Praying for peace: Deep Martin, a Polish priest, leads prayers during a peacemaking ritual between the leaders of two rival political groups — Usman Wanimbo and John Tabo — who are running in the regency election in Tolikara, Papua. JP/Nethy Dharma Somba
The arrow-breaking or patah panah ceremony is carried out by native Papuans to end a tribal war and make peace, especially by those living in the Pegunungan Tengah region in Papua.
If an arrow is broken, both warring parties have agreed to make peace and end a conflict. This ritual was carried out on Monday in Karubaga, Tolikara, to end the conflict between supporters of two rival candidates running in the Tolikara regency election — Usman Wanimbo and John Tabo.
The arrow-breaking ceremony was witnessed by thousands of supporters of both candidates, for the first time since the conflict raged from Feb. 14 to 18, when both warring camps sat together at the Merah Putih field in Karubaga.
Usman Wanimbo and John Tabo each broke an arrow to the applause of the crowd. Among those who attended the event were interim Tolikara Regent Alfons Sesa, Tolikara Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rahmat Siregar, local military commander Lt. Col. Evensius Tedy Danarto, Tolikara regency council deputy speaker Mesak Kogoya and other local officials.
Besides breaking the arrows, both sides exchanged pigs, which had been cooked in the traditional bakar batu (burned stone) way and eaten together. “If the other side refuses to eat the pig given to them, it means they don’t want to make peace yet,” said Dani Tinal, a guest.
The peace ceremony began with a prayer led by Christian missionary Deep Martin from Poland, who has lived in Karubaga for the past 50 years. Martin led the prayer in the Lani dialect. “I will use the local dialect to speak heart to heart,” he said.
He added that for the past 50 years since the gospel was preached in Karubaga, people’s lives had been peaceful, they had lived together in harmony. But the advent of politics had led to people fighting one other.
The current peace agreement is aimed at reviving peace among the communities and to support development in Tolikara. Interim Regent Alfons Sesa shed tears when both candidates Tabo and Wanimbo broke the arrows.
“Finally, peace has been achieved,” he said briefly. During the patah panah ceremony, the Tolikara regency administration handed over aid in the form of one ton of rice and Rp 150 million (US$17,600) in cash to each camp.
Besides the traditional ceremony, both parties also endorsed 12 agreement points, which included commitments to desist from waging war, committing murder or arson attacks. If any of the 12 points are breached, the consequence will be legal settlement.
With the end of the conflict in Tolikara, the administration will send a report to the governor and then to the home minister so that an instruction may be sent to the local General Elections Commission (KPUD) to set a timetable for the election. Both parties are hoping that the ballot can be carried out immediately so as to elect a definitive administration.
Correction
The Christian missionary referred to in our article on breaking arrows in Papua on this page on Wednesday should have been identifi ed as Martin Kondabaga. Martin hails from Canada, not from Poland as reported. The name Kondabaga was given to him by the local people of the Tolikara regency out of appreciation for his service as a preacher for the past 50 years. We apologize for the error.