Research on PETA history underway

BANDUNG (JP): Work is currently underway to write a book on the history of Pembela Tanah Air (PETA), the militia set up during the Japanese occupation in 1942, beginning with interviews of some of the remaining survivors and compilation of official documents and records.

On Tuesday, Gen. (ret.) Poniman, former defense and security minister who heads the book's drafting committee, presented a set of documents connected with the activities of PETA's battalion in nearby Cimahi to PETA Foundation which in turn handed it over to the National Archives.

The researchers still have a long way to go because the Cimahi Battalion is only the third out of 67 battalions to present documents and historical accounts of the militia.

The other two to have presented documents are the Blitar Battalion in East Java and Cilacap Battalion in Central Java.

Pembela Tanah Air, which means Defenders of the Fatherland, was one of several militias that were incorporated after the proclamation of independence in August 1945, to become the Badan Keamanan Rakyat (People's Security Agency). The agency later became the republic's military, now known as the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), which was established on Oct. 5, 1945.

The militias, most notably PETA, provided the young republic with a pool of army-trained and disciplined youths who were crucial during the resistance against the Dutch attempt to reimpose colonial rule after the World War II.

The executive chairman of PETA Foundation, Pamoe Rahardja, said on Tuesday that the historical research on PETA hopefully will correct the suggestions that PETA was established by the Japanese military during the occupation.

"That's not true," Pamoe said. "PETA was born out of the people who wanted to fight for freedom and independence. It's a big mistake to suggest that PETA was formed by the Japanese."

Poniman underlined that there was a huge mutiny within PETA against the Japanese rulers on a scale never previously seen in this territory. (pet)