Alan Boyd, Sydney – Don't play with fire near gasoline, Theys Hiyo Eluay once warned Indonesia of its ruthless efforts to assimilate the 225 tribal groupings and hundreds of languages and dialects of Irian Jaya.
Linked by little more than their fraying Melanesian roots and an imported religion, Irian Jayans have a fierce communal allegiance that defies ethnic or cultural categorization. There is no binding system of government, whatever Jakarta or its nationalist rivals might say to the contrary. Village law prevails and tribal chiefs hold all of the political aces that matter. This is why the renegade province is unlikely to over-react to Eluay's violent death last week, even if allegations of a conspiracy by Indonesian security forces are substantiated.
Eluay was one of the few nationalists who managed to negotiate Irian Jaya's tribal maze and still plug the enigmatic theme of self-determination within a unified state. But he was, first and foremost, a leader of the Sentani tribe and that was how he was perceived by most Irian Jayans. True, he did have a high profile through his leadership of the Papuan Presidium Council (PPC), the most prominent pro-independence grouping. Yet this was also a burden, as it brought him into contact with the most hated symbols of Indonesia's jurisdiction over Irian Jaya. Few were surprised that Eluay's own nationalist allies, heavily divided on tribal lines and reportedly ambivalent over his accommodating approach to Jakarta, were rumored initially to have ordered his execution.
Like many of the PPC hierarchy, Eluay was a product of Indonesia's colonial patronage, benefiting from its schooling programs and gaining a position of trust with administrators while still in his 20s. He represented the province for more than three decades in Indonesia's national assembly and until his death remained a regular guest at military and government functions. Most significantly, Eluay was one of the 1,025 tribal chiefs who in 1969 were fatefully chosen to decide Irian Jaya's destiny in a ballot organized by the United Nations on behalf of the population of 800,000.
Though he would later renege on the decision, Eluay opted for integration with Indonesia, as did most of the other delegates, thus condemning Irian Jaya to decades of a bitter struggle for self-determination. Eluay argued for years afterward that he was intimidated. Nevertheless, the die was cast, and his part in these dark events has been a permanent stain on the PPC and its efforts to forge a common front against Jakarta.
Some nationalists were also upset at Eluay's indiscriminate choice of business pals, including a gaggle of black marketeers, smugglers and minor crime bosses. The PPC secured cash in return for lending its political clout, but also devalued its local and international standing. At least one financial ally, the paramilitary Pemuda Pancasila, is also known to have had links with former president Suharto, and is routinely hired by security agencies to forment riots that can be conveniently blamed on the PCC.
Jakarta, with some justification, cited the links as evidence that the pro-independence movement was in the hands of thugs and racketeers and did not deserve to be treated as a legitimate liberation organization. None of this would have bothered Eluay, a tough-skinned campaigner, who believed that pragmatism was an essential part of any activists' vocabulary. But it may well have cost him his life, and could deeply hurt his cause.
Tragically for Irian Jaya, there is no-one else with the charisma and grass-roots following to take his place, or to prevent the looming power struggle from playing squarely into Jakarta's hands. For Eluay did at least have unmatched access to the inner circles of Indonesia's power elite, which he was able to use to the benefit of both sides when it came to defusing periodic communal tensions.
But perhaps his biggest mistake was to allow these ties to dictate his political judgement in the vortex of constantly shifting allegiances in Jakarta. In a meeting with former president Adurrahman Wahid last year, Eluay was persuaded to host a regular series of PCC congresses that would act as a conduit for improving relations with Indonesia. Wahid promised a greater degree of autonomy and apparently gave a verbal assurance that Irian Jayans would no longer be prosecuted for flying their banned Morning Star flag, the most visible symbol of the independence campaign.
Portions of the security apparatus evidently didn't agree, as they clamped down as soon as the flags appeared, taking hundreds into custody and reportedly razing entire villages to the ground. Then, Eluay and his four closest lieutenants were arrested in June last year and charged with sedition for organizing the PCC congresses, which had quickly become a rallying point for independence calls. Discredited in Jakarta and encircled by hardline opponents of self-rule in the province, Wahid issued a denial that any deal had been brokered with the PCC. However, this only served to reinforce concern over Eluay's leadership within the Irian Jayan community, and left him isolated when he was in most need of influential friends.
The fire has now turned on its mentor, and there was little doubt as to who had supplied the gasoline.