From Jail to Jail. Tan Malaka
by Djamaluddin Tamim (“J. Tamin”) on 13 February 1946 to the editor of Tribune, the CPA’s new newspaper, asking, “I sincerely hope you will be good enough to write in your organ the real standing of Tan Malacca and clearing him of that Trotskyite accusation.”
110. Brackman, Indonesian, p. 72.
Postscript
1. See Volume III, chapter 15.
2. See, for example, Kreutzer, The Madiun Affair, pp. 1-7.
3. On the Madiun Affair see Kreutzer, Madiun; Aidit, Aidit menggugat; David Anderson, “The Military Aspects of the Madiun Affair”; Kahin, Nationalism, chapter 9; and Nasution, Sekitar, vol. 8.
4. While Kahin (Nationalism, p. 266) gives June 1948 as the date of the establishment of the GRR and Nasution (Sekitar, vol. 7, p. 111) gives April 1948, the newspaper Moerba refers to the body as early as 19 February 1948.
5. The history of the PKI in the immediate postwar period has not yet been studied in depth in the way that the party of the early 1920s was studied by Ruth McVey, and the later periods by Hindley (The Communist Party of Indonesia 1951-1963) and Mortimer (Indonesian Communism under Sukarno). For some discussion of the shifting positions and leadership of the PKI during the period 1945-1949 see Benedict Anderson, Java, pp. 216-19 and 343-47; Palmier, Communists in Indonesia, pp. 116-45; Brackman, Indonesian Communism, pp. 44-136; and Kahin, Nationalism, pp. 158-61 and 256-303. For an overview of literature on the PKI see Tichelman, The Communist Party of Indonesia: A Bibliographical Impression of the Main Trends.
6. Guntur, 31 August 1948, reported Muso’s words to this effect during a press conference held in Yogyakarta, 22 August 1948, and responded to in Moerba, 28 September 1948, “Siapakah sesungguhnja Trotskyist?” See also Soerjono, “On Musso’s Return.”
7. AKOMA, established in June 1946, was also often spelled ACOMA. For details see Appendix B.
8. Kahin, Nationalism, p. 294, quoting from Front Nasional, 20 September 1948.
9. Nasution, Sekitar, vol. 8, p. 260.
10. See, for instance, Pacific, 6 and 8 November 1948.
11. Moerba, 5 October 1948.
12. Aneta, 30 October 1948.
13. Moerba, 25 October and 4, 6 November 1948; Pacific, 29 October and 6 November 1948; Nasution, Sekitar, vol. 8, p. 395.
14. Isnomo, “Perdjoangan,” p. 145.
15. Peranan gemilang Murba Indonesia dalam revolusi kemerdekaan, p. 33.
16. See Tan Malaka, “Keterangan ringkas”; and Partai Murba, Anggaran dasar Partai Murba and Anggaran rumah tangga Partai Murba.
17. See, for example, Peranan gemilang, p. 3, which describes Tan Malaka as “pendiri” (founder) of Partai Murba. Kahin (Nationalism, p. 313) puts it this way: “Actually the party’s behind-the-scenes mastermind was Tan Malaka himself.”
18. Interview with Hasan Sastraatmadja, Jakarta, 31 October 1972.
19. “Keterangan Ringkas.”
20. Aneta, 8 November 1948; and Kahin, Nationalism, p. 313 (citing the pro-PNI newspaper Rakjat, 12 November 1948).
21. Nasution, Sekitar, vol. 8, p. 396; although by that stage their support was less direct (Harry Poeze, letter, 30 August 1983).
22. Pacific, 25 November 1948. Further, Arnold Brackman (Indonesian, p. 104) reports that the newspaper Moerba was banned on 1 December 1948, and that the GRR radio station had its license revoked on the same day. I have been unable to verify this report from contemporary sources. The last issue of Moerba held in the Perpustakaan Negara, Yogyakarta, is no. 137, 13 November 1948.
