The Fighting Star - Independence and the Biak Massacre
Dan Kelly
14/08/2022
About
The Fighting Star Series is a serial reporting on the ongoing invasion and occupation of West Papua by Indonesian forces. The series covers and analyses reports from the National Liberation Army of West Papua, who are fighting to defend their homeland and liberate the working class people of West Papua.
The first report dates from the 1st of July, commemorating the Proclamation of Independence of the State of West Papua in 1971. This ongoing resistance struggle and revolutionary war waged by the West Papuan people against the forces of Indonesia is what this series covers. Much of the content presented here comes directly from West Papuans engaged in their national liberation struggle. We stand with them in solidarity.
"For only by fighting in defense of the motherland can we defeat the aggressors and achieve national liberation. And only by achieving national liberation will it be possible for the proletariat and other working people to achieve their own emancipation."
~ Mao Tse Tung - The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War 1938
Commemoration and Overview
The Central Headquarters of the National Liberation Army of West Papua commemorated the 51st Anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence of the State of West Papua earlier this month. Standing alongside the members of the KNPB, NGR and TPNPB-OPM were former Papuan political prisoners and their diplomatic comrades scattered across the globe.
These forces came together to commemorate the proclamation that took place on the 1st of July, 1971 in the Waris Region of Keerom, West Papua, the ancestral land of the Papuan people. This act was taken to reject the so-called ‘Act of Free Choice’ (PEPERA) of 1969, where the colonising government of Indonesia engineered an undemocratic process that utilised terror and intimidation to stage the ceding of West Papua’s independence.
Internationally, many diplomats from the TPNPB-OPM Diplomatic Agency also gathered to mark the event in the destinations where they are currently waging the struggle for solidarity and support to the West Papuan struggle. The head of the Agency, Mr. Akouboo Amatus Douw and the Coordinator of the Agency for Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Lewis Prai Welip, gathered in Brisbane to mark the date.
However, of greater significance was the ability of the TPNPB-OPM forces in occupied West Papua to congregate in their respective areas and commemorate this date in their revolutionary calendar.
Below are translated summaries of the report backs from these different forces.
TPNPB-OPM KODAP 8 INTAN JAYA
At Kalibuah Neria Place in Tembangapura, the troops under the command of Undius Kogeya successfully raised the Morning Star flag of the West Papuan people at 6:30am.
TPNPB-OPM KODAP XXXI Noukai Deiyai
At the Noukai Deyai, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) Regional Defense Command XXXI held a flag hoisting ceremony with the Morning Star flag. The ceremony was led by Regional Commander Brigadier General Jhon Badii, and Regional Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Aris E. Mote and Regional Chief of Staff Nouk.
The event was attended by all staff of Regional Defence Command XXXI, as well as Battalion Leaders, the Women’s Corps, soldiers and sympathisers from the area who spontaneously participated in the ceremony.
Brigadier General Jhon Badii reinforced the stance of Regional Defence Command XXXI in expressing support of the following points:
1. The Political Manifesto of the Declaration of Independence of the Papuan Nation made on December 1, 1961 has been officially completed to govern the State itself as a De facto and Dejure Independent and Sovereign nation through the Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of West Papua on July 1, 1971 in West Papua;
2. We declare to the world that all international agreements on the West Papua Dispute are ILLEGAL because the Papuan people have never been involved in any of these agreements, and that the existence of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is a Colonial State which annexes the West Papua Territory ILLEGALLY;
3. We Demand that the Netherlands, Indonesia and the United States are IMMEDIATELY responsible for the Political and Legal Dispute Cases of the West Papua Region;
4. We firmly reject the existence of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia on the land of West Papua and all programs imposed by that state on the West Papuan people, especially Special Autonomy Volume II and the expansion of new autonomous regions, namely the provinces and regencies in the West Papua region;
5. We call upon all sectors of the Papuan nation to immediately unite towards a Total Revolution throughout West Papua, to reclaim the right to Independence which was annexed by Indonesia, the United States of America, the Netherlands and the United Nations;
6. We call on the International Community as a Group and Personally to IMMEDIATELY Support the National Liberation War for the Papuan Nation which is being intensified by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) throughout the West Papua Region against the Colonial NKRI;
(7). The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) Regional Defense Command (KODAP) XXXI Noukai Deiyai and the Meepago Region TPNPB-OPM are not responsible for the shooting incident against civilians in the Deiyai Regency Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) Hall on 26 June 2022 because the Commander in Chief of the Region, Noukai Deiyai, has never issued an operation against colonial NKRI in the Deiyai Region as its operational area within Deiyai City or outside Deiyai City.
