Is Indonesia a Nation State

Indonesia has a colonial history of over 400 years. But that doesn't mean Indonesia is immune to modern day colonialism. Or is it?

00:00 - 01:09: Intro
01:09 - 03:20: Dutch Go Home
03:20 - 07:40: Merdeka
07:40 - 10:35: Dutch New Guinea
10:35 - 14:29: Act of Free Choice?

Sources:
Pepijn Brandon (eds). De slavernij in Oost en West. Het Amsterdam-onderzoek
David van Reybrouck - Revolusi. Indonesië en het ontstaan van de moderne wereld
Piet Hagen Koloniale oorlogen in Indonesië: Vijf eeuwen verzet tegen vreemde overheersing
P.J. Drooglever Een daad van vrije keuze: de Papoea's van westelijk Nieuw-Guinea en de grenzen van het zelfbeschikkingsrecht 2005

Hi there, my name is Jochem Boodt. I make the show The Present Past, where I show how the present has been influenced by the past. History, but connected to the present and fun!

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[efanferdiantowibowo]

You forgot to mention, even tho West Papua "technically" were colonized by the dutch, they didnt actually do anything to that island. They just simply claimed it. Thats why papuan didnt share the same hate towards the dutch as the rest of Indonesian. In fact, most Papuan didnt really know that they were colonized as most of them lived in small tribes deep in jungle. Only some of them who lived in the coast met the dutch.

[thenasiudk]

I honestly kinda disappointed that you didn't include Timor Leste in this video, in 1975 we Indonesian literally just invaded them a second after Portuguese left, and guess what? US supported that invasion

[MugroofAmeen]

We have a saying here, "Indonesia always dissapoints. It dissapoints the optimists and the pessimists too." Our country never quite achieved massive economic growth like China or South Korea, but also at the same time, our country never fell apart like Yugoslavia or Congo did.

[ascentimber]

The thing about West Papua being in Indonesia was that it did not have to be that way. The borders of Indonesia, though largely following the Dutch East Indies', was actually decided by Indonesian nationalist figures whom the Japanese had gathered into a body to prepare Indonesian independence (the BPUPKI).

Meetings happened in the middle of 1945, and there were three main suggestions: the Dutch East Indies border, the Dutch East Indies border WITHOUT West Papua, or a Greater Indonesia encompassing even current-day Malaysia. While the exclusion of West Papua was considered, the vote for Indonesia encompassing the whole of the Dutch East Indies won out in the end.

From then on, Indonesia would not compromise on the issue, and even embarked on some expansionism in the 1960s, in the form of challenging the formation of Malaysia in the Malaysian Confrontation, and in 1970s, by annexing Timor Leste.

[fish_birb]

This is a really insightful video, which I would say a perfect continuation of the series! As an Indonesian myself, I do recognize all of these factors in how we ended up oppressing the people of West Papua instead of _actually_ liberating them from Dutch oppression.

The fact that you mentioned the ousting of Sukarno during Suharto's coup is I think the most prominent reason why we ended up oppressing the Papuans. Even though there is definitely a material interest in "liberating" Papua, Sukarno _did_ have legitimate interest in liberating everyone in the Indies from Dutch oppression, including West Papua. But after Suharto took power, him and his US cronies (especially Freeport-McMoran) definitely looked at the abundance of resources in the island and backed our country, under Orba rule, to annex Papua and do the "Act of Free Choice" referendum, and letting us to do all sorts of atrocities to the Papuans themselves till this day.

However, my biggest criticism for you here is that you also have to acknowledge that no one is free of biases. I am glad to see a Dutch talking more about their own country's oppression of other peoples, but unfortunately I find some of your anecdotes to sound like some sort of lukewarm apology for what the Dutch did to the Indies during their colonial rule by ignoring the power dynamic between the Indonesian revolutionaries and the Dutch while comparing their atrocities. Albeit I guess you've constantly pointed out how bad Dutch colonialism was in this video (as well as literally doing an entire video about it as a previous episode). I do recognize my own bias as an Indonesian to say this, but that's one thing to consider.

Anyways, really great video and I do really appreciate the fact that you mentioned the power dynamics of the Cold War as one major cause of the Dutch's relinquishing of their West Papua territory as well as our bloody US-backed anti-communist genocide during the formation of Suharto's rule. I also appreciate the fact that you also mentioned that we are starting to recognize our own faults and scaled back several Orba policies especially in West Papua, but I do think they're still not enough.

[whyblank]

As an indonesian

I think, one of the biggest reason indonesian public don't want to lose west papua is that they don't really understand. Most of indonesian don't really know the history of west papua. We just know that, "The dutch was trying to hold the territory papua. But in the end, indonesia got papua".

Other than that, many indonesian don't see themselves as colonizer but an anti-colonizer. Rather than thinking that they are colonizing papua, they think that they are preventing west papua from western imperialism a.k.a. Australia influence. They see themselves as a protector, so that the wealth of papua is not taken by western imperial. Btw, this is also the reason why some indonesian don't have a positive opinion on malaysia. They see malaysia as a sort of british puppet, so that British always have an influence on south east asia.

