Monument of Mandala

MOMUNEN of Mandala is the tower building in the center of Makassar City. There are dioramas and relief of West Irian (Papua) redemption. Visitors can also see the expanse of Makassar from the height.

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HISTORY OF TRIKORA OPERATION

Mandala was the name of the troops led by Major General Soeharto in a operation called Trikora Operation. This was a confrontation against the Dutch in Papua. The Government of Indonesia call Operation of West Irian Liberation.

After independent from Dutch colonial in 1945, the founder of the Indonesian stated that West Papua (East Papua is Papua New Guinea) is part of Indonesia. However, the large island is still under dominance of the Netherlands and prepared to be sovereign country in 1974.

Sukarno (the first president) stated that the sovereign country of West Papua was a Netherlands strategy (or western countries) to continue to drive imperialism after total failure of colonialism in archipelago. State of West Papua is considered as a puppet country and would be shaded an independence of Indonesia.

On December 19, 1961, President Sukarno announced the implementation of Trikora Operation. The aim was to baffle establishment of West Papua State and integrate it into Indonesia. Sukarno established Mandala Command led by Soeharto. This command duty was to execute armed confrontation against the Netherlands.

Makassar is selected by Soeharto as a base of his troops. A confrontation passed off two years. In 1963, after some fierce battles, Indonesia and the Netherlands made negotiations in New York. Insistence on the United States, the Netherlands recognizes that West Papua is part of Indonesia.(*)