Evening star., 1954-09-25
lndonesio's cose


sembly has been requested by the Re-
public Of Indonesia to place on it's
agenda the Dutch -Indonesian dispute
over the territory Of West New Guinea.
Since the Dutch point of view has been
widely publicized, I felt that perhaps
you would be interested in a fair pres
entation of the mdonesian side.
West New Guinea. known to Indo-
nesians as West Irian, for hundreds of
years was part Of the political grouping
called the Dutch East Indies. In 1945,
however, we Indonesians revolted
against the Dutch, who were obliged to
recognize our independence in 1949.
The Dutch, however. refused at the
time to evacuate West Irian. Rather
than continue q debilitating war, for
we were eager to begin building our
country. we accepted Dutch pledge
to settle the issue OF West Irian the
following year, 1850, at which time
friendly discussions were to be under
taken.
Unfortunately. by that time the
Dutch had determined to hold West
New Guinea by any means whatsoever.
BY spending 80 million guilders year
they proceeded to strengthen their
armed forces on the island and to
carry out severe repressive measures
against that part Of the population
which demonstrated for unity with the
rest of Indonesia.
Under the circumstances, the four
attempts made during the period from
1850 to 1854 to negotiate settlement
fo
few months ago, during the Hague Con-
ference, when the last tie between Hol-
land and Indonesia was dissolved, the
Netherlands refused to discuss the fate
of West Irian.
The government Of Indonesia con-
siders the Dutch refusal to discuss the
matter to be violation Of the present
agreement between Holland and In
donesia and also demonstration of
reactionary colonialiSm on the part of
Holland. Therefore, in line with civ
ilized and peaceful procedure, the In
donesian government decided to submit
of the United Nations.
West Irian has an area of approx
imately 10000 square miles, a bit
more than three times as large as the
State of New York. It's population is
about one million. or roughly seven to
a square mile. The area is almost
wholly undeveloped but is quite. rich
in petroleum and other mineral re-
sources. Most of it is covered with
semijungle and mountains, although
there are extensive fertile valleys and
some excellent natural harbors.
The people are still at a primitive
cultural level for the most part. Mainly
they are of the so-called Melanesian
type. related to the original populations
of many of the Indonesian islands
Dozens of languages are spoken, but
the ''lingua franca" throughout the
territory is Indonesian.
The population is still wholly illit-
crate, as was the population Of the
rest of Indonesia when under Dutch
control
The principal excuses given by the
Dutch for continued occupation of West
New Guinea are essentially three.
/. The Dutch are In a better posi-
ton to develop the area than Indo-
neSia is.
Indonesia has done more since it
achieved independence to educate and
train it's people than Holland did in
all the 800 years of it's rule over the
Dutch East Indies. More than 35 mil
lion Indonesians have been taught to
read and write since the Republic of
Indonesia declared its independence
whereas illiteracy under the Dutch
amounted to nearly 95 per cent.
2. The local dialects spoken by the
people of West New Guinea are not
Indonesian.
Indonesia's view: While it is true that
the local dialects spoken by most of
the inhabitants are not Indonesian
the fact remains that the only language
they do have in common is Indo-
nesian-Malay-and that most cer-
tainly they do not speak Dutch.
8. An effective defense against Com
munist penetration of Southeast Asia
requires the presence in West New
Guinea of Dutch forces.
Indonesia's view: The argument that
Dutch forces would defend West New
Guinea against Communist penetration
is aStutely calculated to obtain Ameri-
can backing for continued Dutch occu-
patton of the area, and, of course
American opposition to presentation
of the case before the United Nations
On the surface, it may appear logical.
However, q major lesson already
learned in Southwest Asia is that CO.
lonialism, far from assuring defense
against Communist penetration, is 9
sure invitation. Communist penetration
of Southeast Asia, where successful, ha:
been made precisely on the basis OF
nationalist and anti-colonialist slo-
gans. Continued Dutch occupation oi
Indonesian territory thus plays directly
into Communist hands, quite apart
from the obvious fact that such occu-
patton cannot be accepted by the SOW
ereign Republic of Indonesia. An indie.
pendent, united people, free of CO.
lonialisn and thus able to develop its
resources for its own benefit, is the best
possible defense against any form o1
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