TPNPB KODAP XV Ngalum Kupel
Troops under the command of Brigadier General Lamek Alifki Taplo from the XV Defense Regional Command Panglima Kupel issued a statement that said the following.
We, the West Papua National Liberation Army, reject DOB (new autonomous regions) in all Papuan lands which have established three new provincial capital cities
Demand that people stop forming groups that appropriate our cause and our name, because we are true fighters who are fighting to liberate the West Papuan nation and we never play with our interests
The Commander of TPNPB KODAP XV Ngalum Kupel together with the officers and all the troops in the Ngalum Kupel tribe’s customary land decree that if we meet people who are intermediaries for the Bintang Mountains Regency Government, we will shoot them dead.
After this statement is announced, the troops of the TPNPB KODAP XV Ngalum Kupel will look for these people, wherever they are, as they are the ones who hinder the struggle for Papuan independence.
This is the statement of our command at the moment of the Celebration of the Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of West Papua on July 1, 2022, Thank you for your attention.
TPNPB KODAP Odiyai-Dogiyai
The West Papua National Liberation Army for Defense Area XI Odiyai-Deiyai issued a statement rejecting all development programs by the colonial government of the Republic of Indonesia throughout the Land of Papua, including Otsu Volume II and DOP, which attempt to illegally occupy lands of the Papuan people. Their statement can be found in the attached video.
TPNPB KODAP IV Sorong Maybrat
The commander of operations in this region, Brigadier General Denny Moss and Major Arnoldus Kocu, reported the announcement of a new battalion that has been issued 30 new weapons to counter the terrorist forces of the Indonesian state, the TNI/Polri. To commemorate Papua’s Independence Day on July the 1st, they have also declared war on all terrorist troops of the TNI/Polri that are found on Papuan land.
Diplomatic Body in Australia
The Chairman of the TPNPB-OPM Diplomatic Agency, Mr. Akouboo Amatus Douw, and the TPNPB-OPM Diplomatic Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Lewis Prai Welip, as well as TPNPB-OPM Legal Advisor in Australia, Mr. Julian King, have joined together with supporters of the West Papuan independence struggle in Australia. The occasion was marked in Brisbane, where the date was celebrated with the issuing of political statements and speeches that reaffirmed the West Papuan people’s right to independence. In this case, they stated that all Papuan Indigenous People together with supporters in the international community have shown solidarity by coming together to celebrate July 1 as the day of the Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of West Papua.
Summary by Dan Kelly
These reports give insight into the struggle of the West Papuan people for the liberation of their homeland from the oppression of the capitalist government of Indonesia. The fighters of the West Papuan National Liberation Army wage a struggle against the autocratic Indonesian state and the ravages capitalism subjects the West Papuan people to. In their ‘total revolutionary war’, the West Papuan forces are aware that their struggle is not just against those from Indonesia who represent the colonisation of West Papua for profit, but also those who collaborate with the forces of the Indonesian state in their campaign to colonise and exploit the land and people of West Papua.
In expressing our solidarity with the movement for a free West Papua that represents the workers, we provide voice to those engaged in the struggle against colonisation and exploitation. In Australia, we have a particular duty to challenge the complacency of both the domestic and the international community towards the illegal and ongoing invasion and occupation of West Papua. Our government trains and arms the forces of the Indonesian state, and our government and capitalist class directly profit from the invasion and exploitation of West Papua.
As Marxist-Leninists, we know how the shortcomings of international institutions that purport to protect the rights of nations and the oppressed. Symbolic actions from groups that are commanded imperialism will not sufficiently aid the West Papuan struggle. We know that for oppressed workers across the world, liberation and the struggle for freedom must be waged by the exploited working masses. They can rely on no one but themselves. And workers here in Australia, and all over the world, must stand alongside them in solidarity.
The right to self-determination is not a right that can be won by someone giving it to you. It is a fight that must be fought and won by wrangling it from the oppressor.
All power to our West Papuan comrades. We stand with you in solidarity. Let the Morning Star shine bright.