Delha Affair
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| Delha Affair | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | May–July 1960 | ||
| Location | Rote Ndao Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia | ||
| Caused by | Dispute over taxation between villagers and the government | ||
| Goals | Decrease taxation of villagers | ||
| Methods | Demonstrations and Riots | ||
| Resulted in | Multiple deaths and ~59 houses destroyed | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Lead figures | |||
Various officials Matheos Petrus | |||
| Number | |||
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| Casualties and losses | |||
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| Casualties | |||
| Buildings destroyed | ~59 | ||
The Delha Affair, sometimes known as the Nusak Delha Affair,[1] was a civil conflict and dispute that led to an uprising in May 1960 in Rote Ndao Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The cause of the conflict was a dispute about the amount of taxation owed by villagers to the government. The villagers — led by ex-army officer Matheos Petrus — argued for a lower taxation rate. The matter escalated further when the Indonesian National Party (PNI) became involved and supported the cause of the villagers, resulting in a demonstration against the governor of the province during his visit. Later, the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) also became involved and supported Matheos' cause in return of being allowed to establish a branch in the village. It culminated in a clash between local officials escorted by police that visited the village attacked and the villagers, resulting in the deaths of two police officers and two villagers. At the end, fearing reprisals from police, the villagers scorched down their village causing brief waves of refugees to neighbouring villages. While some officials accused PKI as the cause of the conflict, it was later found that PKI's involvement was minimal.
The term Nusak traditionally referred to small autonomous polities within the island of Rote usually consisted of villages. These polities acted as small kingdoms led by a king called Manek.[1] There are 19 traditional Nusak within the island.[2][3][4] Since the arrival of Europeans to the region, there have been several wars and rebellions by these Nusaks primarily against the Dutch government such as by Nusak Ndao in 1575, Nusak Bilba in 1576, Nusak Dengka in 1660, and Nusak Thie in 1746, among others.[5] Within the 20th century, there were also several more recent uprisings by Nusaks that were mainly driven by wider anti-taxation movement within the Lesser Sunda Islands region such as in 1932.[6]:77 For a while in the aftermath of post-independence era, there was no anti-taxation movement that could be compared to past movements until the Nusak Delha Affair in 1960, which argued for lower taxation.[6]:77-78