Delhi conference vital to Indonesia (2)

Delhi conference vital to Indonesia (2)

By Jai Singh Yadav

This is the second of two articles describing the critical
role of a conference in New Delhi in consolidating international
support for the newly formed Republic of Indonesia in the 1940s.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The mood of the New Delhi Conference can best
be gauged in Nehru's own words at the opening session: "We meet
today because the freedom of a sister country of ours has been
imperiled and the dying colonialism of a past age has raised its
head again and challenged all the forces that are struggling to
build up a new structure of the world ... The United Nations
Organization, a symbol of the one world that has become the ideal
of men of thought and goodwill, has been flouted and its
expressed will set at nought ... Asia, too long submissive and
dependent and a play-thing of other countries, will no longer
brook any interference with her freedom."

Even at the risk of elaborating on the details of the
conference in this brief overview, it is worthwhile recalling
Nehru's description of the Dutch military offensive, which all of
the participating countries unanimously condemned. Nehru said,
"Even the dulled and the jaded conscience of the world reacted to
this with shock and amazement ... Any person who is acquainted
with the spirit of the Indonesian people, or of Asia today, knows
that this attempt to suppress Indonesian nationalism and the deep
urge for freedom of the Indonesian people must fail ... there can
be and will be no surrender to aggression and no acceptance of
reimposition of colonial control."

It is important also to note that the main resolution
unanimously adopted by the conference was in accordance with the
request made by Sukarno and Hatta to Nehru from their confinement
in Bangka. This resolution, among others, recommended to the
Security Council: immediate release of Indonesia's government,
other leaders and all political prisoners; restoration of the
Indonesian government within the residency of Yogyakarta; return
of all territories by March 15, 1949; immediate withdrawal of
Dutch troops from all areas, and full powers including control
over the armed forces for the interim government. The resolution
also demanded the completion of elections for a Constituent
Assembly by Oct. 1, 1949 and the complete transfer of sovereignty
to Indonesia by Jan. 1, 1950.

The pressure on the Security Council to act immediately is
evident from the fact that just five days after the New Delhi
Conference, the Security Council adopted a resolution on Jan. 28,
1949, along similar lines to the Conference resolution, except
that it set July 1, 1950, as the last date for complete transfer
of sovereignty.

The subsequent events, even the last ditch effort of the Dutch
to drag its feet, the Second Security Council Resolution of March
23, 1949, the negotiations at the Hague Round Table Conference on
Nov. 4, 1949, are all too elaborate to be recapitulated in this
context. Suffice it so say, all is well that ends well. Just four
days in advance of the deadline recommended by the New Delhi
Conference, prime minister designate Mohammad Hatta received the
instruments of transfer of the Netherlands sovereignty to the new
state of Indonesia. This came from the hands of the Netherlands
Queen on Dec. 27, 1949. The republic was inaugurated on the
morning of Jan. 1, 1950, and the Red and White flag went up,
after the lowering of the Dutch flag.

One thing that should not be lost sight of in this connection
is the fact that thanks to the New Delhi Conference, the attitude
of the West, particularly the United States, had completely
changed. The West finally recognized the urgency of settling the
Indonesian problem. But for the pressure and influence of the
United States over Netherlands, the latter would not have found
it easy for a change of mind.

The writer is a Visiting Associate Professor at the Faculty of
Letters, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.

Window: Thanks to the New Delhi Conference, the attitude of the west,
particularly the United States, had completely changed.