When Sukarno Escaped The Assassination Attempt In History Today, May 14, 1962

President Sukarno (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Today, 59 years ago, or precisely May 14, 1962, there has been an assassination attempt on President Sukarno. The event happened to coincide with Eid al-Adha. Bung Karno who was marching to perform Eid al-Adha prayers on the grass field -- between Merkeda Palace and Istana Negara--, was then rained down by gunfire by four people. The incident then became the umpteenth assassination attempt against Bung Besar, precisely after the cikini event in 1957.

When Bung Karno performed prayers in the palace yard, someone from the fourth row suddenly fired a gun at Bung Karno. However, the shooter seems to have difficulty aiming at the target.

At that time the shooter had difficulty seeing two people who were similar to Bung Karno. As a result, Bung karno escaped death. However, not so with the two members of the Presidential Personal Control Detachment (DKP), namely, Soedrajat and Soesilo. They were injured in the incident. The Speaker of the House zainul Arifin was also injured.

"The shot missed not hitting Bung Karno who was targeted, instead grazing the shoulder of the Speaker of the House Zainul Arifin of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) who led the prayer. The man was sentenced to death, but when presented to Bung Karno to sign for execution, Bung Karno was not up to heart to stretch the path to his death, because he thought that the real killers were ultrafantic learned people who planned the act," maulwi Saelan said in his book From Revolution 45 to Coup 66 (2008).

The repairs were carried out by Sanusi Firkat, Djajapermana, Kamil, and Napdi. While the brains of the shooting plan is a kiai who leads pesantren in bogor area named Moh, Bachrum. He was accused of orchestrating the plan and ordered to do so.

"The amateur shooter was eventually put to death. However, when Bung Karno was asked to sign an execution warrant, Bung Karno refused because he could not bear it. Bung Karno thinks that the killer is just an accomplice of someone else. It turns out that Bung Karno's prediction at that time was true too," wrote Adimitra Nursalim in the book The Remarkable Story of Soekarno (2020).

Man Karno sakti?

After the incident, news of Bung Karno's murder planning spread quickly. Many were curious about the news. Painter Dullah is one of them. He said he was shocked to hear the news from the radio broadcast. The culprit was none other than sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosewirjo, who was none other than Bung Karno's best friend and discussion friend when he was young.

Dullah who was worried about Bung Karno then tried many times to call the house of The Dawn's son's aide, Mangil Martowidjojo. Dullah's concerns were answered when he got a telephone answer that mentioned President Sukarno Selamat.

Because of the attempted murder, Dullah recalled that the events of Eid al-Adha in the palace were like repeating cikini on November 30, 1957. Because Bung Karno always escaped death, Dullah claimed to believe that Bung Karno was powerful.

"Bung Karno has a guardian angel. He is rada sakti," said Dullah quoted agus Dermawan T. in The Tale of Dullah (2020).

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