Heroes of Indonesia's revolution

Heroes of Indonesia's revolution

JAKARTA (JP): Beginning today, The Jakarta Post will be
carrying a series of articles which the editors hope will help
readers put the momentous events surrounding Indonesia's
independence, proclaimed on Aug.17, 1945, in better perspective.

The vignettes of some of the main actors in the drama are
presented below by way of an introduction to the sequence, which
will extend into the next few days.

Sukarno: Friday, August 17, 1945. In most places in Indonesia
dawn seemed to promise a day like any other. Only two days
before, the Japanese empire had collapsed, its erstwhile might
withered in the scorching heat of the two atomic bombs that put
an end to World War II but few people in Indonesia were aware of
this sudden and dramatic turn of the war. Everywhere life was
going on as usual -- with a few exceptions.

To the observant, however, signs that the tide had turned
against Japan had been obvious for quite some time although the
Japanese military propaganda machine was still trying hard to
make it look as if everything was going just fine.

In Jakarta, where a nationalist underground consisting of
several youth groups had been diligently monitoring Allied radio
stations, Japan's surrender on Aug.15 was no secret. Impatient
with the cautious stance of the more senior leaders, Sukarno and
Mohammad Hatta, a group of youthful activists in the morning of
Aug.16 acted to "escort" the two top nationalist leaders Sukarno
and Mohammad Hatta to a hideout at Rengasdengklok, outside
Jakarta, and force them both into proclaiming the country's
independence without delay.

That morning of Aug.16 the Preparatory Committee for
Indonesia's Independence met in Jakarta to discuss the text of
the proclamation of independence which its chairman, Sukarno, was
to deliver. When it was discovered that the chairman could not be
found, news of the kidnap quickly and questions were asked.

One of the youth leaders present at the meeting disclosed
Sukarno's whereabouts. As Sukarno related the events to the
American biographer Cindy Adams, since it had become apparent to
the foolish young rebels that their plan was rashly conceived and
totally fruitless and nothing would happen without Sukarno's
presence, it was agreed to bring him back.

So, in a special meeting arranged -- of all places -- in the
house of the Japanese naval admiral Maeda, a draft proclamation
was drawn up. It was read out at exactly 10 a.m. on Aug.17, 1945
with only a handful of witnesses present. The text, however, was
(illicitly) broadcast throughout Indonesia and the world.

The actual words, as Sukarno says in his autobiography, were
scribbled on an torn piece of paper. "Somebody located a pad with
blue lines on it such as are in children's lesson books. I ripped
out a sheet and with my own hand wrote lengthwise across the blue
lines," he wrote.

"Nor did we search for a special quill steeped in tradition.
Who thought about such things? We didn't preserve the historic
plume which scrawled the immortal words. I know presidents of the
United States distribute pens with which they sign important
bills, but me, with a great moment of history staring me in the
face -- I don't even remember where the pen came from." Thus the
historic document was read out in front of Sukarno's home on Jl.
Pegangsaan Timur 56.

Early the following morning, says Sukarno further in his
autobiography, there was a meeting of leaders representing the
most important religious, social, tribal, economic and civic
groups in Indonesia.

"It was at this meeting that they elected me President by
acclamation. I don't even recall such details as who actually
proposed me. I remember only somebody uttering something
uninspirational like, 'Well, we're a state as of yesterday, and a
state needs a president. How about Sukarno?'"

"Having been elected to the highest office in the land, the
new President walked home," Sukarno further says. "On the street
I passed a sidewalk vendor selling barbequed bits of skewered
meat which is our favorite national dish. His Excellency the
President of the Republic of Indonesia hailed the barefoot,
bareback restaurateur and issued his first executive order:
'Please, make for me 50 sticks of chicken satai.' I squatted
right there in the gutter and in the muck and we ate them and
that was the whole celebration feast in my honor."
Hatta drew up the proclamation text

Hatta: Mohammad Hatta topped his long struggle for Indonesia's
independence by, among other things, helping draw up the text of
the proclamation of Indonesia's independence and co-signing that
most historical document together with Sukarno.

As Japan's end in the Asia-Pacific War approached, Hatta and
Sukarno, who were vice chairman and chairman of the Japanese-
formed Preparatory Committee for Indonesia's Independence,
respectively, were summoned to meet Marshal Terauchi, the
Japanese highest military authority for the Southeast Asia
region, in Dalat, about 300 kilometers north of Saigon. They left
Jakarta on Aug. 9, 1945.

