Let East Timor be free

Let East Timor be free

From Pikiran Rakyat

The East Timor question has recently made headlines following the Indonesian government's latest proposal to let go of East Timor if its offer of autonomy is rejected.

I fully agree that East Timor should be excluded from Indonesia's territory. This small region has for all these years been a source of protracted conflict. Efforts to settle this question, even at the United Nations level, have been dragging on without any certainty for too long.

We may honestly say that Indonesia has sacrificed a lot -- in terms of human lives and material resources -- for the sake of the East Timorese. Many non-East Timorese Indonesians, particularly members of the Armed Forces (ABRI), have lost their lives there. They have, as a matter of fact, "defended" the East Timorese. So I cannot agree to the allegations made by Indonesian and international human rights figures that ABRI have violated human rights in East Timor. Indonesia's human rights organizations should not have spoken unfavorably about their nation simply out of hopes of winning praise from abroad. I really deplore the attitude shown by Indonesian human rights figures.

So, what benefits has Indonesia derived from managing East Timor's affairs for 23 years? Nothing. In fact, we were not only politically disadvantaged but have also suffered material losses. The government has allocated a considerable budget for East Timor's development, yet the East Timorese remain ungrateful. In fact, our people in East Nusa Tenggara are still in need of huge amounts of money for the development of their region. If the funds devoted to East Timor for 23 years had been used for the development of Indonesia's other eastern regions, the benefits would be felt by the people in these regions now. So, the development aid for East Timor has simply gone to waste.

The Indonesian government's idea to give up East Timor is a brilliant one, that the Indonesian people must approve of. Do not listen to politicians of a cheap sort who disagree with this idea out of their own political interests, which they will pursue irrespective of the genuine voice of the Indonesian people.

Let East Timor have its freedom. Xanana Gusmao has stated that the East Timorese are really ready any time for independence. Let us just watch and see whether they are really capable of managing by themselves. I think Xanana is just bragging.

NATADIPRAJA

Bandung, West Java