The death of the Red and White Cooperative Manager Candidate during the Military Program is a Bad Portrait of Civilian Militarization

JAKARTA - The insistence that the basic military training program for prospective managers of the Red and White Village/Neighborhood Cooperative (KDKMP) and the Red and White Fishermen's Village (KNMP) be stopped continues to roll, following the deaths of three participants.

Nova Rahmadhani Sihotang, a candidate for the Red and White Kopdes manager, died while participating in training at the Language Center (Pusbahasa) of the Doctrine, Education, and Training Command of the Indonesian Air Force (Kodiklatau) in Jakarta, Tuesday (23/6/2026).

Nova became the third participant to die while participating in a similar program. Previously, the Ministry of Defense also confirmed that two prospective managers of KDKMP and KNMP died while participating in basic military training for reserve commandos.

Previously, the Ministry of Defense official revealed that a participant with the initials AM who attended education at the Dodikjur Rindam VI/Mulawarman Balikpapan Satdik experienced health problems on June 18 and died of heat stroke. Meanwhile, another participant with the initials YMT who attended education at the Puslatpur Kodiklatad Baturaja Satdik Satdik experienced a decline in health conditions on June 17 and was declared dead of cardiac arrest.

The fall of the victim who died while participating in the basic military training program has attracted public attention. Military observer Jaleswari Pramodhardhani questioned the policy of including 30,000 prospective managers of KDKMP and KNMP in basic military training.

"My big question is why these TNI friends, this military, enter civilian areas, civilian spaces? If it's for cooperation, why not hand it over to the civil society?" said Jaleswari, quoting Kompas.

Cooperative management, he said, should be fully handed over to civil society, given that the sector has specific management expertise.

In addition, the prospective manager of the cooperative also needs to be trained by civilians who understand cooperatives, not by the military. He emphasized that managing cooperatives and preparing human resources in them cannot be equated with marching in line. The entry of the military into the civilian space is also feared to trigger horizontal conflicts.

"The more soldiers enter public spaces, believe me, it is a conflict, the friction that exists in the field will be more massive," he said.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, assessed that the military training program for prospective managers of KDKMP and KNMP was problematic from the start. He assessed that military training was not in line with the requirements for the competence of cooperative managers who focus on managerial and business work.

Moreover, the case of the death of the two initial participants was only revealed to the public after a few days they were buried.

This tragedy, according to Usman, shows a bad portrait of the dangers of increasing militarism for civilians. Instead of providing a military program, the prospective managers of KDMKP and KNMP actually need training in business management skills, and dialogic communication.

The military's dominance in the civil sphere, including in the government, has never been a way out for improving government performance. The New Order provided an important lesson that civil space militarism led to the strengthening of authoritarian practices of human rights violations. When civil space militarism is strengthened, the victims are citizens.

"Requiring military training for 35 thousand civilian prospective cooperative managers is a fatal mistake that must be stopped immediately," said Usman.

"Moreover, the training portion emphasizes more on the physical and disciplined aspects of defending the country, rather than managerial training and defending the interests of the people," he added.

Implementing military training is a reflection of civilian militarization. Instilling a military culture into the structure of civil society will blur the clear line between the state's defense domain and civil affairs. This risks reviving the shadow of the New Order era's dual function.

For us, business management and the empowerment of the civil society economy are irrelevant to military-style training. Moreover, this is contrary to the principles of cooperatives. Mr. Indonesian Cooperative, Mohammad Hatta, and Law No. 25 of 1992 explicitly state that cooperative management is carried out democratically. The highest decision is made at the member meeting, not in the hierarchical command line system like the military.

Therefore, the government must immediately stop the militaristic approach in the management of village cooperatives. Stop this latsarmil now and give a portion of education that focuses purely on the managerial and business work of cooperatives that is humanistic to prospective managers.

"This is a tragedy and there must be an independent investigation into their deaths. Moreover, the Ministry of Defense claims that the two have undergone health checks which state that they are eligible to undergo the training," he said.