Morning Star flying in Timika
JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of Irianese witnessed the raising of the Morning Star flag in Timika district, Irian Jaya, on Wednesday, as an independence mood prevails in the natural resource-rich province.
The flag, the symbol of the resistance movement, was raised in the yard of a Catholic church in the Mimika regency on Wednesday. On Thursday it was still flying from its staff.
Yohanes Dekme, an executive of the custom institute of Amungme tribe (Lemasa) told The Jakarta Post by phone on Thursday that the Irianese had hoisted the flag to draw the attention of President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Dekme said the people hoped Abdurrahman and Megawati would respond to the Irianese demands for independence, initially voiced by 100 representatives of the province to former president B.J. Habibie here in Jakarta last February.
A banner carried by the demonstrators in the church yard reads, "We the Papua people want to build our own government. We want to halt colonization by the Republic of Indonesia. Independence is the right of every nation, and therefore colonization on the earth must be eliminated."
Dekme said the demonstrators would leave the church compound only after the president or the vice president of Indonesia responded to their movement.
"It is a spontaneous action with no one acting as a leader. The action comes from the bottom of their heart," Dekme said.
People in Timika, the capital of Mimika regency, have frequently staged rallies against human rights violations, environmental destruction and alcohol smuggling in Timika and the surrounding areas, amongst other things.
Having seen no official response from either the local administration or central government, the demonstrators believe the government has taken their protests for granted, Dekme said.
"This accumulated dissatisfaction is now being expressed in the hoisting of the Morning Star flag," Dekme said.
The protesters have kept their promise to be peaceful. They have also asked local police and military to help them keep order and peace, Dekme said.
"The result is that since the flag was hoisted on Wednesday everything remains under control."
Businesses, government and social activities are running as usual, according to Dekme. (eba)