Indonesia, A House for All

KOMPAS/NINA SUSILO

President Joko Widodo congratulates Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan after his late grandfather, Abdurrahman Baswedan, was named a national hero at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Thursday (8/11/2018). At the award ceremony, Abdurrahman Baswedan was represented by his youngest son Samhari Baswedan (far left). Besides Abdurrahman Baswedan from Yogyakarta, the government also named Agung Hajjah Andi Depu from West Sulawesi, Depati Amir from Bangka Belitung, Kasman Singodimedjo from Central Java, Pangeran Mohammad Noor from Soouth Kalimantan, and Brig. Gen. KH Syam’un from Banten national heroes.

Indonesia is a house for all its citizens, regardless of their tribe, ethnicity, religion or group. Such differences no longer exist, because Indonesia is a new and modern nation-state.

It is unsurprising that a figure of the caliber of Abdurrahman Awad “A.R.” Baswedan, the founder of the Indonesian Arab Party, acknowledged that one of his closest friends was Y.B. Mangunwijaya, a Catholic priest.

“I once asked him, who were his closest friends. His answer was rather surprising, because he mentioned Father Y.B. Mangunwijaya and several other priests,” Sjafruddin Prawiranegara said on March 15, 1986, on the occasion of A.R. Baswedan’s interment at Tanah Kusir cemetery in South Jakarta (Kompas, March 17, 1986). Sjafruddin was part of the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia from Dec. 19, 1948 to July 13, 1949.

A little over 32 years later on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, President Joko Widodo posthumously awarded A.R. Baswedan the title of National Hero, along with Kasman Singodimedjo, Agung Hajjah Andi Depu, Depati Amir, Pangeran Mohammad Noor and Brig. Gen. K.H. Syam’un.

A.R. Baswedan, who was born in Surabaya on Sept. 11, 1908, advocated the integration of Arabic descendants in Indonesia through the Indonesian Arab Organization, which became the Indonesian Arab Party in 1934. For him, Indonesian people of Arabic descent shared the same duty to struggle for the country’s independence. He spread his idea through his writings in the many newspapers and magazines he managed throughout the 1930s.

Baswedan also became a member of the Preparatory Body for Indonesian Independence and contributed to drafting the 1945 Constitution. In defending the country’s independence, Baswedan became the first Indonesian envoy to be recognized by the international world. On June 10, 1947, A.R. Baswedan, along with Haji Agus Salim, Rasjidie and Nazir Sutan Pamuntjak, met then-Egyptian prime minister Mahmud Nokrashi Pasha in Egypt and signed the Indonesia-Egypt Friendship Agreement. Egypt was the first foreign state to recognize the sovereign state of the Republic of Indonesia.

As Haji Agus Salim continued to a meeting in New Delhi, it was Baswedan who brought the agreement home to Indonesia. However, said Dr. Samhari Baswedan, the youngest of Baswedan’s 11 children, upon his arrival, he discovered that Indonesia had been invaded by Dutch forces. “So he hid [the agreement] beneath the sole of his foot in his socks, so when he was examined by the Dutch, it was not discovered. Later, when he arrived in Yogyakarta, he handed the agreement to [then] Prime Minister Amir Syarifuddin. From there, it was taken to Bung Karno,” said Samhari, referring to then-president Soekarno by his nickname.

A.R. Baswedan told of his experience in receiving Egypt’s recognition of Indonesian independence in an article titled ”Remembering the Unforgettable Contribution of Egypt” (Kompas, June 12, 1984). In it, he told his account of how the Indonesian delegation waited for half an hour before meeting Egyptian prime minister Pasha. As they were waiting, a tall figure emerged from the prime minister’s office: It was the Dutch Ambassador to Cairo, who had protested the plan to sign the friendship agreement. ”However, the Egyptian Prime Minister had responded firmly [to the Dutch ambassador] that Egypt expressed deep regret for not being able to change its stance, that it had decided to recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia,” wrote Baswedan, who had also received the star of an independence pioneer.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, one of A.R. Baswedan’s grandchildren, who was raised in Yogyakarta through high school, recalled that his grandfather liked to write. Anies was usually tasked with taking his grandfather’s articles to the post office. After elementary school, he was tasked with typing his grandfather’s dictations.

The proposal to award A.R. Baswedan the status of National Hero was submitted seven years ago by the National Building Foundation (Nabil), which was founded by Eddie Lembong, a Chinese-Indonesian. Melly Lembong, Eddie’s surviving wife, said that her husband felt that all deserved to be recognized and appreciated for doing good for the country, regardless of their ethnic, religious or racial backgrounds. She believed this value of tolerance needed to be strengthened.

As for Kasman Singodimedjo, he encouraged that the seven words “obligation to implement sharia for Islamic adherents” be omitted from the first principle of Pancasila during the Jakarta Charter’s inclusion in the preamble to the 1945 Constitution. The omission was intended to accommodate eastern Indonesia.

According Dede Indra Cahyadi, one of Kasman’s grandsons, this symbolic omission showed that the nation’s founders wholly embraced the entire Indonesian territory from Sabang to Merauke. This step was a big decision taken on the day immediately after Indonesian independence and united the country.

Dewi Nurul Mustaqimah, the youngest of Kasman’s six children, said her father taught his children to appreciate time, respect others and work selflessly for the benefit of others. Dewi was grateful for the state recognizing her father’s efforts.

Female hero

Agung Hajjah Andi Depu is the only woman to receive National Hero recognition this year. Andi Depu was active in the Jong Islamieten Bond and established the Fujinkai women’s organization before Indonesian independence. Andi Depu also founded the KRIS Muda Mandar paramilitary group in Balanipa Mandar, West Sulawesi.

K.H. Syam’un joined in the struggle to drive away foreign invaders in Banten. His struggle started with his joining the Defenders of the Motherland (Peta) that Japan had formed. After independence, K.H. Syam’un became the commander of the TKR Division 1000/I security corps.

Pangeran Mohammad Noor, the first governor of South Kalimantan, was an Indonesian independence fighter.

Depati Amir was recognized for his efforts in pushing back Dutch invaders in 1830-1851. He also fought against the monopolization of the tin trade, which had oppressed the people of Bangka Belitung. (NINA SUSILO)