By: Rebecca Marian) *
Indonesia is a compound country consisting of various ethnic backgrounds, races, skin colors to languages. This cultural diversity is a gift that must continue to be preserved as a heritage, including culture in Papua which also enriches the diversity of Indonesia. For this reason, differences in society should be interpreted as a force to advance the nation.
The differences and diversity that exist in the Republic of Indonesia must certainly make us respect each other and maintain the feelings of the Papuan people in the midst of tensions occurring in the eastern regions of Indonesia.
The series of riots in Papua was actually triggered by racist utterances which offended native Papuans. The words of hatred triggered a long-standing problem felt by the Papuan people and wanted to separate from Indonesia.
Hate speech is indeed suspected to be a lighter that easily ignites the emotions of community groups to cause action to a sense that leads to the burning of DPRD buildings and roadblocks.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla hopes that the problems in Papua can be resolved quickly and asks all Indonesian people to respect differences, whether ethnic, religious, racial and class, by emphasizing mutual respect and not provoking conflict situations.
Moreover, the Minister of Communication and Information has found as many as 500 URLs that are detected spreading hoaks which are considered to potentially worsen the situation in Papua.
This is certainly a warning for all of us not to be easily provoked by the news of the hoax, because even one news of the hoax can disturb security stability in Papua. Though development requires security stability
Papuans who migrate to the land of Java to work or study, sometimes still considered different from other citizens, and vice versa, Papuans still feel alien and different in their own country.
This view is the main cause of the incomplete process of assimilation between indigenous Papuans and other communities in various regions in Indonesia. This is because the indigenous people of Papua, together with residents of neighboring countries namely Papua New Guinea and the surrounding island nations.
This can be seen from the typical skin color and hair type and shows that they are part of the Negroid race.
The people themselves refer to themselves as the Melanesian nation, a term aimed at the inhabitants who inhabit the island of Papua and the surrounding small islands. That is the reason for the stigma that Papuans are indeed different from Indonesians, is that right?
But of course we have repeatedly opened IPS books since I was in elementary school, and we know that this country called Indonesia is a multi-ethnic, religious and racial country. The Indonesian nation is a combination or mixture of the three racial groups namely the Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Negroid.
If you look at the fact that the Indonesian people are a mixture and mix of various races in the world, then our brothers and sisters in East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku in general also have the same characteristics and races as our brothers and sisters in Papua, certainly there is no reason to say that indigenous Papuans are different from Indonesians, and there is no reason for indigenous Papuans to consider themselves different from Indonesians.
As a nation, we cannot just focus on the different backgrounds of every citizen. The era of disruption in the world is now making rapid changes.
We cannot just be caught in the vortex of issues of identity politics. This primordial attitude, will only make the Indonesian people become a nation that is left behind compared to the nations in other parts of the world. Though there are still many things we can do for Indonesia
Therefore we need to create peace and comfort in the land of Papua, so that Papua can further develop and become a paradise for Papuan people who love Indonesia. Papuans are not monkeys, they are humans and Indonesians who are brothers and sisters to other Indonesian people.
Because we are all part of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia with the Unity in Diversity philosophy. What is meaningful is different but still one, so that both Javanese, Sundanese, Dayak and Papuan are all part of Indonesia.
) * The writer is a Papuan student, living in Jakarta