23. Kahin, Nationalism, p. 323.
24. Antara, 14 December 1948, cited in Kahin, Nationalism, p. 324; Nasution, Sekitar, vol. 8, pp. 396-97.
25. Aneta, 16 December 1948 (original English). Pacar (Patjar) Merah (Scarlet Pimpernel) was a popular name for Tan Malaka in romantic novels of the 1930s; see above, pp. 20-24.
26. Quoted in Aneta, 16 December 1948. Articles in a similar vein appeared in Jakarta’s Star Weekly in late 1948/early 1949, which added the view that Tan Malaka differed from Muso only in timing; he, too, would launch a revolution after independence was achieved (10 October and 5 December 1948). See also Merdeka, 15 January 1949.
27. Tamim, “Dua puluh satu tahun,” part 1, p. 9.
28. Kahin, Nationalism, p. 392.
29. This testament (surat warisan or surat wasiat) was a document signed by Sukarno and Hatta naming Tan Malaka and others as the people to whom the leadership of the revolution was to be handed over in the event that the government leaders were removed from the struggle by Allied forces. See above pp. xlv-xlvi and Volume III p. 227, n. 24 for one version of the testament and for a discussion of the debate surrounding this document.
30. Aneta, 16 December 1948.
31. Interview with Tamim, Jakarta, 9 October 1972.
32. Tan Malaka, Menudju, p. 49.
33. Tamim, “Dua puluh satu tahun,” part 1, p. 9.
34. Interviews in Jakarta with Djalil, 1 November 1972, and Rustam Effendi, 23 November 1972.
35. Sam karya bhirawa anoraga, pp. 154-60; Kahin, Nationalism, p. 299.
36. On Sabaruddin’s personality and life history, my summary is based on interviews conducted in Jakarta in October 1972 with, inter alia, his brother Djalaluddin Nasution, with Paramita Abdurrachman, Hasan Sastraatmadja, Djalil, Djamaluddin Tamim, and Mai Muna. Benedict Anderson (in discussions in Ithaca, 1972, 1973, on the basis of interviews he had in Jakarta) presented Sabaruddin as a psychopath. Others, while asserting that he could be brutal, saw this as excessive zeal in pursuit of his principles, rather than as a desire to hurt and kill. Some idea of the type of stories that have circulated concerning him can be gained by reading Mangaradja Onggang Parlindungan, Pongkinangolngolan Sinambela gelar Tuanku Rao.
37. Centrale Militaire Inlichtingendienst (C.M.I.), document no. 5743, p. 4 (Bijlage I to C.M.I. Document 6995).
38. Djalaluddin Nasution, as reported by Harry Poeze to me in Jakarta, September 1980.
39. David Anderson, letter to the author, 21 May 1974; Budiman Djaja, “Mengenang”; interview with Rustam Effendi, Jakarta, 23 November 1972. Tamim, “21 tahun,” part 1, p. 9, refers to this body as Badan Pertahanan Rakyat.
40. David Anderson, letter, 21 May 1974.
41. Budiman Djaja, “Mengenang.”
42. Tamim, “Dua puluh satu tahun,” part 1, p. 9; Aneta, 30 December 1948, reporting the attack on Yogyakarta, refers to a train loaded with “whole printing outfits waiting to be carried away.”
43. Simatupang, Laporan dari Banaran, pp. 16-30.
44. Kahin, Nationalism, p. 336.
45. Reid, Indonesian, p. 154; Simatupang, Laporan, p. 219.
46. Nasution, Sekitar, vol. 9, p. 207.
47. Reid, Indonesian, p. 154.
48. Simatupang, Laporan, p. 41.
49. See for example Warta Indonesia, quoted in Aneta, 27 December 1948.
50. Charles A. Livengood (U.S. consul general in Batavia), Despatch to Secretary of State, 23 December 1948, NARS Record Group 59, file 856D.00/12-2348, box 6293. This report tallies largely with the official Dutch report “Rede van Tan Malaka,”