Frans Kaisiepo: West Papuan have known and loved the red and white

Born on October 10^th, 1921, Frans Kaisiepo was born in a small town on Biak island in West Papua. As a child, Kaisiepo showed his intelligence very early on. He had his primary education at Sekolah Rakyat, and then went to LVVS Korido in 1931 until 1934. Kaisiepo then continued his education at Sekolah Guru Normalis in Manokwari, Bestuur Course as well as Bestuur School until 1954.

Frans Kaisiepo (10 October 1921 – 10 April 1979) was the fourth Governor of the Papua Province and a National Hero of Indonesia (Gelar Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia). As the representative of Papua, he was involved in the Malino Conference (16 – 25 July 1946), where the formation of the Republic of Indonesia was discussed. He proposed the name Irian, which came from the Biak language.

One of Kaisiepo famous statement:

“As parents and West Papuan I want to ask you all. Do you want to remain independent within the extended family of the Republic of Indonesia or not? I am sure that you have known and loved the red and white”. (Kaisiepo’s speech in Jayawijaya district, quoted by Salikin Soemowadjojo in the Determination of People’s Opinion – Pepera).

Quoted from Wikipedia:

In 1945, Kaisiepo met Sugoro Atmoprasodjo at the School of Civil Service. They quickly found common ground due to their shared support for Indonesian independence. Kaisiepo often held discreet meetings to discuss the annexation of Dutch New Guinea by the Republic of Indonesia.

In July 1946, Kaisiepo was the West New Guinean delegate and only Papuan native at the Malino Conference in South Sulawesi. As Speaker, he suggested the territory be called “Irian”, explaining the word means “steamy” in his native Biak.^[1] In the same month, the Freedom Party of Indonesia (Indonesian: Partai Indonesia Merdeka) was founded by Kaisiepo in Biak, with Lukas Rumkoren as the party’s elected leader.

In August 1947, Silas Papare led the raising of the Indonesian red and white flag to commemorate Indonesia’s Independence Day. This action resulted in the arrest of all participants by Dutch police. They were locked up for more than three months. During that time Kaisiepo and Johans Ariks took on Papare’s role. Ariks later learned of plans to integrate West Irian as a territory of Indonesia, instead of fostering its autonomy.

Kaisiepo was involved in a rebellion in Biak in March 1948, protesting against Dutch rule. In 1949, he rejected an appointment as delegate leader of Dutch New Guinea in the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference, since he felt the Dutch were attempting to dictate to him. Because of his resistance, he was imprisoned from 1954 to 1961.