Personally i hope that west papua will stay as a part of indonesia. But i always annoyed everytime my fellow indonesian, with out knowing anything, see papuan separatism as a backwater people trying to get away from indonesia.

[namvu]

I feel like you glossed over _how_ Indonseia unified, so many racial components there that are missed out. It's easy to accomplish these goals when you work on eradicating cultures from your country.

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

Something you didn't mention regarding the revolution is the Dutch tried creating puppet states like Madura, East Indonesia, and Great Dayak to make it seem like the locals wanted the Dutch to stay (including a semi-military civil administration made up of indigenous as well as a pro-Dutch Chinese self-defense force). But of course, reality wasn't all it seemed, and this made the revolutionaries angrier.

And yup, the US propped up dictatorships around the world during the Cold War (pretty ironic considering we love to talk about freedom and liberties). It's why when the Argentine military junta they installed invaded the Falklands in 1982, they took a negotiator position and attempted shuttle diplomacy. But the Argentines refused peace, so the US prohibited arms sales to the junta and provided material support to the British. Reagan also tried for peace again with proposing Argentine-British joint rule in a midnight call once the UK was reaching Stanley, but Thatcher stood her ground.

[juanpisente]

Hi! Great video, just want to say a few to balance the perspectives out.
One of my close friend is the daughter of a cultural and political leader in Papua, I talked with her before writing this.

1. The Papuans fought with the Indonesians during the War of Independence. It was under a man named Frans Kaiseipo, who fun fact, become the face of the 20, 000 rupiah currency bill. Another is Silas Papare, both became National Hero of Indonesia.

2. The Dutch won the War of Independence. They destroyed the Indonesian Army. They left only due to economic and international pressure. Therefore, the Dutch have a major bargaining power, which results in them keeping Dutch New Guinea. There is actually a clause where the Dutch New Guinea status can be talked about in the future. This was later used by Soeharto as justification for the invasion as the Dutch also denies referendum.

3. When Indonesia invaded Dutch New Guinea under Trikora. Many Papuans fought with the Indonesians against the Dutch. Which includes Kaiseipo and Papare, again.

4. To say Indonesia wants to own Papua for its national gold reserves is kinda misleading as Grasberg Mine (the world's largest gold mine) is owned by the Americans via PT. Freeport. The Indonesian Government just reclaimed the mine in 2021. For years, Freeport becomes a symbol of Western exploitation in Indonesia but at the same time US' guarantee that the US will always support Soeharto's dictatorship.

5. The way General Soeharto's "sham referendum" works is that they do not fake the data unlike for example, Russia's annexation of Southern Ukraine. The data is real. What they did, however, is to give the tribal chiefs, lots of gifts "as a symbol of Indonesian prosperity." So the tribal chiefs (who have lots of sway in the villages and regions) convinced the people to vote for Indonesia. So you can say, they kinda do it on their own free will. Kinda. Debatable.

5. Today, majority of Papuans supported being part of Indonesia, especially during the current Jokowi government. As there is a lot of development happening. The PON (which is like a Indonesian national Olympics event for the provinces) was also held in Papua, which many Papuans saw as symbol of Papua's pride as part of Indonesia.

My friend's family, for example, believes that an independent Papua or a Papua united with Papua New Guinea, is a nightmare scenario because of how corrupt the current local government (check Governor Lukas Enembe's corruption case) and how chaotic the Papua New Guinean politics (check Bougainville Civil War). I know this is very much against the American concept of "freedom or death." But in Eastern cultures, I found out that they prioritize stability and prosperity over freedoms, even if that meant, throwing away independence. We have to respect what they wanted.

To say whether Indonesia is a nation state. Hmm.... It surely is interesting. Because although the Indonesians have different ethnicities, their 1928 Youth Pledge (Sumpah Pemuda) says that they are one nation. Not one country. Which means, they consider everyone to be part of the "Indonesian ethnicity." However, it is worth mentioning that it is true that in the BPUPKI (Founding Fathers of Indonesia), where they declared the foundations of Indonesia, delegations from all regions came to discuss EXCEPT for the Papuans. However, one could argue that Frans Kaiseipo and Silas Papare's fight for Papua to be part of Indonesia and how both is now an Indonesian national hero, is already considered as a founding father.

[andrewlee]

Fantastic video! It sums up the situation in a really understandable way. Though I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about Timor Leste when discussing Indonesia's dark past. As an Indonesian, I am greatful that this issue is being presented from a non-biased point of view.

[reginaldevan]

I rarely post comments but thanks for making this! As an Indonesian, we often presented by a very simplified version of our history which is sad. I felt like the nation itself has a rich history that people of the nation should be more aware of. Some ideas which might be interesting to be covered is the pre-colonialism era where there are a lot of Kingdoms within the geographical border of the nation!

