Clarifying Support to the Life Stories of Papuan Leaders

Clarifying  Support  To the Life Stories of Papuan Leaders
By Farsijana Adeney - Risakotta

Currently I 'm finishing typing  before the online publication of Life Stories of Papuan Leader edited by Charles Farhardian . His book is written in two languages, Indonesian and English . The title of the Indonesian version  is Kisah Hidup Tokoh-Tokoh Papua and the English one is titled of The Testimony Project Papua . This book was published in 2007 . But unfortunately only after my husband and I experienced a very terrible car accident that causes the fractures of my spine ( T - 11 and L - 4 ) , I finally got the book directly from Charles Farhardian whose home was our  rest from the accident after I got out from the hospital. In another article I have explained about the meaning of the accident that happened to me in order to meet with the leaders of Papua in the Papua room which was at the home of the Farhardian .


Currently my left hand is still being wrapped with plastic plated bracelet which explains the name , date of birth and the date I was taken to the Intensive Care of Ventura Medical Center in Southern California . When I saw the date we had an accident , actually on the same date , 4 November 2013,  in Jayapura  where students helt rally to protest  against the bill Autonomy Plus which is being processed by the local and central government . Then dozens of students were arrested by polices . Why was the date I entered the hospital the same as the date of Papuan students arrested ? Do I take it consciously to feel about the pain of the indigenous Papuan people so that they came like the wind cries suddenly to make our car swerved and ended up broken my back bones so I could meet up with these stories . Who do know?

                    patient wristbands written my name, date of birth and date of entry into the emergency room

 
Publised in 2007, only now after six years then this book, Life Story of Papuan Leaders  can be known by us all Indonesian citizens . In another article I also explained that this story turns out to be a long walk from Papua to Santa Barbara , California and then to Boston where I now live to process it then disseminated through two of my blog which are  the Indonesian version  - “Indonesianku  Indonesianmu Indonesia untuk semua”  and PIZZA ( Peace Incredible Zoom Zone Authenticity ) written for readers the world related to my concerns on global tensions and regional political fight in various places that have effected to the expense of civil society .


I put the translation of the Life Stories of Papuan Leaders at the PIZZA blog ( Peace Incredible Zoom Zone Authenticity ) because in addition to the publication in English , the issue of conflict in Papua has been happening for too long and should get the attention of the world community in order to encourage the Indonesian government to resolve the conflict peacefully end .  Through the long political conflict in the area, the civilian death toll in the province of West Papua which has already reached 100,000 inhabitants according to the research conducted in several places such as at the University of Sydney , Australia , and Yale University in the United States .

My concern towards Papua has been a long life , since I was a kid always  for our  bedtime stories, my grandmother who gave birth to our mother in Serui, Papua  would tell so many interesting experiences of her with Papuan people. But academically , my attention to the Papuan  appeared  when I was  writing my dissertation on mass violence involving Christian and Muslim communities in North Maluku.   Social conflicts involving religion has destroyed villages and innocent people . Catastrophic destruction and social conflict with charges of religious traumatizing long before the people themselves initiate the peace process to allow the refugees back to their respective villages . The events that occurred during the transition after the Reformation impacted on the political situation around Maluku and Sulawesi . A similar conflict in Central Sulawesi , Poso and Tentena , which still leaves the trauma as well as efforts from various parties , especially the people themselves to build up reconciliation .

 

Movements to register population took place mainly from the large - scale conflict areas where communities have access to move to another area because the place was not safe for them to work. For example , the displacement occurred in Ternate , Tidore , and also on the island of Halmahera , especially for people with positions in the civil service or the merchant 's who were easier to move  to the new location of residence . But the farming communities will remain in the camp until they were allowed to return to his village . At that time , there was a large displacement of the province of Papua . Tidore and Ternate were the home for muslim communities . But they received also muslim from Ternate especially from Tidore who had  lived for generation in the west part of Papua such as Kepala Burung (Head Bird). They moved to fill the void of the Christian community who had left Tidore , Ternate and other places that are majority Muslim community .


