*) Arie Gunawan
Many Indonesian people are not aware that this time we are troubled by the state of West Papua Liberation Movement. Not many of us cares about the lies of this group presented to the international community. By distorting the facts, they justify that Indonesia has the arbitrary occupation of West Papua as a region of Indonesia and the many human rights violations and genocide against the indigenous people of Papua. These issues are continually delivered to the world community. Then if we as a nation of Indonesia conscious and surrender only if our nation slandered?
Momentum December 1 will be used as the Free Papua Liberation group momentum that attracted worldwide attention. They plan to conduct campaigns and West Papua’s independence day celebrations in a number of regions of the world. Through freewestpapua.org site, to coincide with the original independence of West Papua on December 1, the Morning Star flag to be flown at City Hall, Oxford. In fact they also invite the people who support them to take pictures of themselves holding or waving the Morning Star flag in solidarity with the people of West Papua. Various image is expected to be distributed through various social media to build a global picture of that world really supporting the independence of West Papua.
So how should we respond to the lies of course disturb the sovereignty of the Homeland? It all depends on the people of Indonesia itself, choosing to care or not. Relying on the government’s consistency in maintaining the nation Deity was a difficult choice. And the whole country can stand upright because of the desire and the power collected from the people. Problems like this are easily solved if there exists the will and concern of all the people of Indonesia.
We should be angry against the slanders made by this group. The angry expressed concern for Papua, that Papua is not as they say, there was never any genocide and human rights violations against indigenous Papuans. Both ethnic Javanese, Malay or other ethnic Papuans have the same position as Indonesian citizens. And indeed Papuan people prefer to be together in the unity of the Indonesian people who have jointly fight for independence from the Dutch colonial era. Without there would be no Indonesian Papua, Indonesia also would not exist without Papua.
*) faculty of social sciences and politics’s writer, Universitas Brawijaya