[reinaldoa]

You missed Freeport. The Indonesian government never controlled the mine or profited from it. The reason why there were so many military operations in West Papua at that time was because Soeharto was acting as the company's personal guard dog. It's only recently that their contract was renewed in favor of the government. Even that contract is questionable.

Note: to be honest I'm quite curious about what the region would be if it remained under the dutch. Not that what they did wasn't horrible but compared to the Spanish it looked like nothing. The Filipinos lost most of their culture, I can't quite distinguish them from any of the Southeast Asian nations other than being very much "westernized"

[zhdllm]

To answer the question raised by your video: No, Papua integration into Indonesia is not new colonialism. Soeharto did some atrocities not only to Papuan, but also to other ethnics in Indonesia, in keeping the country 'stable'. So, nit-picking the regime on Papuan only is kind of misleading.
Being a nation is a continuing process. I found that there is a progress regarding representation, autonomy, and governance in Papua - as well as in other regions. That progress somehow missing in this video, unfortunately.

[hanflax]

Malay language? what unites Indonesia is colonialism and youth. you should at least read briefly about the youth oath which was attended by various youths throughout Indonesia or 'sumpah pemuda' on 28 October 1928, which stated the agreement on unity as a new nation and confirmed the language (which was chosen from among the many existing languages). and from that resulted a nation and a mutually agreed declaration of independence

[JongeKroost]

Nice vid. It's cool to hear about the complicated context of my family history. My mostly Dutch grandfather was born on Sumatra and later moved to west Papua with my Dutch grandmother to teach in the local schools. Come to think of it my step grandfather is a Papua.

Never really realised it was weird that my white dutch family never eats potatoes or things like snert and almost always eats Indonesian food.

Bit of a rambly comment but it's funny to think my family was present for most if not all of the events he mentioned.

[lrhwdqt]

Love the explanation about "how this nation, that ain't supposed to be a nation, yet become a nation"???
addition : I think you should explain also about others separatism fueled by religious extremism (Aceh, DI/TII), pro Netherlands folks (South Maluku), and US backed Permesta rebelion

[SonyThamrin]

The Indonesian government has done many things to develop Papua Province. They also took over shares in the Freeport (US) gold mine, and the money was given to the local Papuan government.

The Indonesian goverment have provided autonomy funds amounting to 65 billion US dollars (2002-2022). Building the 4, 600 km Trans Papua road. Build many seaports and airports. Build a food estate. Build schools and health facilities to the villages. Provided scholarships to 1, 051 students.

That's why most Papuans live happily and peacefully. And only a small part of the Papuans in the Central Highlands rebelled and wanted independence. Those who rebelled received support from foreign countries and embittered people living abroad.

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

The Dutch first stated their intentions of not handing over West Papua at the same time as the rest of the colony during the Denpasar Conference in 1946 when they created the independent State of East Indonesia (as a counter to the revolutionaries; the intention was for Papua to join this state, but it never happened). Originally, they WERE going to hand it over as part of forming the United States of Indonesia which both sides agreed to during the Linggadjati Agreement (where they also recognized revolutionary sovereignty over Java, Sumatra, and Madura). However, due to pressure from Catholic missionaries, the Dutch decided to interpret this agreement differently and form this East Indonesia state which included Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda, and Moluccas.

[matoy_man]

My grandfather was a chinese refugee, born in Sorong, Papua. When I asked him if the dutch were cruel to him, he claimed that life under dutch rule was much more favorable. Unlike his time when he transmigrated to java island where he faced racial discrimination, which prevented him from going to universities.

[chvhndrtntlr]

the problem with Indonesian Papua is the problem about neglection, corruption, and human rights violation. I won't say it's the same magnitude with colonialism, because if you said Indonesia become a colonist country that invade Papua, how about US, UK, Dutch, French themselves? they still have have their land that they gain when they start colonizing the world.

and the reason why Indonesia still keep papuan land is the same reason why US still keep puerto rico, French with their overseas territory in polynesia-northamerica-africa-caribean, UK with scottland- falkland island- northern Ireland, dutch with aruba-curacao-san marteen-bonaire...

one dictator sin doesn't translate into a whole nation sin.

true we must acknowledged Indonesia government once doing nasty things to papuan, but I hope many people can get blind who the one that supply their weapons and backed up soeharto in international stage do justified his action? it's CIA it's the US and also a part of collaboration with UK

and now who do you think that supply and give the papuan separatist funding? it's also them....they want so bad papua fall into their hands.

if papuan really not part of Indonesia, Indonesia government have track record to give Independence to their former province "timor leste" why should west afraid of?

I once more, if you international viewers can see it thoroughly, why this recurring topic become trending topic right now? why not when soeharto still in reign, why not when he got dethroned? for all the time they have they choose right now when Indonesia government fully responded to their mistake to papuan, already invested so much money build megastructure and improving development index there?

did you know what separatist group in Papua do? they attack road workers when they try to built papuan infrastructure, it seems that this separatist group that want papua Independence so bad don't want their own people flourish and shaping their own fate out form any external force