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The Afdeeling B: An Indonesian Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

William A. Oates
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Extract

The so-called Afdeeling B or Section B of the Sarekat Islam, discovered in the Sundanese ethnic area of the Preanger Regencies, West Java, in 1919, presents a valuable case study in the uses of local history because of its relationship to the Sarekat Islam, the first mass based nationalist type movement in Indonesia, which began in 1912. The discovery of the Afdeeling B also acted as a catalyst for opinions which had been maturing in all strata of the colonial society, both Indonesian and Dutch, and an examination of the reaction to it gives a clear picture of the diversity of that society.

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Type
Research Article
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Journal of Southeast Asian History , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , March 1968, pp. 107 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1968

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References

1. Much of the material concering the Afdeeling B was collected from the archives of the former Ministry of Colonies of the Dutch government, now on deposit (for the years 1900–1950) with the Ministry of Interior Affairs in the Hague. References are made to Verbaal (Vb.) usually a folder which contained various Mail Reports (MR) sent from Batavia to the ministry, and numbered in series for each year. The most important documents for the Afdeeling B are the reports of the Resident of the Preanger Regencies Jkr.

De Stuers, as follows:

a. First Provisional Report of the Resident ‥ De Stuers, dd. Bandung, July 17, 1919, No. 72, very secret, Contained in Verbaal October 11, 1919, No. 27; Mail Rapport 510x/1919 (Vb. Oct. 11, 1919, No. 27; MR 510x/1919).

b. Second Provisional Report ‥ dd. Bandung, August 2, 1919, No. 90, very secret. (Vb. December 10, 1919, No. L9; MR 541x/1919).

c. Report ‥ concerning the Preanger Unrest, dd. Bandung, September 17, 1919, No. 193 very secret. (Vb. Dec. 10, 1919, No. L29; MR 707x/1919).

d. Further to the report of September 17, dd, Bandung, Nov. 28, 1919. (Vb. Mar. 28, 1922, No. E3bis; MR 93x/1920).

2. The Afdeeling B was an organization only in a very loose sense of the word. The name itself was applied only after the fact by Resident De Stuers. See Vb. Oct. 11, 1919, No. 21; MR 457x/1919 for the first use of the term.

3. Statement of Hadji Ismail, Appendix 22 of De Stuers report of Sept. 17, 1919.

4. Conversation with Hadji Ijos Wiraatmadja, Bandung, June 20, 1964. He was active in the Garut Sarekat Islam in the early years of the movement.

5. Appendix 10 of the report of the Commissioner for Native and Arabic Affairs G.A.J. Hazeu concerning the Fourth National Congress of the Sarekat Islam (Vb. Jan. 4, 1922, No. H; MR 365x/1920) contains the bylaws of the Sarekat Islam governing local chapters. Article 4 states (my translation):

Any member may request to become a member of the Wargo Bekerdja; that is, whenever this is felt necessary, and he voluntarily chooses to take on work in the interest of the organization; however, the nature of the work is not for him to decide, but he must follow the directions of the officers of the organization.

6. Interview of the Attorney General Uhlenbeck with Tjokroaminoto, Jan. 10 and 11, 1921. (Vb. 2 May 1923, No. D6; MR 184x/1921).

7. Testimony of Raden Prawirakusumah; Appendix 1 of the report of Resident De Stuers of July 17, 1919.

8. Neither were Sundanese, however. Abdoel Moeis was from Palembang, Sumatra while Goenawan came from Pekalongan. (Vb. July 1, 1927, No. T10; MR 410x/1927 and De Stuers report of Nov. 28, 1919).

9. These actions of the local Sarekat Islam chapters can be followed in Kaoem Moeda, particularly in the period 1914–15: Kaoem Moeda was a Malay language newspaper published in Bandung, which reflected at that time the interest of the Sarekat Islam leadership in West Java.

