Jayapura – The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) Indonesian Consulate for the Makassar region has stated that the burning of the Morning Star (Bintang Kejora) flag by social or mass organisations (ormas) during a demonstration at the Makassar Metropolitan District Police (Polrestabes) in South Sulawesi was wrong.
This statement was conveyed by KNPB Makassar Indonesian Consulate spokesperson Jecky Richard Matuan in a written press release on Thursday December 18.
Earlier, a coalition of ormas comprising the Mandala Monument Militia, the Makassar Joint Forum (Forbes) and the United Indonesian Youth Alliance, held a demonstration in front of the Makassar Police Headquarters on Wednesday December 17.
During the action, the coalition burned the Morning Star flag. They stated that this was a rejection of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatist movement in South Sulawesi.
They asked security forces take firm action against treasonous acts committed by pro-OPM groups in South Sulawesi and rejected all groups supporting the OPM and other Papuan separatist movements.
"We believe that the actions of these ormas were very wrong, because they burned the Morning Star flag and banned actions expressing an opinion in public under the pretext of nationalism of the NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia]", said Matuan.
He said that several local media outlets in Makassar are currently influencing reports by creating a wild and negative narrative about the KNPB and its activities in Makassar area.
According to Matuan, the actions taken by the KNPB in Makassar are not criminal, but rather the KNPB's intention to encourage the people to increase local food production. They are teaching people not to depend on external food but rather to increase and preserve local food.
"Then on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, the ormas held a demonstration and burned the Morning Star flag in front of the Makassar Polrestabes. They banned a planned demonstration by Papuan students in Makassar on December 19, 2025, to commemorate Trikora [the Triple Commands of the People]", he said.
According to Matuan, at the same time, several ormas also held a demonstration in front of the Kamasan 4 Papuan student dormitory in Makassar. The demonstration lasted for around 10 minutes, after which they read out a statement and dispersed.
Matuan stated that it is important to understand that the right to express opinions in public is guaranteed by the Indonesian Constitution and Law Number 9/1998.
"Meaning that it is these ormas that have potential to undermine the nation, because they overly promote NKRI nationalism without understanding the NKRI constitution. They say one thing and do another", he said.
The Makassar regional KNPB also appealed to all of Indonesian society in general, and especially Makassar, saying that the KNPB is not a criminal group, the KNPB are the media of the Papuan people that works with urban civil society.
The KNPB's struggle is a peaceful, non-violent struggle, so don't be easily swayed by the narratives created by the media to paint the KNPB into a corner.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "KNPB Wilayah Makassar: Pembakaran Bintang Kejora Oleh Ormas Adalah Tindakan Keliru".]
