Tabi Baptist Youth Leader.
JOURNAL-TAKO / 1 December 2023, In Milestones, the story is based on historical records, most of which were written by Europeans, especially Evangelists, Expedition Teams, Historians, Anthropologists and Archaeologists, each of whom was competent in their field. They wrote about nature, humans and everything in them.
This milestone journey is also inseparable from all the historical series made by the predecessors above, "blood and tears". Even though (OAP) was hampered by several factors, especially education and isolated terrain at that time. Many became national patriots and their enthusiasm is still life provides embers for fighters, human rights defenders and generations.
If we talk about Papua, it feels incomplete when we only look at it from a political and human rights perspective, so it is very important to look at it from a historical perspective.
In 200 AD the leading Roman Geographer, Claudius Ptolemy (Ptolemy) called Papua "Laba Deus", an articulation of which there is no credible source. Since the Hellenistic period, foreigners have been arriving on this "Golden" island.
Meanwhile, in 500 AD, a Chinese trader named Gau Yok Kuan gave this island the name "Tungky" which simply means "spice". Meanwhile, in 600 AD the Sriwijaya Kingdom called it "Janggi" with almost the same meaning.
The phases in which foreigners took turns entering or passing through this country are recorded in their shipping records. Each of them called Papua Island according to how beautiful it looked and they named the island according to their point of view.
Meanwhile, in 1793 Papua Island became a British Colony. After 1774 the Kingdom of the Netherlands fell into British hands. Indeed, previously the region (Papua) was often touched by sailors from Portugal, China, Persia (Arab), England and Spain. In 1663, Spain left to return to its country of origin. Finally, Indonesia annexed the Kingdom of Tidore in the 17th century.
After that, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, under British mandate, managed the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie company; abbreviated as VOC, it was founded on March 20, 1602. VOC was a trading alliance from the Netherlands which had a monopoly on trading activities to exploit the wealth of natural resources in Asia such as Indonesia in the 16th century.
In the late 18th century, Dutch missionaries Ottow and Geissler came to introduce the Gospel to the Land of Papua on February 5 1855 in Wasior, Mansinam, West Papua. Even though this religion is not the first in Papua.
In 1945 Indonesia became independent. In the Command of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) on 18-20 August 1945, the Revolutionaries gathered and determined the direction of the nation from the Constitution, Form, System and motto of the Republic of Indonesia.
"I myself want to say that I don't worry about Papua at all, it can be handed over to the Papuan people themselves. The Papuan people also have the right to become an independent nation," said Hatta at the BPUPKI session on June 11, 1945, which was recorded in the Minutes of the Session of the Investigating Agency for Preparatory Efforts for Indonesian Independence. (BPUPKI) and the Indonesian Independence Preparatory Committee (PPKI) 29 May 1945—19 August 1945. The most important moment was that Papuans were not involved because the Papuan ancestors never fought for an independent Indonesia.
Even though in 1945-1956, Resident JP Van Eechoud established the Bestuur school. There he appointed Atmoprasojo, a former prisoner in Digul, to be the director of the Bestuur school for educating educated people or Papuan Learners (OPB). On the other hand, being prepared to build and lead yourself is none other than Silas Papare, Frans Kaisiepo, Marthen Indey and cs. They are also the forerunners of the problems in the Land of Papua until now. They have played an important role in the integration of the Papuan Nation to "Mother Earth".
Then, de facto and de jure, the Dutch and New Guinea Government (NGR) announced the country's "Embryo" on December 1 1961 with;
Country Name: United State Of West Papua
National Flag: Morning Star (Morning Star)
National Anthem: Hi My Land of Papua
Currency: Golden New Guinea.
National Emblem: Mambruk Bird
Capital City: Holland, Port Numbay.
In the end, the Round Table Conference (KMB) in the Netherlands on August 23 1946 changed everything regarding the fate of our children and grandchildren and the homeland of West Papua in the Melanesian Community in the Pacific.
Congratulations on celebrating the 62nd Anniversary of the Embryo of the State of Papua (1 December 1961 - 1 December 2023).
Reference
1.HistoryA; When Hatta Rejected Papua, Martin Sitompul 2017.
2. Joshua Tewu, Bishop; Papuan History from DR.Connie's Perspective, YouTube Channel 2023.
3. Wikipedia; History of Papua
4. Doc Attached.
