December 19 In History: Soekarno Celebrated Trikora

JAKARTA - Exactly today, December 19, 1961, Soekarno launched the Tri Komando Rakyat (Trikora) in North Square, Yogyakarta. Bung Karno instigated Trikora to fuel the enthusiasm of the Indonesian people to reclaim West Irian.

The Indonesian number one mandated the failure of the formation of the puppet state of Papua made by the Netherlands, raising the Red and White in West Irian, and defending the integrity of the homeland.

"West Irian, which was then called Nederland-Nieuw-Guinea, became a Dutch colony since 1828. Indonesia itself became independent in 1945. However, the Netherlands only recognized Indonesia's sovereignty in 1949. Strangely enough, in recognition of this sovereignty, the Netherlands did not give up West Irian," said Agus Dermawan. T, in the book From the Hallways of the Presidential Palace (2019).

As is well known, the lack of goodwill from the Dutch in returning West Irian to Indonesia was the trigger for Bung Karno to choose to fight. Because, he is sure that West Irian is part of Indonesia.

As a result, Bung Karno's speech to Trikora was eagerly awaited by the Indonesian people in Yogyakarta. The Indonesian people at that time were seen flocking to the plaza in front of the Keraton, Yogyakarta. As for people outside the region, Bung Karno had prepared a radio transmitter so that all Indonesians could hear it.

"Now I ask my brothers and sisters, to the international community, why the Dutch made West Irian a puppet of Papua. The Dutch incited the people of West Irian to carry out a policy of dividing Indonesia's sovereignty by establishing the Papua State, raising the Papuan flag, creating the zoogenamde national anthem, "a piece of Trikora Soekarno's speech at that time.

Quoted by Maulwi Saelan, in the book From Revolusi 45 to Kudeta 66 (2001), the people's response to Soekarno's Trikora was extraordinary. As a result, thousands of people asked voluntarily to be sent to West Irian to fight on behalf of the Indonesian nation.

“However, in the end only about five hundred paratroopers (troop) were deployed there. This operation was immediately launched from Ambon by the Mandala Operations Unit under the leadership of Major General Soeharto and is just waiting for the command to be given by President Soekarno, "said Maulwi Saelan.

The fighters also succeeded in making the Red and White flag fly in West Irian. The red and white flag flies bravely after experiencing a series of battles with the Dutch on December 31, 1962.

Building monuments It was for all these struggles that Soekarno built two monuments to commemorate and maintain West Irian's joining with Indonesia.

Bung Karno also initiated a statue as a form of struggle for the liberation of the West Irian statue. The Statue of Liberation of West Irian (1963) was made by Yogyakarta artist, Edhi Sunarso. We once reviewed it in the article "Soekarno's Personal West Irian Liberation Monument for Soekarno". The other one was composed by Matvey Manizer to make a Hero Statue (1963).

Because he was attracted to Manizer's work, Bung Karno soon invited Manizer to Indonesia to seek inspiration. Manizer also came to Indonesia with his son, Otto, who would help him realize the Hero Statue.

Soekarno wanted a statue to keep Trikora's spirit up. Shortly thereafter, both of them used the West Javanese folklore about a mother who takes her child to fight on the battlefield as inspiration.

“Manizer and Otto were inspired by a folklore from West Java, which is a story about a mother who takes her child away to fight and provides her son with rice. They then made a statue of a hero in the form of Pak Farmer from bronze, ”said Firman Lubis in the book Jakarta 1950-1970 (2018).

Long story short, this statue was erected in Taman Menteng Prapatan and was inaugurated by Bung Karno in 1963. Since its establishment the Pak Tani Statue has attracted many criticisms. For example, in terms of body cuts and facial features, the two models of sculpture look more like Caucasians than Indonesians. Nevertheless, Firman Lubis, who has lived in Menteng since the 1950s, considers this to be normal, so that he looks more manly and can inspire.