Indonesia rediscovers long-lost hero Sjahrir

The Jakarta Post, Fri, 02/27/2009 2:29 PM

Indonesia will brush the dust of its history books this month to celebrate the 100th birthday of the late Sutan Sjahrir, the notoriously obscure yet influential nationalist, a group of journalists and historians said Thursday.

Sjahrir remains to this day the only prime minister Indonesia has ever had and was a close ally to the country's founding fathers, Sukarno and Hatta.

"Sjahrir achieved enough himself to be called a founding father as well, yet even history teachers nowadays know very little about him," chief editor of the Sinar Harapan daily Aristides Katoppo told a press conference.

He said the once-renowned nationalist preached pluralism and pacifist approaches to conflict resolution, ideas that could be inspiring for todays' politicians and Indonesians citizens on the whole.

A number of institutions will commemorate Sjahrir's 100th birthday on March 5 by staging a series of events about his life.

A photo exhibition documenting his life will commence on Feb. 28, a number of discussions will be held throughout the year and heater performances towards the close of 2009 will round out the celebrations, Sjahrir's daughter Siti Rabyah Parvati Sjahrir said.

Born into a privileged family, Sjahrir paid scant attention to the fight for independence until he was captivated by a fiery speech from Cipto Mangunkusumo, a pro-independence campaigner.

Inspired, he experimented with socialism before joining Hatta and his allies in their struggle to free the country from the colonial rule of the Dutch and Japanese.

Following the success of the independence movement, Sjahrir held various posts, such as prime minister during the country's brief parliamentary era, as well as foreign affairs minister and internal affairs minister. He also played important diplomatic roles during the Netherlands's resurgent attempts to take back control of the nation.

"Sjahrir had definite ideas about peaceful diplomacy and democracy. He was strongly against fascism, racism and militarism," former journalist Rahman Tolleng said, adding that in 1945 the then prime minister condemned the anti-Chinese riots sweeping the nation.

However, after falling out with then President Sukarno in 1950, Sjahrir was ousted from his post as the president's advisor. In 1962, he was arrested without trial along with over 1,000 former independence fighters and imprisoned, where he stayed until he suffered a stroke. He died in 1966 during medical treatment in Switzerland.

Sjahrir's name remained hidden throughout Soeharto's militaristic rule. "We hope we can refresh the public on this great figure, especially as we near the election period." (dis)