The Day Free West Papua Deceived #Papuan People

The day Free West Papua deceived #Papuan people is a historical fact that many young west papuans didn’t realise. This blog is a political blog from the beginning, and I have stopped blogging when the government of Indonesia introduced special autonomy for Papua and West Papua. However, the events of the last few days have made me think about staying quiet, when it is our voices that will help, not our silence.

So the previous two posts have explained the history of West Papua: July 1, 1971 was not West Papua Independence Day and Freddy Numberi: Papua Ab Initio Belongs to Indonesia. The two articles clearly presented indisputable facts about West Papua.

The Two days of Deceiving for the Papuans.

First, this was when the Dutch Government retained provisional control over Papua culminated on 1 December 1961 when the morning star flag was raised as cultural regional flag next to the Dutch flag. It was considered as an independence day of West Papua by some Papuan elites. The actual status of the event was neither a gift of independence from the Dutch nor a proclamation of independence. It was a political gimmick to increase a sentiment against Indonesia’s sovereignty over the region. Indonesia’s response to the Dutch was an announcement of military campaign against the Dutch by Sukarno. It should be seen as an effort to help Papuans and not vice versa.

Second, this was when Jacob Prai and Seth Rumkorem of the West Papua Army unilaterally proclaimed West Papua independence on July 1, 1971 without recognition from even a single sovereign country in the world. Later, both Prai and Rumkorem left the region behind to stay happily in Sweden.

These two days of deceptions were use as political campaign by Free West Papua, Free Papua Movement, and whatever their name to maintain conflict in the region. The contention about what happened on the 1st of December 1961 dan the 1st of July 1971 is getting worse because a small number of Papuan separatist leaders continue to deceive Papuans and international community.