Rengasdengklok
On
August 14,1945, Japan surrended unconditionally to the Allies. The news was
kept secret by the Japanese army in Indonesia, but Sutan Syahrir, the youth of
Indonesia, knew it through the BBC Radio Broadcasts in London on August
15,1945. At the same time, Ir. Soekarno and Drs. Moh Hatta returned to the
Indonesia from Saigon, Vietnam.
On August 15, at 8 p.m., under the leadership of Chairul Saleh, younger groups
and older groups gathered in the backroom Bacteriologi Laboratory which located
in Jalan Pegangsaaan Timur number 13, Jakarta. The younger group argued that
Indonesia must declared their independence immediately. But the older group
didn’t agree that. Because of that, independence should be discussed on PPKI
meeting on August 18, 1945.
Because there was a different opinion between older groups and younger groups,
younger groups brought Soekarno and Hatta to Rengasdengklok in early morning of
August 16, 1945. Rengasdengklok was chosen because it was located away from
Jakarta. Younger groups tried to push Soekarno and Hatta to declare Indonesian Independence.
After had a long discussion, Soekarno was willing to declare it after returning
to Jakarta. At that moment in Jakarta, Wikana from younger groups and Ahmad
Soebarjo from older groups made a negotiation. The results were that the
declaration of Indonesia Independence should be held in Jakarta. In addition,
Tadashi Maeda allowed his place for negotiations and he was willing to
guarantee their safety. Finally, Soekarno and Hatta were picked from
Rengasdengklok.
Text of Proclamation of Indonesia Independence formulated by Soekarno, Hatta,
and Ahmad Subarjo. Once the text was completed and approved, Sajuti Melik then
copied and typed the manuscript used a typewriter.
At first Proclamation of Indonesia Independence would be read at Ikala Field.
But looked at the road to the Ikada Field was guarded by japanese army. Finally,
they moved to residence of Soekarno at Jalan Pegangsaan Timur number 56
Jakarta.
On the day of Friday, August 17 1945, Soekarno read the Proclamation of
Indonesia Independence text and then connected with a short speech without
text. After that, Latif Hendra Ningrat and Soehoed was fluttering the flag
which had sewn by Mrs. Fatmawati. Then audience sang Indonesia Raya song
together. Finally the proclamation was heard throughout the country.
The proclamation of Indonesian independence
The proclamation of Indonesian independence was read at 10.00 a.m.
on Friday, 17 August 1945. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic
and armed resistance of the Indonesian National Revolution, fighting
against the forces of the Netherlands and pro-Dutch civilians, until
the latter officially acknowledged Indonesia's independence in 1949. In 2005,
the Netherlands declared that they had decided to accept de facto17 August
1945 as Indonesia's independence date. In a 2013 interview the Indonesian
historian Sukotjo, amongst others, asked the Dutch government to formally
acknowledge the date of independence as 17 August 1945. The United Nations, who
mediated in the conflict, formally acknowledge the date of independence as 27
December 1949.
The document was signed by Sukarno (who signed his name
"Soekarno" using the older Dutch orthography) and Mohammad Hatta, who
were appointed president and vice-president respectively the following day.
The draft was prepared only a few hours earlier, on the
night of 16 August, by Sukarno, Hatta, and Soebardjo, at Rear-Admiral Maeda
(Minoru) Tadashi's house, Miyako-Doori 1, Jakarta (now the "Museum of
the Declaration of Independence", JL. Imam Bonjol I, Jakarta). The
original Indonesian Declaration of Independence was typed by Sayuti Melik. Maeda
himself was sleeping in his room upstairs. He was agreeable to the idea
of Indonesia's independence, and had lent his house for the drafting of
the declaration. Marshal Terauchi, the highest-ranking Japanese leader
in South East Asia and son of Prime Minister Terauchi
Masatake, was however against Indonesia's independence, scheduled for 24
August.
While the formal preparation of the declaration, and the official
independence itself for that matter, had been carefully planned a few months
earlier, the actual declaration date was brought forward almost inadvertently
as a consequence of the Japanese unconditional surrender to the
Allies on 15 August following the Nagasaki atomic bombing. The historic
event was triggered by a plot, led by a few more radical youth activists such
as Adam Malik and Chairul Saleh, that put pressure on Sukarno and Hatta to
proclaim independence immediately. The declaration was to be signed by the 27
members of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI)
symbolically representing the new nation's diversity. The particular act was
apparently inspired by a similar spirit of the United States Declaration
of Independence. However, the idea was heavily turned down by the radical
activists mentioned earlier, arguing that the committee was too closely
associated with then soon to be defunct Japanese occupation rule, thus creating
a potential credibility issue. Instead, the radical activists demanded that the
signatures of six of them were to be put on the document. All parties involved
in the historical moment finally agreed on a compromise solution which only
included Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta as the co-signers in the name of the nation
of Indonesia.
Sukarno had initially wanted the declaration to be read at Ikada
Plain, the large open field in the centre of Jakarta, but due to unfounded
widespread apprehension over the possibility of Japanese sabotage,
the venue was changed to Sukarno's house at Pegangsaan Timur 56. There was
no concrete evidence for the growing suspicions, as the Japanese had already
surrendered to the Allies, The declaration of independence passed without a
hitch.
The proclamation at 56, Jalan Pegangsaan Timur, Jakarta, was heard
throughout the country because the text was secretly broadcast by Indonesian
radio personnel using the transmitters of the JAKARTA Hoso Kyoku radio station.
An English translation of the proclamation was broadcast overseas.