Relations between Tidore and Ternate and Papua already underway before the arrival of Western traders started by the Portuguese and Spanish . The Papuans were workers in the late 16th century were more appropriately called " slaves " of the Sultanate of Tidore and Ternate . They were used as workers on the boats trading controlled by the Sultanate of Tidore and Ternate . After the war between Tidore and Ternate , the Kepala Burung (Bird's Head) area was zoned for Tidore sultanate  while sultanate of Ternate extended his power throughout the islands of the Moluccas , to the island of Timor and Sulawesi . Mastery of these areas followed by the delivery members in the Sultanate as rulers of conquered the areas. Although the rulers were placed in these areas, not the society automatically accept all policies of the empires .


Rejection occurs everywhere because of the exploided policy,  sultanates forced to the society  in this claimed teritories.  Only the empires with their bood relations by marriage and those who involved in the spices business were muslim. At that time , to enter the world trade network controlled from the Ottoman Empire in Europe, Turkey and Musgal in South India, business partners must be Islam . When people become Muslims , they were called Malays because at that time the kingdom that controled the trade routes of the archipelago was the Sultanate of Malacca , which is derived from the Malay ethnicity . Unless Sultanate families that already exist, such as Aceh  whom traded  directly to Banda Neira , and the Sultanate of the North , such as Tidore and Ternate, or Makassar, Bugis, Buton Sultans from Sulawesi could maintain their own identity because they have a territory associated with the networks between the islands of Commerce . Sultanate of Malacca was the gateway from the eastern part of the archipelago to sell their ground trade . Overseas trade relations in India to sultanate European network must pass through the Malacca Sultanate . I wrote all this in the dissertation , but it became clearly after I visited Malacca in 2011 .


But the resistance of the people against the exploitation of the business interests of the Islamic Sultans was very high . Areas controlled by the Muslim Sultans were not automatically able to circumcise their peoples because they know about the injustice done by the sultanates . In North Maluku, for example , the areas on the island of Halmahera in which family members Sultanate delivered as a leader to claim territory , citizens still  remained practing their local beliefs.  This fact is not only a time of possession of the Sultanate of Malacca , but also after the Portuguese conquested of Malacca and then submited a change of control of the area by the merchants – of the East Indies Company (VOC) from the Netherlands .


When the VOC went bankrupt and the Dutch government took over the area of trades.  Population data collection started mainly to collect taxes from the people . Supposely in Galela ,  population data began  available in the 19th century , which at the time of the representation of Sultanate of Ternate which called Sangaji had long been there . But the number of Muslims was only 174 compared to the total communities  of 1296 people who were called by the Dutch government as "alfuru" that means believe in ancestral pratices (Adeney-Risakotta, 165-166). The same was seen with the territory of the Sultanate of Tidore  in the Tidore island and in the Kepala Burung of Papua . Now the Bird's Head area around Raja Ampat with its center in Fak-Fak is the home of the muslims from the indigenous Papua since the time of passion by Tidore Sultanate in the 16th century with the addition of Merauke where was the center for muslim migrants began in 1970s .  Barriers for people to embrace Islam , especially in Halmahera was the exploitation and injustice carried to them by the sultanate of Ternate . Land grabs people's caused public resistance to the imperial efforts to make them as Muslims .

 

These areas were left by the Dutch government as the imperial mastery areas without providing educational support and other human resource development. The new Dutch policy change occured at the end of the 19th century after the political ethical policy denounced as a parliamentary decision in the Netherlands . To implement it, the government's scarce resources asked the churches to send workers who were willing to work in the Dutch East Indies as a teachers , farmers to move people growing coffee , vanilla , chocolate , coconut for export purposes . In this century , many local residents were interested in becoming a Christian because of the approach taken by church workers who were different from the messengers of the Sultan . The values ​​taken by these church workers could be accepted by the local community. The values ​​of justice , compassion , respect , tolerance , and hard work to build family and community appeal to local communities .


My research shows the approach undertaken by humanitarian workers volunteers from these churches were seen to change the lives of the people residing in the imperial power . Sultan of Ternate strongly supported these church workers who got responsibilities to change the nature of the people of Halmahera to be known as very vicious robbers to the merchant ships on both sultanates of Ternate and the Dutch government . It was true , the people of Halmahera change , not primarily because of the Christian faith , but because of their profession transferred into a formidable farmers . The results of their hard work suceeded  at the coconut harvest directly accommodated by Chinese merchants to cooperate with the Dutch government for deployment to Europe.


