West Irian. This statement is incorrect.

On April 4, 1961, the Dutch government set up the New Guinea Council in West Irian. The ceremony marking the establishment of this council was attended by high-ranking Dutch officials, Papuan elders, delegates of Australian New Guinea and delegates of the government and parliament of Australia, clearly indicating Australia's support for the establishment of this council. The council was meant to prepare for the granting of autonomy to Dutch New Guinea within a period of 10 years, under the authority of the Dutch Kingdom. Clearly, this is not the independence Theys mentioned.

From the very beginning of the establishment of this council there was controversy, namely the United States' refusal to attend the ceremony marking the establishment of the council under the pretext of maintaining good relations with the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. In the Netherlands there was much debate about the establishment of the council. Those in favor of the council said its establishment would show Holland was still a power in the Pacific region. Those against the council argued that every year Holland had to allocate 10 million Dutch guilders for the council, and that the establishment of the council would invite protests from the international community as it went against the Linggarjati treaty, the Renville agreement and the Round Table Conference. Besides, it was still questionable whether the Papuans, then still living a primitive life, could run their own government within a decade.

The West Irian question cropped up in a conference held in Pangkalpinang in 1946 by the Dutch and attended by minority ethnic groups of Arabic, Chinese and Indo-European descent. The Indo-European group, numbering about 30,000 people in Indonesia, wanted to see the Dutch New Guinea turned into a new settlement for the Indo-Europeans and remain part of the Dutch Kingdom.

So, if Papua had then received its autonomy the administration would certainly have been dominated by Indo-Europeans.

Since West Irian became part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, many indigenous people have enjoyed university educations in engineering, law, economics, medicine and so forth.

To sum up, the Dutch promise of autonomy is essentially the same as the autonomy that will be granted by the present Indonesian government, minus the domination of Indo-Europeans.

DR. SUNARTO PRAWIROSUJANTO

Jakarta