10. Memorie van Overgave van ‥ Resident De Stuers, p. 131.

11. Vb. March 8, 1916, No. 51; MR 660/1914, Vb. July 26, 1917, No. 13; MR 2408/1916.

12. Several instances can be found in Kaoem Moeda.

13. Van Niel, Robert, The Emergence of the Modern Indonesian Elite, p. 117.Google Scholar

14. Hazeu report of the Fourth National Congress of the Sarekat Islam, Appendix 10.

15. See the testimony of individuals included as appendices of the De Stuers reports of August 2 and Sept. 17, 1919. Also the report of the chief legal advisor to the Attorney General, Mr. Filet, dd Dec. 27, 1920. (Vb. May 2, 1923, No. D6; MR 10x/1921).

16. See the testimony included in the various De Stuers reports as appendices, among others: Testimony of Mad Enoh, appendix 10 of July 17 report; Hadji Ma'moen, Appendix 21 of Aug. 2 report; Raden Soemaatmadja, Appendix 2 of Sept. 17 report.

17. Testimony of Hadji Ismail. Appendix 22 of De Stuers' report of Sept. 17.

18. Ibid., See also Appendix 1 of the De Stuers report of July 17.

19. Testimony of Hadji Soeleiman. Appendix 27 of De Stuers report of July 17.

20. De Stuers report of Sept. 17, 1919.

21. See, for example, Appendix 1 of Aug. 2 De Stuers report, Testimony of Adoelrahim. Also Appendix 4 of the same, Testimony of Hadji Moehamad Padli.

22. Testimony of Danoewisastra, Appendix 13b of the De Stuers reports of September 17. Also Appendices 14 and 16 of the same report, Testimonies Hadji Abdoelsoeker and Hadji Soeleiman.

23. Testimony of Mad Enoh. Appendix 19 of the De Stuers report of Sept. 17.

24. See the report of the Advisor for Native and Arabic Affairs Kern. (Vb. May 2, 1923, No. D6; MR 43x/1921). Kern replaced Hazey in 1920.

25. This was the Hadji Hasan or Tjimareme Affair. See Van Niel, , Op. Cit., pp. 145–148.Google Scholar

26. Memorie van Overgave van Resident De Stuers, p. 137.

27. Ibid., p. 140.

28. Vb. Dec. 23, 1925, No. K18; various MR, particularly 102x. 178x, 200x and 596x, all 1925. See also Soerapati (Sundanese language newspaper), March 28, and May 1, 1925.

29. See Van Neil, , Op. Cit., pp. 196–207.Google Scholar

30. The Filet report, cited above, is a good example of this attitude.

31. Algemeen Rijksarchief, 2de Afdeeling, Collection No. 114; Archive J. P. graaf van Limburg Stirum, Folio 27, Letters from Hazeu. Hazeu denies this was the reason, although it seems to have influenced his decision to accept a chair in Javanese at Leiden — a position offered him before the criticism of his position erupted. Letters to van Limburg Stirum dd. Sept. 1 and Oct. 5, 1920.

32. Tjokroaminoto was arrested in September, 1921, and held in protective custody for several months before being brought to trial in March 1922. (Neratja; 03 21, 27 and 29, 1922Google Scholar). Sentenced to one year's imprisonment on a charge of perjury, this decision was reversed in a forceful condemnation of the whole procedure by the Attorney General, in August, 1922. (See Matahari, 08 20, 1922Google Scholar). By this time, Tjokroaminoto had spent eleven months in prison.

33. See a report of a protest meeting of the Radical Union, Vb October 11, 1919, No. 21; MR 501x/1919.

34. Resident De Stuers reiterates it in his report of Nov. 28, 1919. (Vb. March 28, 1922, No. E3bis; MR 93x/1920) Other Preanger residents had voiced this complaint also. See Memorie van Overgave van ‥ Resident G. A. F. J. Oosthout, (1907), and the same of Resident W. F. L. Boissevain (1911).

35. Archive van Limburg Stirum, Folio 35, Letter of the Regent of Tjiandjur R. A. A. Wiranatakusumah to van Limburg Stirum, dd. Nov. 1, 1919, p. 10.

36. This was particularly true of the regent of Garut, Soeriakartalegawa. See his Memorie van Verdediging … Vb. March 28, 1922, No. E3bis; MR 1147x/1920.