At that time , the reins of power from the Dutch government only at the national level with Batavia as its center , and at the regional level in some places were already available infrastructure such as harbours and educated human resources spreading out in North Maluku ( Ternate ) , Central Moluccas ( Ambon ) , South Sulawesi ( Makassar ) , West Timor ( Kupang ) , East Java ( Surabaya ) , Central Java ( Semarang ).  Natural harbors were  available to accommodate merchant ships . On the island of Halmahera , the center port  was in Tobelo because of the natural topography suitable for berths . The Dutch government also avoided port channels were formed in the Muslim trade networks . Therefore , Batavia was built to be the center of world trade that connected  the east to Sri Lanka and then to Kerala ( South India ) to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Before leaving the archipelago, the Dutch trading ships  had to be filled in with coaling at Sabang in the  Weh island . Distance between Banda Aceh to Weh island is approximately 2 hours with a payload capacity of merchant ships . I took  a fast boat from Ulee Lheu ( read : Ulele ) which is the harbourd in Banda Aceh to Sabang,  just 45 minutes .


I am writing this article to explain the relationship between religions and social policies to empower communities . Religion can be used to force people into submission and communities when the adherents of a particular religion to be part of the decision maker and implementation of development programs . This trend is almost visible in the history of religions everywhere around the world . Religion as an ideology to unite the different ethnic communities , gender , social class so that it can be controlled to support the programs of the ruling leaders in these areas . The phenomenon of the use of religion as the uniform compliance of members of the public to the actual leader is contrary to human rights to freely choose their own religions .


World situation after World War II is very different now . Destruction that occurred in Europe before World War 2 started well as tensions between religions , especially Christianity among themselves . Countries in Northern Europe competing among Protestant , Catholic , Anglican , Orthodox . Each wanted to dominate and expanded trade and political territories . I see the same phenomenon also occurred in the Muslim trading network under the control of the Ottoman Empires ,  Musgah  Empire and the Empire of Moroco whom shared power with the Family Caliphs of the Middle East for control of southern Europe , starting from Lisbon to Spain . Spain was divided into two powers of the Islamic empires , the Cordoba center in the controlled by Damascus Kalifah empire that claimed to be a direct family of the Prophet Muhammad ( Syriah ) and Granada as the center of the Sultanate of Moroco .


These two competition of the Islamic empires that actually weaken the Islamic colonization in Southern Europe so that the local kingdom , which was supported by the Vatican, the  Catholic  prince of  Ferdinand could drive both this kingdoms of Andalusia . I could tell you more about the life of the Islamic empires in Andalusia at length as part of my trip to Lisbon when researching archives associated with the Portuguese documents of their occupation in North Moluccan. Moro was the call of Muslims in Europe at the time to refer to the civiled islamic community in Andalusia which were most teritorial controlled by  the Sultanate of Morocco.  The existence of two Catholic kingdoms were destroyed in North Maluku also named Morotia . Further reading my dissertation .


So back to the previous discussion , whether such a form , the essence of religious life after World War 2 still faces an occupation or religion derived from the Creator for happiness , justice , prosperity , love and peace of humankind . Inevitably, the history of religious bitterness recorded in the scriptures often backfire for inclusion in the memories of adherents as a tool to motivate the context of the struggle to defend their religious life, which in my opinion is  very different than when the writings of the holy book was revealed as a revelation to notes of as a historical event . Reading the scriptures with a sublime view of the religion of God  gives the different end than from reading scripture with political views to conquer humankind . In my opinion , any religion can not conquer humankind except God . The man who brought the religion of God can be judged whether it is true or just religious people use religion for political purposes .  Having of religion means the worshipers have to be  sensitive to the suffering of others. Attempts to homogenize religion so that people are actually subject to fraud because of the people who turned out to follow this religion ever become truly mispractices from their teaching on their religions.  They appear far being children of God who love God's creation. Those people could not have loved developing follow from the will of humankind, but because his heart to be loved, protected corroborated helped by the Creator, therefore love could be implied in their life .


