A group of
18 professors from the country’s top universities released a statement Thursday
calling on the government to use dialogue instead of military force to address
problems in Papua.
The
so-called Academic Forum for a Peaceful Papua said separatism was not a
standalone problem in Papua and therefore deploying military troops would never
bring to an end the conflicts ravaging the region.
“Using guns
will never solve the problem because the issues are not only about separatism.
The complexity of the problems in Papua involve many other factors including
history, politics, economics, sociocultural issues and of course welfare.
Papua’s issues cannot be simplified to only separatism,” the group said in a
statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
To address
such a complex problems, the academics said, peaceful dialogue must be used.
“Only by using dialogue we can root out the problems in Papua and find the best
way to solve them,” they said.
The group
includes Padang State University’s Mestika Zed, Hasanuddin University’s Arfin
Hamid, Gajah Mada University’s Purwo Santoso, and University of Indonesia’s
Muridan S. Widjojo.
Last week,
a string of deadly events took place across Papua while thousands of Papuans
rallied to demand a referendum.
Clashes between
supporters of candidates for regent of newly Puncak regency claimed at least 21
lives followed by the killing of four people by gunfire and machetes in the
provincial capital of Jayapura.
The
Indonesian Military has, as always, blamed the violence partly on the Free
Papua Movement (OPM).
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