The Solidarity of Indian Soldiers For Independent Indonesia
Hundreds of British soldiers from the Indian subcontinent went on strike when they were assigned to deal with the Indonesians. Some of them even defected to the Republican stronghold.
A day in March 1971. Major Z.A. Maulani and her colleague from KKO-AL, Major Suharmo Haryanto, visited the Indonesian Embassy (Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia) in Pakistan. When they were about to enter the embassy gate, the two of them were greeted with respect for the "Jaga jajar" of the Indonesian Embassy security guards.
When they got out of the car, they were shocked when they saw in the left pocket of the security guards, the guerrilla star was attached. It was the name of an award medal for an Indonesian soldier who had been actively involved in the War of Independence (1945-1949).
"After giving a perfect salute to them, as a sign of respect to seniors, I could not help myself to ask about the Guerrilla Stars they wore," said the Head of the State Intelligence Coordinating Agency for President B.J. Habibie.
One of them finally explained that in 1945-1949, they had joined the TNI-Polri and were active in the physical struggle against the Dutch military. Apparently, the security guards were British Muslim soldiers from the British Indian Army (BIA) who defected to the stronghold of the Republicans because they did not feel comfortable having to fight those of their religion.
The feeling of sympathy of the Muslim soldiers from the BIA had indeed arisen since the beginning of their arrival on the island of Java. That was one day in October 1945. A convoy of BIA convoys that passed through the streets of Bogor but was confronted by a group of warriors consisting of young children armed with several rifled rifles and machetes.
Instead of destroying the small convoy, the BIA soldiers were quickly able to surround and turn the young people to their knees. After gathering the prisoners, one of their officers gave a short lecture in front of the young people.
"It contains advice that our children do not fight because they say they sympathize with our struggle. It was also recommended by the officer that the children train first before going down in a real battle ... "said General (Ret) A.H Nasution in Around the War of Independence Volume 2.
According to Nasution, the sympathy of the British troops from the Indian subcontinent towards the struggle of the Indonesian people was certainly not without foundation. It's no secret that most of the Indians, at that time, held a dislike for the Dutch, who were enemies of the Indonesian people. This is related to the incident in South Africa, where racist treatment of Dutch descent took place strongly against people of Indian descent there.
But BIA history researchers in Indonesia such as Firdaus Sjam and Zahir Khan said precisely because it was the matter of religious equality that was the main trigger for the emergence of sympathy.
"This factor gave birth to their attitude to work hand in hand with republican warriors fighting against the invaders as one fisabilillah ..." wrote Sjam and Khan in the Role of Pakistan in the Indonesian Independence Revolutionary Period.
This was proven when a BIA section led by Lieutenant Abu Nawaz strongly refused the orders of his superiors to destroy the Jami Mosque located on Jalan Serdang, Medan. Instead of carrying out the orders of his superiors, the BIA section, whose entire Muslim army, defected to the enemy camp: Indonesian fighters.
"The destruction of the mosque was then carried out by other British troops ..." said Muhammad TWH, a senior journalist and historical observer in Medan.
Meanwhile, in North Jakarta, Private Ghulam Ali initially did not understand at all why the leaders of the British forces strictly forbade BIA soldiers from associating with local residents. The lack of understanding began to be answered when one day he was included in a patrol to a village.
"When we entered an empty house, we found basmallah calligraphy and a book of the Koran there. We were touched and there was a desire to help the people of Indonesia ... "recalled the retired Indonesian National Police, as written in the Bulletin of the Retired Contact Agency / Warakawuri-Polri Headquarters in the August 1986 edition.
The emergence of a sense of solidarity as a fellow Muslim and Asian nation made Muslim soldiers from India more desperate. November 1945, there was massive insubordination when the Allied Forces Commander in West Java ordered 400 BIA soldiers to leave for the Surabaya front. A few days earlier, 200 dissidents were carried out by 200 BIA soldiers by holding a sit-in and staging a strike.