In the meeting, Terauchi told them that Tokyo had decided to
grant Indonesia its independence, Hatta recalled in his memoir
Sekitar Proklamasi (Around the Proclamation). Sukarno asked the
Japanese commander if the Committee could announce the
proclamation around Aug. 25. "That's up to you," Terauchi was
quoted by Hatta as saying.

On the way to and from Saigon, they heard news that the Soviet
Union had declared war on Japan and had launched massive attacks
on Manchuria. They estimated that Japan's days were numbered.

On Hatta's return in Jakarta on Aug.14, Sutan Sjahrir was
waiting for him at his home. Hatta briefed him on the results of
the meeting with Terauchi but he was surprised to hear from
Sjahrir that Japan had asked for a peaceful settlement with the
Allies. Hatta did not believe that Japan's surrender would come
that swiftly.

The two then went to see Sukarno, who also said he did not
believe that Japan would give up so quickly. He promised Hatta to
find out the truth the following day. On the following morning,
August 15, Sukarno, Hatta and a friend visited a Japanese
military office and found only an officer there, which was highly
unusual. Then they went to the office of a Japanese officer, Navy
Admiral Maeda, and found him greatly distraught. They concluded
that what Sjahrir had said was true. Hatta proposed that the
Committee meet the following day, August 16, which was agreed
upon by Sukarno.

Early in the evening, Hatta found a group of youths led by
Sukarni waiting for him outside his house. They forced him to
come along with them in a sedan. Sukarno and his wife Fatmawati
and their infant son Guntur were also abducted by the youths and
taken to a house belonging to a PETA militia group in
Rengasdengklok. They told Hatta and Sukarno 15,000 youths would
enter the city by midday, disarm the Japanese and proclaim the
country's independence by themselves. The youths' "revolution",
however, never took place.

On their return in Jakarta they immediately called all the
Committee members together to draft the text of the proclamation
of independence. However, the Japanese authorities prohibited the
effort since the Japanese military in Java had been instructed to
maintain the status quo as of 1 p.m. that day, they said.
Nevertheless, the Committee went ahead, drafting the text of the
proclamation at Admiral Maeda's house.

Sukarno proposed that Hatta compose the text because, "I think
his language is the best". After the text was agreed upon, Hatta
proposed that all those who were present at the meeting put their
signatures on it, as it had happened with the U.S. text
proclamation of independence. Someone, however, proposed that
only Sukarno and Hatta sign it, which was agreed by the meeting.
The session ended at 3 a.m.

Sutan Sjahrir: Sjahrir, the socialist leader of the nationalist
movement who had gone underground during the Japanese occupation,
was initially deeply involved in the process that led up to the
proclamation of independence.

On August 14, 1945, Sjahrir, who had been informed by his
followers that the Japanese were about to surrender following the
bombing of Nagasaki, the second city hit by a nuclear bomb
dropped on Japan on August 9, suggested to Hatta that
independence be proclaimed immediately.

Sukarno and Hatta were unaware of those latest developments.
Hatta proposed to consult with Sukarno, which was agreed upon by
Sjahrir because both he and Hatta believed any proclamation of
the country's independence would be meaningless without Sukarno.

While Hatta met with Sukarno, Sjahrir rounded up his followers
of the nationalist youth movement. "I gave the instructions to my
friends in town to prepare for demonstrations or probably
fighting in case the Japanese tried to use power. The
proclamation of independence will be the signal to start the
demonstration. We have made the text of the proclamation and sent
it throughout Java to be printed and distributed on the same
day," Sjahrir recalled in his memoir Renungan dan Perjuangan
(Reflection and Struggle).

In the afternoon Hatta came to visit Sjahrir to inform him
that Sukarno was not convinced that Japan was about to surrender.
So Sjahrir, together with Hatta, went to Sukarno's house again to
convince him. Sukarno, recalled Sjahrir in his memoir, at last
agreed to proclaim independence the following day after 5 p.m.

On August 15, Sjahrir and his followers restlessly waited for
the proclamation.

"Disappointment mixed with anger and despair arose among our
followers" he added. In his memoir Sjahrir says it was too late
to inform his followers about the delay. Those in Cirebon read
the copy of Sjahrir's text of the proclamation and acted as
scheduled. They were arrested by the Japanese.

