W. Irian: biggest issue for Indonesian people today (Tribune, 10 Januari 1962)

Tribune (1962-01-10) - W. Irian biggest issue for Indonesian people today Source: Trove, National Library of Australia - https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236251613 Date retrieved: 2026-10-17 OCR text (uncorrected) follows. 10 Jan 1962 - W. Irian: biggest issue for Indonesian people today Tribune (Sydney, NSW: 1939 - 1991), Wednesday 10 January 1962, page 3 W. Irian: biggest issue for4 Indonesian people todayBy Mrs. Gloria Garton, National President of the Union of Aus- I tralian Women, who has just returned from a visit to Indonesia.;>The liberation of West Irian from Dutch colonialism is a matter of great importance to the vast masses of the Indonesian people and expresses their j deep desire to see the whole of their country andtheir people free and independent.COR the Dutch imperialists not only occupy West Irian but organise terrorist activities in other parts of Indonesia, as witness this week's attempt on the life of President Soekarno. Having just returned from a stay of 3&pound; weeks in Indonesia, when I met and spoke with people from many organisations and from all sections of the community in cities, towns and villages, I can say_ with certainty: The question of their national independence and, in particular, the liberation of West Irian, is by far the biggest single issue to-day for the Indonesian people and! the one around which there is the | greatest possible unity.; I went to Indonesia, as the rep-! resentative of the Women's Inter-! national Democratic Federation and! the Union of Australian Women, to J attend the 4th Congress of the In-; donesian Women's Movement "Ger-; wani" held in Djakarta from De- < cember 14 to 17. ' From December - 20 until early; January, together with other for-; eign delegates to the Congress, I; was able to visit all the main cities ' in West, Central and East Java, as well as visiting many smaller towns! and villages.Meetings in townsDuring this tour of Java we spoke at very many meetings, from small village meetings to meetings up to 2000 or more, in cities like Sema-rang and Jogjakarta, in Central Java. All these meetings were representative, not only of the membership of Gerwani, but also of almost all other women's organisations, trade unions, peasant < organisations, peace and youth, organisations and many others. In addition, we had the opportunity of meeting personally and having discussions with many Government officials and representatives of organisations in the various centres. It was obvious from the beginning, at the Gerwimi Congress itself, and was confirmed by new experiences each day, that the question uppermost in the minds Of the people is the struggle for West Irian. This is despite the many very pressing problems, economic and otherwise, which confront the Indonesian people in their efforts to build up a free and independent Indonesia after more than 350 years of Dutch colonial rule and several years of Japanese occupation during World War II.The Indonesian people and their Government do not want to go to war over West Irian and they say they will only do so if all other means fail. Like the peopie of all countries, they want peace and security &mdash; and they need peace in order to carry out their many plans for the reconstruction of their country. However, they are not prepared to sit back indefinitely and allow the Dutch imperialists to continue to occupy West Irian. The Indonesian people and their government have already exercised great patience in this matter. The leaders of a few imperialist countries, including the Menzies Government, have for years said that the Indonesian- Government should negotiate with the Dutch for a settlement of the West Irian question but, throughout these negotiations, the various promises made by the Dutch colonialists have been broken. Today, the Indonesian people still have not a satisfactory solution of the problem that faced them 16 years ago when they first declared their independence.Years in Dutch gaolsHence their insistence that West Irian must be returned to Indonesia and their statements that they are even prepared to resort to military action if all other avenues fail. The Indonesian people feel that their struggle for national independence has not been completed while the Dutch remain in control of West Irian and that Dutch occupation of this area also contributes a threat to the independence they have won after many years of struggle. Very many of them remember only too well the years that they themselves, or their relatives or friends, spent in Dutch prisons, and the many of their fellow countrymen who died in the struggle for national independence. Although I had known in general about the repressive measures carried out by the Dutch colonialists against the movement for Indonesian independence, I must confess to being staggered by the number of people I actually met, including many women, who had spent considerable periods in Dutch prisons for their part in the independence struggles of their people.It is no wonder that they feel so strongly about the question of the independence of this remaining part of their country. Everywhere I received expressions of the desire for greater friendship, co-operation, mutual trade and closer ties between the people of Indonesia and Australia. They are very conscious of the fact that we are their closest neighbors and they truly want to be friends and good neighbors. Wherever I went in Indonesia I was met with many questions and a great deal of criticism from the people for the attitude and the role of the Menzies Government regarding West Irian. But the Indonesian people also recognise the fact that the Menzies Government does not speak for the majority of the Australian people. They have not forgotten the assistance given to their struggle for independence by the Australian waterside workers and others in 1945 and they believe that, today, they still have the sympathy and support of wide sections of Australian working people and other J progressive people of our country.