If December 1, 1961 really is “Independence Day of West Papua”, then there are two questions they must be able to answer, “Who proclaimed that independence?” And “What’s in the text of the proclamation?” The result is that no one can answer because the answer is “no there is”.
If we read the history of the proclamation of Indonesian or Vietnamese independence, we will know that Sukarno was the proclaimer of Indonesian independence or Ho Chi Minh was the proclaimer of Vietnam’s independence. On July 1, 1971, the reading of the text of the proclamation was considered to be the “Birthday of the Free Papua Organization. The name of Seth Jafeth Rumkorem as his proclaimer actually sank by the names of other Independent Papuan Organization figures such as Benny Wenda, Goliat Tabuni, and Jacob Rumbiak. It’s the same as people who know the name Soedirman better than Sukarno or people know the name Vo Nguyen Giap better than Ho Chi Minh. How sad!
Papua is already independent. Papua was formally independent on May 1, 1963, the day the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority officially handed Papua back to Indonesia. This event marked the end of the chapter of Dutch colonialism in the Land of Papua forever. We should, especially the Papuan people, interpret May 1 as the day when the Papuan people can begin to build their land towards a prosperous society within the framework of the Republic of Indonesia. For December 1, let’s consider it a black record in history where the Dutch tried to frustrate Papua from rejoining their brothers and sisters from Aceh to Maluku. However, the fact is that until now Papua is still a part of Indonesia. Forever these elements can try to separate Papua from Indonesia, but during that time they will also fail to free Papua.
