By: Timothy Gobay) *
KKB and OPM are 2 disturbing organizations that destroy peace in Papua. Their desire to separate Bumi Cendrawasih from Indonesia caused a lot of chaos, even causing casualties from civilians. KKB even dared to challenge TNI and Polri to open war, showing their arrogance.
Papua is a region that is blessed with natural beauty, from verdant mountains to clean seas. But unfortunately this beauty has the potential to be damaged by the separatist groups, namely the OPM and KKB. Armed criminal groups as OPM affiliates always confuse Papua and terrorize the community so that they will be invited to rebel.
Apart from provoking the community, the KKB was also arrogant by challenging the TNI and Polri to open war. That challenge was embodied in the leaflets circulated around Intan Jaya, by the KKB, as propaganda for Papuan civilians. Papua Police Deputy Chief Brigadier General Matius Fakhiri emphasized that the TNI and Polri are not afraid of their challenges.
It’s just that Brigadier General Matius is worried that there will be victims from Papuan civilians, if later there really is an open war. In addition, if later there is a firm and measured action against the KKB, do not let the press twist the news and become politicized. In that sense, he chose to be more careful and not to be bullied by the KKB.
Brigadier General Matius added, Intan Jaya is indeed a prone area and several times the KKB has been caught messing up there. Therefore, he will increase the number of personnel there, just in case. Additional officers are also needed, so that a sense of security is created in the hearts of civil society.
The community is not afraid of the KKB threat, because they are confident in the capabilities of members of the Police and the TNI. KKB does have illegal firearms and can operate them, but for strategic matters it is still inferior to the authorities. So it is predicted that if an open war actually happens, the KKB will lose and suffer shame.
The KKB has always carried out propaganda, the goal is that people would be invited to join the separatist movement. They spread various propaganda, ranging from calls for open war, to the issue of SARA. Propaganda about SARA contains hoaxes that the Indonesian government will eradicate the melanesian race. Of course this is wrong and is not believed by the community.
The community always believes and is loyal to the Republic of Indonesia because they have been repeatedly hurt by KKB. Apart from making propaganda, these separatist groups often act recklessly. They once shot at workers at Intan Jaya, burned planes, to the point of killing civilians. The reason is that the residents are undercover officers, but they are not.
Eradicating KKB is a priority, because in addition to frequent violence, they also have the heart to take away the freedom of youth. Of the KKB members, there are ABG dropouts who are recruited to become new shooters, with the lure of firearms. So that their future is bleak because they are invited to guerrilla, even though they should have studied at school.
Many people long for peace in Papua, not only civilians who are there, but also those who live in other areas. KKB is a disruptive group, and OPM is actually hated by the community. The idea of liberating oneself is very wrong, because the people of Cendrawasih Earth are very nationalistic and love the Republic of Indonesia. So they don’t want to be invited to fly the Morning Star flag.
The community hopes that the KKB will be dissolved soon, so that peace can be created in Papua. They are tired of being terrorized by this armed group, because there is a lot of chaos caused by it. A persuasive approach is no longer effective, because KKB hatred is deep-rooted. So that the eradication of the KKB in a spartan manner was carried out, so that they would give up and disband by themselves.
) * The author is a Papuan student living in Yogyakarta