Radical Side Ki Hajar Dewantara

Ki Hajar Dewantara (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - The progress of Ki Hajar Dewantara as a figure who advances national education cannot be doubted. The existence of Taman Siswa as an institution that provides opportunities for commoners to get education like priyai and the Dutch are proof of this. Long before that, Ki Hajar Dewantara was known as a radical figure in the national movement. Radical in the context of the day, of course. Before radicals were deflected in negative connotations as they are today.

From a young age, the figure whose real name is Soewardi Soerjaningrat is known to have a hot temper and burn easily. Quoted from Irna HN Hadi in Soewardi Soejaningrat's book in Pengasingan (1985), although he was famous for being stubborn and naughty, since childhood Soerwardi was down to earth. He was accustomed to hanging out with children who were not of noble descent. However, it was this trait that often got him into fights with Dutch children.

One time, when he came home from school, Soetartinah was harassed by Karel, a Dutch boy who often provoked fights. Seeing this, Soewardi and his friends did not remain silent. "They blocked the corner of the road. When they faced each other, Karel and Soewardi's gang cursed and cursed at each other. In fluent Dutch, Soewardi cursed. Fighting was inevitable, ”said Irna.

After graduating from Europeesche Lagere School (ELS) - where white children were educated together with priyai children, Soewardi then continued his education at the School Opleiding van Indische Artsen (STOVIA). It was at that school that the Javanese prince mingled with youths of various ethnic groups from all over the country.

Even so, according to him, the rules presented at STOVIA contained a lot of discrimination, which was very offensive. Some of them are related to the prohibition for students from Java and Sumatra to wear European clothing, unless they are Christians.

However, Soewardi made the ban a matter of pride. Because of that incident, Sowardi became increasingly proud to wear traditional clothes in his daily life. It is recorded that until the end of his life, he often wore a sarong, coat and cap.

Ki Hajar Dewantara with his native colleagues (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

Not only that. There is also another discrimination in STOVIA, which prohibits students living in dormitories from celebrating Eid by setting off firecrackers. In fact, Eid al-Fitr for the people of Indonesia has a national character.

In that sense, Eid celebrations are commonly known throughout Indonesia, especially with the sound of firecrackers. Regarding firecrackers, we have also reviewed it in the article "Gelagar History of Firecrackers in the Month of Ramadan".

"Therefore, Soewardi and his friends sounded several dozens of firecrackers. As a result, the dormitory leadership was angry and Soewardi and his friends were put in a closed room as punishment, "wrote the book of the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia 1945-2018 (2018).

I wish I was Dutch

In the end, Soewardi did not finish his education at the STOVIA Javanese Medical School. Then, he moved to Bandung in 1912. That was the starting point for him joining the De Expres newspaper as an editor.

As a figure of high guts, the opportunity to criticize the Dutch then arose at the beginning of the hundred years of Dutch independence from French colonization in 1913. The Company at that time wanted to celebrate the centennial celebration of Dutch independence on a large scale by including the natives.

This momentum was used by Soerwardi and other triumvirate figures, Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo and Ernest Douwes Dekker. Soewardi then founded the Bumiputra Committee which later published an article entitled Als ik eens Nederlander was (1913).

The article, which if translated into Indonesian "If I was a Dutchman" was transformed into the most radical writing in the Dutch East Indies. Soewardi wrote as if he were a Dutchman criticizing the contradiction of the massive celebration of Dutch independence from French colonization. Meanwhile, the Dutch still occupied the place where the celebration took place.

"Really, if I were Dutch, then I would never have wanted to celebrate a commemoration party like that here in a country we colonized. First give the oppressed people freedom, only after that we will commemorate our own independence! " wrote Soewardi.

However, at first the article did not lead the Dutch government to take steps to exile Soewardi from the Dutch East Indies. As Takashi Shiraishi wrote in an article entitled Their Dream of Still with Us in the book "1000 Years of the Archipelago" (2000), problems began to arise after Soewardi's article was translated into Malay.

“Even though the content is Subversive in tone, it is no different from the many articles published by Douwes Dekker in De Expres. The difference is, De Expres is a Dutch language newspaper that only Dutch literate people can understand. Meanwhile, Soewardi's article which has been translated into Malay can be read by many people who are literate in Malay, "added Takashi Shiraishi.

For this article, the Company considered Soewardi's article to be very dangerous. Because, it is suspected that Soewardi's writing could ignite the spirit and influence other native groups to fight the Company. So, the Dutch government took immediate action to arrest and throw the triumvirate (Soewardi, Douwes Dekker, Tjipto) out of the Dutch East Indies.

Triad (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

"In the Bumiputra Committee incident, Dekker was considered a 'deviant evangelist' (by the Company), while Tjipto and Soewardi were the apostles," said Kenji Tsuchiya in the book Democracy and Leadership: The Awakening of the Taman Siswa Movement (2019).

Before his banishment, at the trial the Company also cared about Soewardi because he came from aristocratic circles. The Company at that time intended to free Soewardi of all accusations as long as he wanted to resign from all kinds of political activities.

Unfortunately, Soewardi had intended not to step backwards. To the extent that, Soewardi's father, Pangeran Soerjaningrat was asked to advise his son. Miraculously, his father's comments seemed to sympathize with Soewardi by saying: He really is a punk.

As a result, Soewardi was exiled to the Netherlands for six years. Only in 1919, he arrived back in his homeland. Due to his passionate spirit fighting against the Dutch with his sharp writing, Soewardi often dealt with the authorities, even Soewardi had felt the coldness of the prison tiles.

Soewardi began to change his radical style in movement when his wife fell ill. Since then, Soewardi's struggle has taken a turn. From there Soewardi chose education as his struggling epidemic. He co-founded the Nationaal Onderwijs Institute Taman Siswa or the Taman Siswa National Educational Institute on July 3, 1922, and tried to relinquish his nobility by using a new name: Ki Hajar Dewantara.