Triumph of History
Aug 17th, 2011, in History, by Arie BrandOn the date of today, in 1962, then President Sukarno gave his yearly Independence Day speech of which the English version received that year the title ‘A Year of Triumph’. The then very recent New York or Bunker Agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands in which Papua was, under certain conditions, handed over to Indonesia explains the title.
It is worth recalling one passage from this speech. Sukarno discusses here the youth of Papua:
They are very important indeed because they, this young generation, are the seedlings for future leaders of the region or seedlings for national leaders. In general, they are against colonialism. But they cannot, on the basis of their own consciousness and conviction, become pro-Republic. Why not? They do not know the Republic … they would like … to appraise with their own eyes what the Republic actually is, with regard both to aims as well as substance. These young men and women of West Irian instinctively want to become part of the Republic, and even want to become part of the Revolution, but they want to arrive at this decision (or another one) on the basis of their own consciousness and their own conviction … I think we should value their standpoint. Let them see for themselves what the Republic is, what the aims of the Republic are, what the Republic contains! … After that, in 1969, we will say to them:
Please, Saudara-saudara, go ahead ! You may choose !
And we are convinced that they will choose to remain within the Republic !
So it is based on this consideration that we accepted also the second principle of the Bunker plan, namely self-determination.
And:
This victory is a Victory of History. Every struggle opposing colonialism will in the end be won by the fighters for independence because the course of History demands victory for the side of independence.
In May 1965 Sukarno dictated to History that it had already triumphed in Papua where people apparently no longer felt a need to choose “on the basis of their own consciousness and their own conviction”. The year after then Foreign Minister, Adam Malik, announced that they would go through the motions anyway to seal this triumph of History.
15 Comments on “Triumph of History”
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diego says:
and you conveniently omit what happened in time between those two events….. curious arie brand youve been constantly bashing indonesia. why?
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Hi Diego,
Had a look at your link, pull out the bit about the Japanese and this statement reminds of something I just cannot my finger on (without washing it lots afterwards)…The guy must be so disappointed…Over 40 dissimilar parties sprang up. So terrified were we of being labeled “a Japanese-sponsored Fascistic dictatorship” that single individuals forming splinter organizations were tolerated as “mouthpieces of democracy.” Political parties grew like weeds with shallow roots and interests top-heavy with petty selfishness and vote-catching. Internal strife grew. We faced disaster, endless conflicts, hair-raising confusion. Indonesians previously pulling together now pulled apart. They were sectioned into religious and geographical boxes, just what I’d sweated all my life to get them out of.
Of course, could there be anything more inept than the handling of Papua, a litany of self serving exploitation and abuse that would make any good colonial blush with pride.
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Arie Brand says:
Don’t blame what happened to Papua and Papuans (Freeport) on Sukarno. Blame it on CIA, and that fucking evil megalomaniac jew Henry Kissinger.
Kissinger’s dominant role in American foreign policy fell after Papua’s fate had been decided in that fraudulent ‘plebiscite’ of 1969. There is pretty clear evidence, inter alia from the utterances of Ruslan Abdulgani at the time, that Sukarno, in spite of his sanctimonious phrases in that Indepence Day Speech of 1962, never meant to have a free and fair plebiscite. Blaming the CIA for what Sukarno and his successor meant to do all along amounts to political infantilism.
and you conveniently omit what happened in time between those two events…..
If you are referring to the murderous rampage by Sarwo Edhie’s troops and similar exploits by the ever heroic Indonesian armed forces, no I have not forgotten them – neither, I dare say, have most Papuans
curious arie brand youve been constantly bashing indonesia. why?
ReplyI can’t help that a mere statement of the facts gives you that impression.
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@oigal its obvious what has been happening in papua since the day freeport is there is an abuse. but again, why blame sukarno for that? the whole freport things was setup by those capitalists in the US with the help of CIA and that jew kissinger. stop blaming indonesians for things thay we never did.
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Eeer I don’t think I blamed Sukarno for anything, in fact granted a bit tongue in cheek I said he would be disappointed. I am really not sure what being a Jew or Muslim or Christian has to do with anything, really that its all the jooowws is so white sheet and mask stuff.
