Who wrote the proclamation of independence text?

Who wrote the proclamation of independence text?

By Hermawan Sulistyo

PHOENIX, Arizona, U.S.A. (JP): It has never been clear who
actually wrote the draft of the text of the proclamation of
independence in 1945. All leaders involved in the drafting of the
text claimed that they contributed more than the others to the
wording.

The flow of events started, when, on Aug. 15, 1945, Japan
surrendered to the Allies. The news hardly reached the
nationalist leaders because listening to the radio, except for
the government's station, was prohibited.

But Sutan Sjahrir (later to become the first prime minister),
who operated his own illegal radio, heard the news. Not long
after, he went to inform Sukarno and Hatta, but both hesitated
because they had just arrived back from Dalat, Vietnam, to have a
"conference" with the Japanese authority.

Sjahrir urged them to seize the chance during a period of
vacuum of power -- Japan had surrendered, while the Allies had
not arrived -- to proclaim independence. Sjahrir, never being a
collaborator during the Japanese occupation, believed that they
should declare independence without delay, in order to avoid an
impression in the West that Indonesian independence was a gift
from Japan.

But being hesitant about the news, and the situation in
general, Sukarno refused. His reason was that he did not want to
do so without consulting other members of the Preparatory
Committee for the Independence of Indonesia. Sukarno's refusal is
understandable since it was dangerous to proclaim independence
while the Japanese still held their armaments, and he wanted to
have wide support before doing so.

Meanwhile, the news about Japan's surrender spread among the
society, especially among the youth. Some youth in Jakarta, led
by Sukarni and Wikana, insisted Sukarno proclaim independence.
Failing to convince Sukarno and Hatta, they decided to take their
own action.

On the night of Aug. 15, they kidnapped both leaders and kept
them under house "detention" in Rengasdengklok, several miles
from Jakarta.

Considering the fact that Rengasdengklok was not a strategic
place from which to proclaim independence -- and partly because
of the role of Ahmad Subardjo, a prominent collaborator during
the Japanese occupation (later becoming minister of foreign
affairs), who had a personal link with the youth through his
aides -- the kidnappers released the two leaders on the night of
Aug. 16.

Sukarno and Hatta asked to see the Army Commander concerning
the request for an immediate proclamation. Being refused, they
went to see Rear Admiral Maeda, the Navy liaison officer
stationed in Jakarta.

Maeda offered his house as the meeting place for members of
the Preparatory Committee for Independence.

During the meeting, the youths urged the elder nationalist
leaders to proclaim independence without any sign of cooperation
or help from the Japanese. After a hotly contested debate, it was
decided that the text of proclamation would be read early the
next morning by Sukarno and Hatta, as the representatives of the
Indonesian people.

Participants of this meeting, held prior to the reading of the
proclamation, did not agree on how far they contributions were.

Hatta's testimony in Sekitar Proklamasi (About the
Proclamation, 1969) and quoted in C.L.M Penders' Mohammad Hatta:
Indonesian Patriot, Memoir (1981), clarifies that he was the one
who actually wrote the text, after being asked by Sukarno
himself. Of his literary skills, Hatta writes, "I replied that it
would be best if I dictated it and that everybody write it down.
Everyone agreed that the first sentence should be taken from the
end of the third line of the draft Preamble to the Constitution,
which spoke about the Proclamation... Then I dedicated the
following sentence... "

According to Sukarno, as quoted in Cindy Adam's Sukarno: An
Autobiography as Told to Cindy Adams (1965),"The actual words
were scribbled on a torn piece of paper. Somebody located a pad
with the blue lines on it, such as are in the children's lesson
books. I ripped out a sheet and with my own hand wrote lengthwise
across the blue lines."

It should be noted, however, that this autobiography incited
strong reactions from many leaders, including Hatta himself and
Gatot Mangkuprodjo. Yet, Sukarno's claim is now widely accepted,
since the original text was in his handwriting.

Ahmad Subardjo Djoyoadisuryo, one of the most important
figures with a link to the youth, wrote differently. In his
autobiography, Kesadaran Nasional: Sebuah Otobiography (National
Consciousness: an Autobiography, 1978), he claimed that he
himself wrote the text, based on his recollection of the text in
Piagam Jakarta (the Jakarta Charter).

The fact that the original text is in Sukarno's handwriting
did not discourage Ahmad Subardjo from asserting that he was
chosen as the principal actor in the wording of the text since
everyone else acknowledged his strong memory.

Unconfirmed sources also mention Sayuti Melik's contribution
to the wording, since he was the person who typed up Sukarno's
handwritten text. Melik was then another youth leader.

Similar to the historical problem of determining who was
involved and how far their involvement in the wording of the text
of the proclamation went, there is also a debate over the meeting
itself.

For example, how much were the Japanese actually involved in
the arrangement of the meeting and the drafting of the text?

Nishijima Shigetada, the most prominent Japanese figure
leaning to the Indonesian side, declared in his memoirs, which
are republished in Anthony Reid and Oki Akira's The Japanese
Experience in Indonesia: Selected memoirs of 1942-1945 (1986),
that at least two Japanese officials were present and were even
involved in the debate during the meeting.

The confusion partly stemmed from the fact that there were two
groupings of the time. First, a meeting of all the participants
in the Maeda's living room. Second, a small group selected from
the larger group. This smaller group was the drafter of the text.

Benedict Anderson, a noted Indonesianist, in his Java in a
Time of Revolution: Occupation and Resistance, 1944-1946 ( 1972)
even states that "Maeda, Sukarno, Hatta, Nishijima, Subardjo,
Miyoshi and Yoshizumi then retired into the Admiral's study to
work out the actual wording of the proclamation."

Anderson does not cite any source for this information; I
cannot find sources of similar statements on the involvement of
these Japanese.

Japanese involvement in the meeting, let alone the wording of
the proclamation, was strongly denied by other Indonesians
present at the meeting.

Adam Malik, who was then a prominent youth leader of a left
wing faction, and later became vice president in the peak of his
political career, refuted the claim by saying in his memoirs
that, "When the proclamation was signed, and when the meeting at
Oranje Boulevard was held, there were no Japanese listening or
present." (Mengabdi Republik, or Serving the Republic, 1978). No
other Indonesian source mentioned the involvement of any Japanese
at the meeting. By contrast, all Japanese sources mention their
involvement.

High political tension, stress and fatigue among the
participants of the time, added by fading memories and even
personal interest of the actors in the later years, all played a
role in contributing to the confusion and claims for the wording
of the proclamation.

It is now impossible to reconstruct the events because all
participants (except the Japanese) have passed away; even when
they were still alive, it was impossible to conduct any research
on this particular issue.

The writer is a fellow with the Program for Southeast Asian
Studies, Arizona State University, U.S.A.