The threat of the military approach in Papua (The Jakarta Post online, Aug. 4) only further alienates Papuans from the rest of the country and adds fuel to the fire.
If a crime has been committed, then it should be a police matter, not an excuse for more military offensives to antagonize and intimidate more communities. And who is it that always automatically labels perpetrators of any violence as “separatist rebels”?
It is in their interest to justify their continued activities in the province to keep labeling even common criminals as “separatist rebels”. Just like in the 1960s when anyone Soeharto didn’t like was, without any evidence, labeled a “communist” and killed or exiled. Now the TNI labels them “separatist rebels”, often without any evidence.
Papuans have a good reason to feel they are being treated as third-class citizens in a country with so much of its focus and spending in the western half of the archipelago. There are still those in Jakarta that see Papua as a colony to be exploited. Whilst those attitudes persist, Papuans will understandably carry resentment and weigh up their options.
Papuans only need look across the border into what they see as a proud, prosperous and independent Papua New Guinea, where their fellow Papuan traditional landowners share directly in the benefits of the mining boom. No amount of military crackdown in Papua Province will kill off the hopes and aspirations of the Papuan people, rather, only encourage them to “think outside the box” that they find themselves in.
A far better strategy would be to pull the military out of their current provocative role and for the civilian government to pay a lot more attention to building a strong community through genuine sharing in the benefits of development.
Under Indonesian law, Papua’s provinces have a right to autonomy, but they keep saying it is not working and they are still being dictated.
Former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid started a whole new positive mood in Papua. Megawati became captive of the TNI and allowed a reversal of the Gus Dur process and things drifted back to the Soeharto era military strategy. And SBY has allowed things to just drift along as the TNI wishes.
It is time to start treating Papuans and Papua with greater respect and equality, as partners, as brothers and sisters in RI. Building a proud and happy community will be the only way to win over Papuans from thinking greater autonomy or even independence. So why not start now.
Nairdah
Sydney
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