Suing Daendels Street Name For The Sake Of Remembering Diponegoro's Services

Capture the Google Street View screen on Jalan Diponegoro Yogyakarta (Source: Google)

JAKARTA - Historian JJ Rizal has expressed feelings about the apathy of modern people, digging insights about street names. It is nothing. For him, street names are important identities to reinforce a summary of events that have occurred in a place.

JJ Rizal's unrest had a reason. A case occurred in the capital in 2018. At that time, Governor Anies Baswedan and his deputy Sandiaga Uno discussed changing the name of Jalan Warung Buncit to Jalan AH Nasution. The discourse failed to follow the controversy that surfaced.

“Street names are often not considered important. It is strange, if not ironic. Because, this happened in the midst of a passionate spirit to find symbols and identities as cities in Indonesia are avidly working on flashy city branding projects, "said JJ describing the phenomenon he caught.

Regarding the name of the street and the complicated story behind it, we can refer to Daendels Street. Since its name, this path has provoked a lot of confusion. When they hear the name Daendels, many people immediately associate the figure of Marshal Guntur alias Governor General Herman Williem Daendels, who in his leadership succeeded in building the Pos Raya megaproject (De Grote Postweg) across from Anyer to Panarukan.

However, we are not going to discuss the story of the Governor-General and this path. Daendels Street which we will discuss is a road that divides different sides even though both are on the island of Java. This Daendels Road runs along the South Coast Line along 130 kilometers from Cilacap Regency on the western tip of Central Java to Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY).

This street takes its name from an assistant resident in the Ambal area at that time, AD Daendels. He started his work in 1838. Two Daendels are like heaven and earth. HW Daendels who had made the Dutch East Indies treasury on the verge of bankruptcy because his megaproject was far superior to AD Daendels. He only served as an assistant resident whose contribution was limited to changing the name of the route that was formerly known as the Diponegoro Line with his name.

There is a reason why the name of the Diponegoro Line was changed to its name, namely to reduce, eliminate, or at least temporarily obscure the remaining spirit of Diponegoro's resistance after the Java war in 1825 to 1830. Changing the name of the street was a strategy to ensure that there was no more rebellion against the Dutch East Indies in the future. .

Miraculously, the street name still survives today. He managed to survive the Old Order, the New Order, and the New Order. Presumably that is a strong reason why the route which is also known as Belangrijke Wegen or Jalan Raya Utama deserves to be economized. Why? because this route was previously known by the name of the Javanese prince of Javanese-Madurese-Sumbawa descent, as the road where he and his followers guerrillaized this road section during the Java War.

Therefore, as the millennial child said, it is just a reminder: the government should of course change the name Daendels, then then replace it with the name Prince Diponegoro as before, in order to recall his courage against the Dutch, his courage against oppression, and his courage against the injustices of his time.

Moreover, so many people idolize the figure of Prince Diponegoro, to all corners of the archipelago and even the world. This is in accordance with the description given by Iksaka Banu in a short story entitled Pollux from his book "All for the Indies".

He wrote: Seafarers like us only listen to the news. But, this Javanese prince, ah, I always find it difficult to pronounce his name. She is truly extraordinary. Able to match the European forces led by Lieutenant Colonel Sollewijn, Cochius, Michiels, and even Major General Van Geen.

“Honey, I heard that the prince was finally defeated. I just wanted to say, the Belgians should have a heart as hard as this prince. Vercingerotix was also able to withstand the mighty Roman armies. We need a revolution. They are the ones who live on our land, not the other way around! " he added.

Therefore, on behalf of those who are fighting for freedom, on behalf of those who are fighting for justice, and on behalf of those who are fighting for their rights. If only the name of the street was appropriate to be changed in the shortest possible time.

At least, when someone passes that road in the future, the spirit of Prince Diponegoro can be as bright as hope in life, in society and as a state.

"Edan times, damned my fate, because I was born to set you right," William Shakespeare, in his book, "Hamlet".