Intolerance, Papua Conflict Will Haunt Indonesia for Next 10 Years: LIPI

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher Cahyo Pamungkas opined that Indonesia would face two major problems in the next 10 years, viz. religious intolerance and separatism conflict in Papua.

“These political conflicts will haunt Indonesia for the next 10 years,” said Cahyo in a discussion on Conflict Resolution at the National and Regional Levels on Friday, October 30, 2020.

Cahyo said that intolerance, radicalism, and identity politics had threatened the principle of diversity and the spirit of nationalism.

Persecution and expatriation of the Rohingya, Cahyo added, reminded that Indonesia did similar action towards minority groups, such as the Shia and Ahmadiyah. “This is an example that the country fails to protect minorities,” he said.

Conflict in Papua is the longest in Indonesia, which is also one of the humanitarian crises that are rarely addressed. Cahyo said the cycle of political violence in Papua had been going on since 1965 and lingered after the reformation. He mentioned cases of human rights violations in Wasior, Wamena, and Paniai.

“This violence in Papua is why they want to separate from Indonesia. I think this strengthens Papuan nationalism,” he said.

Cahyo said that the government had used illiberal and liberal peace to overcome the Papua conflict by creating special autonomy up to deploying military (TNI) and police personnel. However, these measures failed to create peace.

Read: TNI Investigates Alleged Soldier Involvement in Death of Papuan Pastor

FRISKI RIANA