In anger and frustration, some of the militant youths then
took the initiative to kidnap Sukarno and Hatta in the evening of
the day and take them to Rengasdengklok to force them to proclaim
Indonesia's independence immediately.

Hatta and Sukarno believed Sjahrir was behind it. But Mrazek
argues that the group of kidnappers was not under his influence
although some of the kidnappers were his followers. When he was
informed of the kidnap plan, he spoke against it. But the youths
went ahead and informed Sjahrir of the kidnapping late that night
when the kidnapping was already in progress. At this point, he
"decided to go with the stream of events", said Mrazek.

After many efforts the Japanese officers and some Indonesian
leaders managed to persuade the youths to release Sukarno and
Hatta in the afternoon of August 16. Both were then taken to the
house of a top Japanese naval officer by the name of Admiral
Maeda.

Sukarno assembled several other members of the Preparatory
Committee for Indonesia's Independence, which was formed by the
Japanese, to draft a proclamation text in a meeting that lasted
from the evening till dawn. When the session was underway, said
Sjahrir, a delegation from the Committee was sent to ask him to
join the meeting but Sjahrir rejected the offer.

"Of course I could not accept it; we wanted a proclamation
that was revolutionary, while now the proclamation was being
drafted in a Japanese admiral's house. Our own text of the
proclamation was discussed that night but all the parts that
portrayed the Indonesian's struggle against the persecution and
exploitation by the Japanese were eliminated from the text as
composed by the Committee for Preparation for Independence ...,"
Sjahrir recalls in his memoir.

The following day, at 10 a.m., August 17, 1945, Sukarno read
the text of the proclamation as it was drawn up at Maeda's place.
A small gathering of people were present in front of Sukarno's
house. Sjahrir was absent. The text reads as follows:

"We the People of Indonesia hereby declare the Independence of
Indonesia. Matters concerning the transfer of power and other
matters will be executed in an orderly manner and in the shortest
possible time."

Sjahrir's draft of the proclamation remains unknown since no
copies have survived.

Sudiro: A personal secretary to Sukarno at the time Indonesia's
independence was proclaimed, Sudiro was instrumental in seeing to
it that business went as smoothly as was possible under the
circumstances and in making life a little easier for the chief
executive of the newly born Republic.

One day, Sudiro writes in his memoir, he and two young
activists of the independence movement, Latif Hendraningrat and
Dr. Muwardi, devised a scheme which they believed should be
carried out immediately, while the Japanese had lost their morale
and the Allied forces had not arrived. The plan involved
launching a surprise attack and occupying the palace on what is
now Jl. Merdeka Utara.

Although Indonesia had become independent, nothing appeared to
have changed in Jakarta except for the fact that those who had
the courage were flying the national flag day and night.

"Our thinking was that if we could manage to install Sukarno
and Hatta in the building that for so many decades has been the
residence of the Dutch governors general and which has for three-
and-a-half years served as the home of the Japanese military
commander, the people would truly realize that we have become a
free nation," Sudiro says. "We did not mention it to Bung Karno
(Sukarno) because we thought he would not agree allow it. "So the
three went to Hatta to tell him about the plan but they were
scolded with the words: "Have you all gone crazy?"

"We went home dejectedly but we promised ourselves next time
not to be too quick to ask for permission to do something we
believe is right," Sudiro says. A few days later Sudiro put his
new philosophy into practice.

Cars were a luxury in Jakarta during the war and the finest
car in the city was owned by the head of the Department of
Transportation. It was a shining black seven-seat Buick and in
excellent condition. It was parked every day in a garage at the
back of the man's office.

After having befriended the driver, Sudiro offered the driver
of the car Rp 300 in cash -- quite a considerable sum at that
time -- and advised him to go back to his hometown Kebumen in
Central Java since the situation in Jakarta was getting
uncertain. Sudiro was given the key of the car and with the help
of an acquaintance who was a driver he drove the Buick to
Sukarno's house on Jl. Pegangsaan Timur 56.

He handed the car over the Sukarno with the words, "Here,
Bung. Here is a car that's fit for a President of the Republic of
Indonesia."

As Sudiro says, "Sukarno laughed. These are just a few
examples of how we were willing to do anything at all at that
time, as long as it was for the Republic."