The Loud Voice Of The Minangkabau Lioness Rasuna Said From The Podium

JAKARTA - The role of women in the national historical map cannot be underestimated. The women's movement doesn't even focus on a single point. Figures of female warriors are everywhere, from Sabang to Merauke. In Minangkabau land, the name Rasuna Said is the main figure. The rhetoric is blaring. Rasuna Said can burn the spirit of struggle against the Dutch. That is why she is nicknamed: The Minangkabau Lioness.

Hajjah Rangkayo Rasuna Said was born on September 14 in Panyinggahan Village, Maninjau, West Sumatra. She comes from a prominent family. Her father, Haji Muhammad Said was a successful businessman as well as a figure of the movement.

Haji Muhammad Said is known to be very concerned with the education of his children, especially Islamic education. Thanks to her father, Rasuna Said who is usually called Kak Una, was able to receive higher education. A privilege that many women of her time did not have.

While in school, Rasuna Said grew up to be an intelligent and critical person. Rasuna Said began to learn many things, especially learning Islamic knowledge, such as tauhid, fiqh, tafsir, hadith, and Arabic. This lesson has indirectly generated Rasuna Said's progressive thoughts. Far beyond the times.

Photo illustration of Minangkabau in the past (Source: geheugen.delpher.nl)

This thought continues to grow until it is considered a danger by some teachers who have not adapted to the progress of the world. The development of her thoughts was continuously suppressed, until Rasuna Said, who had become a student at Dinayah Putri School, began to feel uncomfortable.

Rasuna Said also moved to the Thawalib school in Maninjau. Quoted by Mulyono Atmosiswartoputra in the book Perempuan-Perempuan Pengukir Sejarah (2018), at this school Rasuna Said was trained as a potential fighter who then played a role in the front row, mobilized women, and all struggled for Indonesian independence.

"Next, she entered the Thawalib School in Panyinggahan, Maninjau. This school is led by H. Udin Rahmani, a scholar from a youth group. Here Rasuna Said is boiled down to become a tough Muslimah. Two years later, namely in 1928, Rasuna Said was able to complete her education at the school. In fact, the time that should be taken to complete education at this school is four years,” Mulyono Atmosiswartoputra explained.

As a result, Rasuna Said grew up to be a progressive, radical, and unyielding person. After that, Rasuna Said was known to be active in politics in West Sumatra. Apart from equipping herself with religious knowledge, Rasuna Said continued to hone her skills in rhetoric - speech - on the podium. It was through the podium that anti-colonialism messages increasingly echoed in the hearts of all Minangkabau people.

Queen of the podium

Rasuna Said's rhetoric skills are gradually getting better. In the same breath, Rasuna Said was actively involved in various struggle organizations. The beginning of her struggle began when Rasuna Said joined the Sarekat Rakyat (People's Sharia) organization.

At that time the Sarekat Rakyat became a well-known organization as a powerhouse against the Dutch in Minangkabau. Shortly afterward, Rasuna Said sat on the board of the Sarekat Rakyat as secretary. The Sarekat Rakyat was later changed to the Indonesian Sharia Islam Party (Partai Syarikat Islam Indonesia/PSII).

"The ability of Rasuna Said's speech that she got from her teacher, H. Udin Rahmani in Sumatra, Thawalib (School), turned out to be very helpful for her party's political propaganda activities. Whenever she came to a place, the people would come in droves to listen to her political lectures. PID agents (Dutch secret police) always target her and follow her movements. Not infrequently in the middle of her speech, Rasuna was forced to stop and was removed from the podium. Because of her courage to criticize the Dutch government, she was nicknamed: the lioness,” wrote Jajang Jahroni in the book Ulama Perempuan Indonesia (2002).

In each of her speeches, Rasuna Said always echoed the message of anti-colonialism. Rasuna Said always condemned the colonial government for fooling and impoverishing the Minangkabau people. These two things made the Minangkabau people suffer greatly from Dutch colonialism.

Along with this activity, Rasuna Said began to be considered a bother by the Dutch. Moreover, Rasuna Said's speeches are often sharper and more energetic than those of the same narratives that men are encouraging.

The Dutch government tried to silence them. At the age of 23, Rasuna Said, who was once a high school teacher with a thousand female students, was arrested by the Dutch. The arrest of Rasuna Said, as revealed by the Dutch Controller Daniel van der Meulen in his memoir, Hoort Gij die Donder Niet: Apa Anda tak dengar Bunyi Petir itu? (1977) aimed to reduce the Minang women's activity.

It was Van der Meulen who every night chatted in Rasuna Said's cell. Van der Meulen tried to brainwash while persuading Rasuna Said not to get involved in political activities again.

"Rasuna, because of your own actions, you will be punished. I will propose mitigating things. You are young, you have a gift for speech, your face is lovely, but none of this will prevent condemnation. Take time to think about your failures. Try to do something good, and don't go back to the political path," said Van der Meulen as quoted by Rosihan Anwar in the book Small History of Indonesia's" Petite Histoire "Volume 1 (2004).

Rasuna Said's stance has been firm. For Rasuna Said, there was no compromise for colonialism. She prefers to be imprisoned in Semarang rather than submitting to the Dutch. Rasuna Said was only free when the second world war broke out in 1939.

In the Japanese era, Rasuna Said focused on stimulating the spirit of the native people in West Sumatra. Only after independence Rasuna Said moved to Java. After that, Rasuna Said became a member of the Indonesian parliament from 1959-1965.

In modern times, the name Rasuna Said has been used as the name of one of the main streets in Jakarta. Rasuna Said's courage has become known. She is famous as a brave woman who did not want to submit to colonialism.