In 1969, Brigadier General Sarwo Edhie Wibowo went to West Papua after he had successfully annihilated the majority of those regarded as members of the Indonesian Communist Party in Central Java. He came to West Papua to lead the 17th Regional Military Command (Cenderawasih). Sarwo Edhie was charged with safeguarding the Act of Free Choice, a referendum prescribed by the 1962 New York Agreement to determine the future of West Papua - whether it would remain under Dutch rule or become a part of Indonesia.
What was meant by “safeguarding” was the launching of massive military operations across West Papua, and the suppression of a Papuan rebellion in Enarotali in the Central Highlands after Sarwo Edhie’s plane was shot at by a group of Papuan police. As reported in the New York Times, Indonesia denied that it had bombed civilians but evidence supports that Indonesia indeed had used rockets and targeted civilians. But who cared? Who cared what happened in Enarotali then and in the years that followed? Who cared what happened in Biak and Manokwari in 1965 and the years after? Two months before the so-called the 30th September Movement and the subsequent persecution of leftists that followed, thousands of Papuans were killed by the Indonesian military in an operation called “Operation Awareness”. According to al Rahab (2006), the operation that took place under the command of Brigadier General R. Kartidjo was concerned not with Papuans’ “awareness” — that they were part of Indonesia — but instead, it was aimed at the crushing of West Papuan organised resistance towards Indonesia which had emerged in July 1965. The Indonesian military called the resistance the Free Papua Organisation (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM in Indonesian), even though there was no such thing as an organisation. A few years later the generals changed their minds and the armed groups of Papuans were called “wild security disturbers ” and after that “movement of security insurgents.” Today they are also called “group of armed criminals.” The general opinion of the Indonesian military is that Papuans have no other motive than to become insurgents or criminals by burning the headquarters of the military. In a 1996 interview with the periodical Gatra, Retired Lieutenant Colonel D. Tandigu said that the Free Papua Movement was not motivated by nationalism, but just by frustration. The question is why then has Indonesia never been able to address the frustration of the Papuan people. If it were just a psychological state, Papuans would have changed. They would have been content with being a part of the Indonesia. Indonesia claims it has liberated Papuans from colonialism, that it has uplifted them from their “barbarian and primitive” past. Why is it then that Papuans have never felt free under Indonesia? For Indonesians, it is a difficult question, is it not? Veronika Kusumaryati #1965setiaphari #living1965
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