I write this article to clarify to readers in Indonesia , that I as a citizen of Indonesia, I  feel very upset reading the Kisah Hidup Tokoh-Tokoh Papua edited by Charles Farhardian . I was never aware of the suffering of my brothers in Papua until I read this book. I also did not intend to read this book except as imposed by God I should read it . Terrible car accident that has brought us to the home of  Papua in the house of the Farhardian  family where I met with the stories that tell the suffering of my brothers and sisters in Papua . We never planned to stay in the house , because we were booked a room at the best hotels in Santa Barbara where we came to honor the invitation of Westmont College to give our lectures there.

Our lectures were about how we as people of God, could live together in peace as what we have done in Indonesia.  My husband and I are both scholarly. We have tied our work as educators with high accademic discussion on religion and politics dimentions in civilization and history of Indonesia but also sharing about our personal journey to walk with other religious communities to bring peace and justice in our neighbourhood and society in large in Indonesia. With our experience of working among religious followers in Indonesia , we see the existence of force to make Indonesia as a model where Islam , as the religion of the majority of nurturing other religions . This fact will hold true , since I experienced pluralist living within my own families . The family of my mother are many Muslims , living scattered across Indonesia . We also have a foster child of a Muslim . We do everything with love to share life with each other because that way we are also blessed as children of God in this world .

 

But I was always very conscious about injustice and lamaness that occurs in our society , especially when the common people were subjected to the greed , the power of the elite , the military for control of areas that are actually not right . My decision to work with grassroots communities in Indonesia starting my finding results of research shown that ordinary people can be used as a tool to manipulate the facts and to trigger  citizens so that they are involved in social conflicts even in mass violence . I am the only one of the professors who teaches in the our program in Yogyakarta which is ICRS Yogya to have ​​interests in conflict to relate to the marginalized groups. The impact of social conflict, politics and religion are the largest of any marginalized people. Therefore I decide not only teaching but also working to empower the marginalized groups to strengthen their existence as human beings everywhere I am called to live and to serve .

 

I am writing this article to remind the citizens of Indonesia and other part of the world  which has been chaotic in many wars so that more careful with the efforts of the political groups and divide the military in society . Every citizen has the right to request security from the government which is obliged to provide protection . Basic human rights to associated with a sense of security without fear for freedom of religion and worship believed , express themselves with courtesy and respect in the argumentation will be stopped because be targeted for arrest . The basic rights of others who are also political rights of the people are questioning government policies which are made not to give happiness and useful life for their citizens . Both Islam and Christianity and other religions believe government is the representative of God in the world , but representation should reflect the image of God is all-loving , faithful , holy , merciful and protective . The properties of this if there is no God in government leadership because the show is the properties of coercion , deceit , fraud , corruption and other , then in fact God has taken control space by forces rooted in human weakness Humans can compromise with the forces of selfish , self-centered and group giving rise to the properties of wild behavior , which resembles the ferocity of the human animal .


Human language reveals human nature that rooted on crazy yourself with words eg savagery , awesomeness , brutality , destruction , chaos ,  hypocrisy , violence , cruelty , hardening , ugliness , evil , resentment ,  ferocity , roughness , and so on . Human language that shows the properties of such wild behavior as I described above actually comes down to what is called infidelity . Thus the disbelievers are those who have not traits of human nature qualifies both from the Creator , but the properties are derived in the self -ruled by the power of the so-called " crazy " to those who thirst for human blood . These are the so-called " Infidel " . Because the people who consider themselves religious and civilized could behave like crazy, and this is according to their understanding of the language is called " Infidel " .


Maybe with a clear exposure, directly and frankly, I can understand about what should be my brothers and sisters do to defend your rights as citizens of Indonesia.  I encourage brothers and sisters to continue calling for our government, our people to assert your rights to engage in dialogue as defined in UU No. 21 of 2001 which is on the special autonomy law. Without citizens understand  the Autonomy Plus Bill which is being prepared by the provincial government and the central goverment even though it was not lised to be discussed within the drafting committion for the  2013 of the meeting  in the House of Representatives.  Governor of Papua said that the drafting will be seen as emergency UU (Law) which shows how easy power of governments break out all the regulation created in their own body.  I also have the right to ask the government for products of any law, which is the applicable law at the national level that needs attention of Indonesian citizens throughout the country. Sincerity central and local governments to take into consideration the wishes of the people of Papua which is better to end the tenure of the president safely and peacefully to be recorded by the world as a leader receives peace award by the World Statesman Award in May 2013 ago.