By : Alfred Jigibalom )*
The government has a firm commitment to release Susi Air Pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens who is still being held hostage by the Papua Separatist and Terrorist Group (KST). Not only that, the government is also trying to eradicate KST so that peace in Papua will return.
The Susi Air plane was burned and the pilot was kidnapped by KST. This tense incident occurred in Nduga Regency, Papua several months ago. President Jokowi also ensured that the Government has a firm commitment to release Pilot Susi Air who is currently still being held hostage. One such effort is to negotiate.
The government does not want to carry out a scorched earth operation, but seeks dialogue to save it. It is hoped that in this way the pilot will be released soon. The government does not want to act rashly and resort to violence in the rescue mission for Capt. Phillips.
Currently the pilot’s rescue strategy is dialogue, so that it can be resolved properly without any casualties from both sides. Offers of assistance from abroad were also politely rejected because the government and security forces could handle it on their own.
TNI Commander Admiral Yudo Margono opened his voice about the KST led by Egianus Kogoya who made threats to shoot Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens. He still prioritizes negotiations to release captain Philip.
Admiral Yudo continued, he did not want gun violence. The reason is that it will have an impact on society. So that the path of religious leaders and community leaders will be taken to carry out the negotiations.
In a sense, the government involves religious leaders, traditional leaders, community leaders, and local government. Search technical and tactical measures have been taken. The government avoids armed contact so as not to have a negative impact on Papuans.
Meanwhile, Vice President KH Ma’ruf Amin ensured that the government would continue to try to rescue Susi Air pilot Philip Mark Martens who is currently being held hostage by KST in Papua. The operation (rescue) carried out must certainly be taken into account.
Let there be no victims. So there is no scorched earth system, maybe if it’s like that it’s easy. However, the Government continues to make efforts so that the hostages can be saved, but not causing many victims.
The Vice President added that rescue efforts by means of dialogue would take quite a bit longer. This is because the government continues to be careful and takes steps to negotiate and communicate, especially with local figures.
Figures in Papua, especially the church, traditional leaders, local champions have been contacted. The government involved them in operations in Papua. Like when KST kidnapped civilians a few years ago, the rescue strategy also involved church figures.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Papua Regional Police, Inspector General Mathius D. Fahiri, stated that the Papua Regional Police had made an approach to rescue the Susi Air pilot. According to him, there are community leaders and clergymen who are trying to help save the New Zealand citizen.
Mathius ensured that the Papuan Police would not back down in the face of KST. Together with the TNI, they worked hard to deal with the problems caused by the group. Mainly what the Egianus Kogoya group did in Paro. He firmly stated, human safety is the highest law.
The approach taken by Inspector General Mathius is very appropriate because it reflects from the previous case. Some time ago, the KST led by Egianus Kogoya had kidnapped Papuan workers and were finally released, with the approach of community leaders and religious leaders. Currently, apart from the deployment of security forces, community leaders can also be sent to approach Egianus Kogoya to free the victims.
Religious leaders and community leaders are expected to help eradicate KST, because they are good citizens and nationalists. With its influence, KST will soften and then release the hostage passengers. Especially if these characters still have the same surname or are closely related, and their seduction will be easier to get KST to stop their atrocities.
With the influence of Papuan leaders, KST will soften and then release the hostage pilot. Especially if these characters still have the same surname or are closely related, and their seduction will be easier to get KST to stop their atrocities.
Even though there is a ‘soft’ way to this approach, the rescue mission carried out by the joint TNI-Polri team and the Carstensz Peace Task Force is still being carried out to find the location of the KST while protecting the people of Papua.
Egianus Kogoya as the leader of KST must be responsible for releasing the victims including the pilot. So far there has been communication with his party and he stated that he would stop the hostage-taking, on the condition that Papua would be liberated. His request will never be granted because Papua is a legal part of Indonesia. Indigenous Papuans are very nationalistic and don’t want to be persuaded by KST.
The government seeks good dialogue and communication to release the Susi Air pilot who was held hostage by KST. The rescue mission with a familial approach aims for KST to free the hostages without any armed conflict. However, KST was still eradicated by members of the TNI and Polri so that no Papuans would become victims of their terror.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Bali