West Irian Liberation Monument That Is Personal For Soekarno

West Irian Liberation Monument (Detha Arya Tifada / VOI)

JAKARTA - Soekarno had a big role in the construction of many monuments in Jakarta. One of them is the West Irian Liberation Monument. This monument was built based on Soekarno's idea. There is a deep meaning behind the shackles that fell on the statue's hands.

Standing tall and tall, the monument which stands in the Banteng Field area, Central Jakarta was built to commemorate the Tri Komando Rakyat (Trikora) fighters who managed to reclaim West Irian from the Netherlands to Mother Earth in 1962. The process of returning West Irian was known through a long struggle. .

"West Irian, which at that time was called Nederland-Nieuw-Guinea, became a Dutch colony since 1828. Indonesia itself became independent in 1945. However, the Dutch only recognized Indonesia's sovereignty in 1949. Strangely, 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).

This monument has a personal bond with Soekarno. After a long struggle to return West Irian to Indonesia, Soekarno never gave up. He then mandated Trikora in Yogyakarta on 19 December 1961.

"Now I ask the brothers, the international world. Why did the Dutch make 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.

Soekarno emphasized three things in his speech. First, thwart the formation of the Dutch colonial-made "Papua Puppet State". Second, fly the Red and White in West Irian, Indonesia's homeland. Third, prepare general mobilization in order to defend the independence and unity of the homeland and nation.

West Irian liberation monument (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

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 was flying proudly after experiencing a series of battles with the Dutch on December 31, 1962. It was for all these struggles that Soekarno built the West Irian Liberation Monument.

Establishment of monuments

To erect a statue of the West Irian Liberation Monument, Soekarno entrusted it to the Yogyakarta artist, Edhi Sunarso. As we have discussed in the article Welcome, Welcome Statue: When the Capital City Showcases Its Hospitality, Edhi is the person who drew the design of the Welcome Statue.

However, Soekarno did not meet Edhi directly. Soekarno first asked the painter - who eventually became the governor of Jakarta from 1964 to 1965 - Henk Nantung to sketch the sculpture. The sketching process is quite long. Soekarno, who really has artistic blood, continues to correct. Even the Son of the Dawn drew the shape of the monument himself. "You know, Henk!" Soekarno revised Henk's sketch.

West Irian Liberation Monument (Detha Arya Tifada / VOI)

Some time after that Henk submitted the picture to Edhi. Handing over, Henk 'kicked off' the table while saying, "You know, Ed!" Finally, it was the image of Soekarno that was built by Edhi.

From the initial description, the sketch shown to Edhi is in the form of a well-built man who is shirtless while screaming while raising his hands high in the air. On the arms of the statue were the chains of shackles that had just broken. The man's mouth was wide open as if shouting the word "independence."

Built in bronze material, the statue was planned to weigh eight tons, and reach eleven meters high. Unlike in making the Welcome Statue, this time Edhi has more mastery over what has become his task. "Indeed I built the monument statue. But the design came from Bung Karno himself," Edhi said.

"The buyer of the statue, Bung Karno, hopes that anyone who sees it will have an adrenaline rush, be triggered by a sense of nationalism, and be proud of the fighters of the country. And Edhi's ability to fulfill Putra Fajar's wishes is more complete with his ability to present personal and warm works, "wrote Pramono in his writing in Tempo Magazine entitled Sisi Feminin Edhi (2010).

In the end, the statue which showed a man so manly was inaugurated by Bung Karno on August 17, 1963. The statue shows a strong and hardened jaw with wrinkles on his face. So fiery and adapted to the context of the era. In the description of the statue, it is written:

This monument is to commemorate the Trikora warriors and the West Irian community who chose to become part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. Freed free from the shackles of Dutch colonialism, because the Dutch had defended the Irian territory since the Round Table Conference (1949) and the Dutch were stalling for time until Bung Karno formed Trikora. The word Irian stands for Join the Republic of Indonesia Anti-Netherlands.