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Jokowi asks people to ‘forgive each other’ following anger over racism against Papuans
“We will not accept our children being called ‘monkeys’,” a Papuan woman tells a crowd of protesters.
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Protesters take to the street to face off with police in Manokwari, Papua, on Monday. (AFP/Str)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is calling on all Indonesians to remain calm and “forgive each other” following a wave of protests over racist abuse against Papuan students swept across several cities in Indonesia’s easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua on Monday.
“Fellow citizens, pace [brothers], mace [sisters] and mama-mama [mothers] in Papua and West Papua, I know that there are some grievances. As fellow citizens, it is important to forgive each other,” said Jokowi at Merdeka Palace on Monday, addressing the Papuans in the local dialect. “It is better to forgive and be patient.”
Jokowi, who has visited Papua more times than any previous president, said the government would continue to maintain the “dignity and prosperity of pace, mace and mama-mama” in Papua and West Papua.
The President refused to comment, however, on calls to investigate the racist abuse that sparked the protest.
On Monday, thousands in Papua and West Papua rallied to protest racist remarks and violence against 43 Papuan students who live in a dorm in Surabaya on Friday and Saturday. The attack on the dorm was triggered by an accusation that the students had damaged an Indonesian flag the day before Indonesia’s independence celebrations on Saturday.
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said he “regretted the abuse of the Indonesian flag” that led to “negative comments” triggering the protests in Papua. He also called on residents not to be provoked by “fake news and hoaxes” about the incidents.
Meanwhile, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parwansa called Papua Governor Lukas Enembe on Monday to apologize for the incident at the Surabaya dormitory on Friday.
