West Java DPRD Submits Recommendation for Study on 'Tatar Sunda' Name Change to Provincial Government
The West Java Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD) has submitted a recommendation to the West Java Provincial Government to study the proposed name change of the province to ‘Provinsi Sunda’ or ‘Tatar Sunda’. The recommendation emerged from a working meeting between the DPRD’s Commission I and the community group proposing the change on Tuesday (7/7).
Chairman of Commission I of the West Java DPRD, Rahmat Hidayat Djati, stated that the community’s proposal should be appreciated as a public aspiration and followed up with a study. He explained that according to the council’s rules and mechanisms, the recommendation is handed over to the provincial government for a more in-depth review in accordance with legislation.
In addition to the name change study, the DPRD recommended that the provincial government, through the Education Agency, immediately develop a curriculum incorporating Sundanese cultural values. This would be implemented as local content at all education levels in West Java, potentially including the ‘Pancawaluya’ curriculum and the teachings of ‘Silih Asah, Silih Asuh, and Silih Asih’.
However, both West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi and Deputy Speaker of the West Java DPRD Ono Surono have downplayed the name change discourse. Governor Dedi Mulyadi firmly stated that the provincial government will not change the name, calling the circulating narrative a fabrication and emphasising that the administration remains focused on its work. Ono Surono clarified that there has been no official proposal from either the governor or the DPRD to change the name. He noted that the process began with a letter from the community group on 6 January 2025, which led to an audience and a subsequent official note from the DPRD Speaker to Commission I for an initial review. Ono stressed that the majority of factions only agreed to follow up with a comprehensive study, not to approve the name change, and that any discussion must consider juridical, historical, sociological, cultural, and economic aspects, given West Java’s diverse communities including Sundanese, Betawi, Cirebon, and Indramayu.