"The six hundred soldiers were finally dealt with by the Allied Commander by sending them to a military camp on the island of Onrust, Thousand Islands," Muhammad Rivai wrote in Merdeka Atau Mati.
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| The deserters of British troops from India while detained by the Dutch military in Medan in 1947 (Netherlands National Archives) |
When they got out of the car, they were shocked when they saw in the left pocket of the security guards, the guerrilla star was attached. It was the name of an award medal for an Indonesian soldier who had been actively involved in the War of Independence (1945-1949).
"After giving a perfect salute to them, as a sign of respect to seniors, I could not help myself to ask about the Guerrilla Stars they wore," said the Head of the State Intelligence Coordinating Agency for President B.J. Habibie.
One of them finally explained that in 1945-1949, they had joined the TNI-Polri and were active in the physical struggle against the Dutch military. Apparently, the security guards were British Muslim soldiers from the British Indian Army (BIA) who defected to the stronghold of the Republicans because they did not feel comfortable having to fight those of their religion.
The feeling of sympathy of the Muslim soldiers from the BIA had indeed arisen since the beginning of their arrival on the island of Java. That was one day in October 1945. A convoy of BIA convoys that passed through the streets of Bogor but was confronted by a group of warriors consisting of young children armed with several rifled rifles and machetes.
Instead of destroying the small convoy, the BIA soldiers were quickly able to surround and turn the young people to their knees. After gathering the prisoners, one of their officers gave a short lecture in front of the young people.
"It contains advice that our children do not fight because they say they sympathize with our struggle. It was also recommended by the officer that the children train first before going down in a real battle ... "said General (Ret) A.H Nasution in Around the War of Independence Volume 2.
According to Nasution, the sympathy of the British troops from the Indian subcontinent towards the struggle of the Indonesian people was certainly not without foundation. It's no secret that most of the Indians, at that time, held a dislike for the Dutch, who were enemies of the Indonesian people. This is related to the incident in South Africa, where racist treatment of Dutch descent took place strongly against people of Indian descent there.
But BIA history researchers in Indonesia such as Firdaus Sjam and Zahir Khan said precisely because it was the matter of religious equality that was the main trigger for the emergence of sympathy.
"This factor gave birth to their attitude to work hand in hand with republican warriors fighting against the invaders as one fisabilillah ..." wrote Sjam and Khan in the Role of Pakistan in the Indonesian Independence Revolutionary Period.
This was proven when a BIA section led by Lieutenant Abu Nawaz strongly refused the orders of his superiors to destroy the Jami Mosque located on Jalan Serdang, Medan. Instead of carrying out the orders of his superiors, the BIA section, whose entire Muslim army, defected to the enemy camp: Indonesian fighters.
"The destruction of the mosque was then carried out by other British troops ..." said Muhammad TWH, a senior journalist and historical observer in Medan.
Meanwhile, in North Jakarta, Private Ghulam Ali initially did not understand at all why the leaders of the British forces strictly forbade BIA soldiers from associating with local residents. The lack of understanding began to be answered when one day he was included in a patrol to a village.
"When we entered an empty house, we found basmallah calligraphy and a book of the Koran there. We were touched and there was a desire to help the people of Indonesia ... "recalled the retired Indonesian National Police, as written in the Bulletin of the Retired Contact Agency / Warakawuri-Polri Headquarters in the August 1986 edition.
The emergence of a sense of solidarity as a fellow Muslim and Asian nation made Muslim soldiers from India more desperate. November 1945, there was massive insubordination when the Allied Forces Commander in West Java ordered 400 BIA soldiers to leave for the Surabaya front. A few days earlier, 200 dissidents were carried out by 200 BIA soldiers by holding a sit-in and staging a strike.
"The six hundred soldiers were finally dealt with by the Allied Commander by sending them to a military camp on the island of Onrust, Thousand Islands," Muhammad Rivai wrote in Merdeka Atau Mati.
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