Police probe sale of controversial atlas
Antara/Banjarmasin
A senior police officer has confirmed that Bali Police have confiscated 59 atlases depicting pictures of the outlawed Bintang Kejora flag, which symbolizes an independent Papuan state.
The controversial atlases were seized from several bookstores on the resort island recently, said Sr. Comr. Reniban, the spokesman of the Bali Provincial Police on Friday.
The atlas has two separate covers, one red while the other is yellow, titled: Complete Atlas of Indonesia and The World for Elementary, Junior and High School Students. The 80-page atlas, is published by publishing company Karya Agung in Surabaya.
The atlas contains a map of Papua, which has been divided into three provinces, Papua, West Papua and Central Irian Jaya. In the back of the atlas, it displays dozens of flags from around the world, one of which is Bintang Kejora with West Irian written below it, detik.com news portal reported.
Separately, the police also found a similar atlas in South Kalimantan during a recent raid. The raid was hailed by a top educator in the province, who later demanded that the police pursue the case thoroughly and jail the perpetrators if they were found guilty.
"The publishers have to be questioned thoroughly in line with the law," the head of South Kalimantan Education Office, Humaidi Syukri, was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.
The official also said, following the finding, he had reminded teachers to be more selective and cautious about the possibility of "the infiltration of teaching materials that may be detrimental to the nation's integrity."
"Educators should have a sense of anticipation and intuition when giving lessons to students," said Humaidi.
Papua was earlier controlled by the Netherlands but only in 1962 did Indonesia and the Netherlands agree to place Papua which was earlier called West New Guinea under UN rule, amid strong international pressure.
The region was promised a popular vote on its sovereignty, but was transferred to Indonesian control six months later. Its status as an Indonesian province was set in 1969 after a popular ballot was held to determine the area's status. Foreign non- governmental activists have accused the Indonesian government of rigging a vote by 1,022 inhabitants on behalf of a population of around 700,000.
Despite the UN-sponsored vote, the secessionist movement is still prevalent in Papua until today. A slew of protests demanding independence have occurred on top of low-key revolts perpetrated by the poorly coordinated Free Papua Movement.