Linggarjati and Sjahrir

Through the hundreds of years of Dutch presence in Indonesia, one particular event stands out as a moment supreme in the relationship of the two peoples. In November of 1946, at the small ex-Dutch settlement of Linggarjati on the foothills of Mount Cermai in West Java, the founders of the young Republic of Indonesia formally met with their erstwhile Dutch colonial masters. The Kingdom of the Netherlands had send a delegation, the Commission General led by former Dutch premier Willem Schermerhorn, whilst the Indonesian delegation to the conference table was led by the prime minister of the Republic of Indonesia, Sutan Sjahrir

It was here that the two nations met as equals to find a solution to the widely conflicting interests of both parties. And it was here that the Dutch recognized the de facto sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia on Java and Sumatera. Arguably, the Linggajati Agreement (for some obscure reason, in the text of the agreement Linggarjati was spelled without the "r") was more important to the Indonesians than to the Dutch. For the Indonesians it was a diplomatic victory, a step in the right direction in their struggle for independence; for the Dutch, toppled from their former glory by the Imperial Japanese Army, it was an effort to make the best out of a tenuous situation. The far sighted concessions made by both sides at the negotiation table, unfortunately turned out to be difficult to digest by their respectieve home fronts and both the Dutch Governor General Van Mook who signed the treaty on behalf of the Dutch and Premier Sjahrir eventually had to step back. However, the ground work was laid for the transfer of sovereignty from the Dutch to the Indonesians nearly three years and bloody wars later.

Due to the suppressive nature of the military regime that held the reins of power in Indonesia for many years, the role of the diplomatic struggle for independence by the founding fathers of the republic was never accorded its proper due. It was in the interest of the military dictatorship to extol the role of the military as having liberated Indonesia to justify their hold and dominance on all aspects of Indonesia's civil and economic life. Only after the fall of Suharto, have the diplomatic efforts in the struggle for Indonesia's independence begun to gain their rightful place in history.

In this context, this year Indonesia is paying homage to the commemoration of 100 years of the birth of Sutan Sjahrir with a series of lectures by prominent historians and politicians. The exhibition of the Indonesian independence movement from 1908 until the handover of sovereignty in 1949 that was prepared by the Stichting Indisch Erfgoed, Apeldoorn on behalf of the Stichting Vrienden van Linggarjati, will be a prominent item during the commemorations.

Following is the program series of the 100 Years Sjahrir commemoration: The Views and Actions of a Freedom Fighter.

28 February: Photo exposition at the Gedung Joang, Jalan Menteng Raya, Central Jakarta