Why should Papua be independent?

Why should Papua be independent?

Pradana Boy ZTF
Malang

The factors that have caused Papuans' desire to be free from
Indonesia cannot easily be determined. Papua's desire is rooted
in many different factors ranging from the issues of race,
culture and socio-political rights to economic reasons. It can
also be argued that, by and large, there are two opposing views
regarding Papua's demand to be independent: Keeping its status as
a provincial state of Indonesia on the one hand, and freedom from
Indonesia as an independent state on the other hand.

Discovering the origins of Papua's aspiration to gain
independence will lead us to the long history of Dutch occupation
in the region, Indonesia's attempt to integrate this region into
its territory and also Papua's struggle to defend its identity as
Melanesian in the midst of a modernization wave and of outsider
political influence.

Basically, the problem of Papua has been caused by the
Indonesian government. The Indonesian government tends to hide
the real history of Papuans. John Rumbiak, a Papuan scholar
suggests that Papua's independence is not an easy thing to decide
whether for Indonesia or Papua. He identifies the Indonesian
government in Papua as meaning nothing but a new form of
colonialism.

It is ironic that, given their richness in natural resources,
Papuans are left impoverished. Colonial powers that are mainly
foreigners (sometimes foreigners also refers to Indonesians from
a Papuan viewpoint) exploit Papuan resources without involving
indigenous Papuans in doing so. They have been benefiting from
the exploitation of Papua's rich natural resources with no
concern for the Papuans themselves.

This policy is also accompanied by what Rumbiak calls a racist
policy. He states: "When Jakarta transmigrates 'expert'
agriculturalists from Java it is also being racist, because
Papuans already know how to use the land."

Furthermore, Rumbiak proposes that possible ways to solve all
problems occurring in Papua are dialog and non-violent
approaches. Violence and a militaristic approach would only
worsen the situation and decrease the trust of Papuans in the
Indonesian government.

The most forceful factors that have caused Papuans to desire
to be free from Indonesia are the militaristic "approaches" that
have killed thousands of Papuans. Through dialog, it would be
clear what Papuans require from Indonesia and what the Indonesian
government should do about Papua.

They propose three fundamental questions:

First, Papuans want to know about their history.

Second, they want Jakarta to handle and address systematic
violations of their civil and socio-economic rights.

Third, they want to speak up about their identity crisis as a
Melanesian group within Indonesia.

However, the Papuans should be aware of the necessary
preparations to achieve independence and of what would need to be
done once independence was achieved. The absence of this
awareness would only lead Papua into further trouble.

The difficulty of integrating Papua into Indonesia is
related to identity. They do not identify themselves as
Indonesians, but as Papuans.

Many Papuans believe that they belong to a sovereign modern
nation state, which was established on Dec. 1, 1961 through the
raising of the flag.

When Habibie took over power from Soeharto, a group of Papuan
leaders demanded that Habibie grant what had been granted to East
Timor: autonomy or independence. When Abdurrahman Wahid came to
power, he seemed to be more accommodative of Papua. The first
thing he did was to change the name of the region from Irian Jaya
to its original name of Papua.

Unfortunately, his government's generosity was wrongly
perceived as the readiness of Jakarta to give independence to
Papua.

In conclusion, the problems that accompany the issue of West
Papuan independence must be carefully weighed. On the one hand,
the Indonesian government should be honest about West Papuan
history and truthful in relating the process of Papua's
integration into Indonesia. On the other hand, from Papua's side,
it should be realized that creating an independent modern state
is not simple.

The writer is a lecturer at the Muhammadiyah University of
Malang, currently studying at the Australian National University,
Canberra, Australia