I will leave it to Arie on the hows and whys of the entry of Papua to Indonesia. I don’t recall blaming Indonesians for things they never did. I do however think pretty poorly of anyone who gets their kicks from holding burning sticks to people testicles or a justice system that gives less than six months gaol to a coward that beats a minister to death. I can shoot a villager down in the street and only be subject to a Military tribunal but if I raise a 2 foot square flag, I am in gaol for ten years?
Personally I am not a supporter of separatism, its been a disaster of PNG despite millions upon millions of dollars of Aid. At the same time even the most biased, must see the farcical situation when people complain about the horrors and exploitation of colonialism without so much as a glance at current day Papua.
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Lairedion says:
diego,
curious arie brand youve been constantly bashing indonesia. why?
ReplyIf you only portray negative things on Indonesia, (two of your eight articles are dealing with Papua and I admit there’s not much good to say about Indonesia in relationship to Papua), flavoured with your own emotional attachment to the region and a romantic view of Dutch colonialism in general (five out of eight are Dutch colonial stories) then it’s very easy to say:
I can’t help that a mere statement of the facts gives you that impression.
Not that much of a problem but Arie should be honest about his position.
Just read back Arie’s first article (including the comments) on this blog. We can easily copy-paste these comments over to this article because we’re going to have the same discussion and that would be a waste of time, storage and bandwidth.
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its obvious what has been happening in papua since the day freeport is there is an abuse. but again, why blame sukarno for that? the whole freport things was setup by those capitalists in the US with the help of CIA and that jew kissinger. stop blaming indonesians for things thay we never did.
It’s all Freeport’s fault. This is beyond childish. Freeport didn’t do the killings. The Indonesian military did. The Operation Sadar started in 1965. Two years later Manokwari was strafed by Indonesian aircraft. Sarwo Edhie was appointed military commander of the region in June 1968 and solidified there the gruesome reputation he had acquired as the ‘bloodhound of East Java’.
Work on Freeport didn’t start until 1970 and the mine was only fully operational in 1973.
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If you only portray negative things on Indonesia, (two of your eight articles are dealing with Papua and I admit there’s not much good to say about Indonesia in relationship to Papua), flavoured with your own emotional attachment to the region and a romantic view of Dutch colonialism in general (five out of eight are Dutch colonial stories) then it’s very easy to say:
I can’t help that a mere statement of the facts gives you that impression.
Not that much of a problem but Arie should be honest about his position.
How much more honesty do you want? I think I have, short of indulging in crude abuse, made ‘my position’ rather clear. Perhaps you could do so too, explaining for instance why you prefer not to live there.
About my ‘colonial stories’: yes, that’s where I think I can make a contribution and I plan to provide a few more. Indonesia had a history before 1940 and after Majapahit , apparently your favourite historical resort.
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bonni says:
I think Papua would better not be a part of Indonesia… Hmm…
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I am really not sure what being a Jew or Muslim or Christian has to do with anything, really that its all the jooowws is so white sheet and mask stuff.
It’s called “providing context”. The fact is he’s a jew. Maybe, or maybe not, it explains Kissinger’s unscrupulousness / lack of moral fibers.
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Oh and for a bit more honesty: I regard it as typical for the moral obtuseness of the ‘elite’ of that country that this same Sarwo Edhie, who in many eyes would have been a suitable candidate for standing trial at the International Court of Justice, was not all that long ago officially elevated to the rank of ‘Pahlawan Nasional’.
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Dirk says:
Totally unrelated to the discussion :
Look here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj-OEvFnYa0, the ultimate song about non-homosexual friendship. Unfortunately Jacques Brel is dead, he was a great Belgian !
And look here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJSsqzTGq4Q&feature=related
and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRaIoizgGxw
and here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvD8Y6gr9lk
Nice music in order to make you happy
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Thanks dirk lol
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Ottis says:
Hi Diego,
Did Henry Kissinger request Soekarno, Suharto, you and others to continue doing the wrong-doings he and others did in the past? Soekarno, Suharto and others killed and they still kill the Papuans not because of defending Kissinger’s plea (if any) but because of the present interests or they simply do not know anything about what the purpose is of killing Papuans, destroying their environment and stealing their natural resources away.
I am a Papuan but not a racist nor a killer. (ottis)
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Don’t blame what happened to Papua and Papuans (Freeport) on Sukarno. Blame it on CIA, and that fucking evil megalomaniac jew Henry Kissinger.
http://www.realhistoryarchives.com/collections/hidden/freeport-indonesia.htm