PDP leader on dialogue: Don’t forget the OPM
Jayapura: Thaha Alhamid, secretary general of Papuan Presidium
Council, (PDP),has welcomed the initiative taken by the Papuan Peace
Network, the JDP, to seek to solve the Papuan problem by means of a
Jakarta-Papua dialogue, and says this should include all the leaders of
the struggle for Papuan independence, here in the Land of Papua as
well as abroad. He was responding to a report in Saturday’s issue of
Bintang Papua’s report regarding the initiative taken by Pastor Neles
Tebay regarding dialogue.
But he said that the failure to include representatives of TPN/OPM
in the JDP was a serious matter, bearing in mind that the OPM is still
struggling in the forests of Papua. ‘I realise that there are problems
of communication but that doesn’t mean that they should not be
represented in the JDP.’ He said he was sure that the JDP would deal
with this, bearing in mind the fact that the TPN/OPM was present at the
Grand Papuan Congress in 2001.
He said that the TPN/OPM consists of a considerable number of groups
but this does not mean that it should be excluded. Moreover there was
once a UN resolution which made the point that geographical problems
should not result in the exclusion of any communities. ‘I am sure that
by means of a process of communication, the TPN/OPM will be represented
in the dialogue.’
He said that all sides should understand that dialogue or peaceful struggle has been the agreed platform of the Papuan people
since the time of the IInd Papuan Congress when it was decided that
the Papuan struggle must be pursued by peaceful means and this means
prioritising dialogue.
‘What we should focus on is not war but dialogue or peaceful struggle,’ he said.
He said that he welcomed the network, the communications, the role of civil society and the good initiative taken by LIPI, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, to press for dialogue He also recognised that it will not be easy.
In the first place, there needs to be an internal Papuan dialogue,
which should include all Papuans, including those who are in the
forssts, those who are living abroad or wherever they may be, for they
are all entitled to have their say regarding the question of dialogue.
Secondly, for all those Papuans here in the Land of Papua, there’s
no need to consider what their background is because all Papuans have
the right to say what they think the dialogue should discuss.
In the third place, the JDP has entered into communication with
various groups at home as well as abroad in order to start preparing
for the dialogue process, and have agreed to a joint approach towards
the central government in Jakarta.
‘If we intend to move towards the process of dialogue, bridges will
need to be built even if this brings in voices of people who are in
favour or against, as all this must be part of the discussion. I am
convinced that the JDP is not in any way subordinated to the central
government; they are all leaders of civil society who are trying to
find a middle way. Dialogue with those everywhere in the world is
something that all of us should appreciate,’ he said.
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