Together in Struggle

Author - V Suryanarayan

Publisher - Prabhat Prakashan, Rs 300

The writer examines implications of the state of India-Indonesia ties around the time of Indian Independence, writes RUP NARAYAN DAS

At a time when India is re-engage the South-East Asian nations vigorously through its ‘Act East policy’, the book, Together in Struggle India and Indonesia, 1945-1949, is a welcome addition to the literature on the subject. The author of the book, Professor V Suryanarayan, is arguably one of the very few formidable authorities on South-east Asia in general and India-Indonesia relations, in particular. He was associated with the Center for South and South Asian Studies, Universities of Madras and was also a visiting Professor in several Universities in the United States and in India.

The book, which was released earlier this month at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, is indeed a mosaic of India-Indonesia relations. Written in lucid narrative, the book, consisting of 10 chapters, is a compelling reading. An insightful and illuminating foreword by Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) sets the tone and tenor of the book.

In the introduction to the book, the author bemoans the scant attention of western scholars with regard to the seminal contribution of India towards the liberation struggle of Indonesia and the seamless cultural and civilisational linkage between the two countries and their people. In this first chapter of the book, the author puts on record the invaluable contributions of four personalities in laying the strong foundation in the relations between the two countries, when India and Indonesia were fighting to liberate themselves from the clutches of imperialism and colonialism.

In the first place, he recounts the pioneering role of the veteran diplomat PRS Mani. Initially, Mani was working with the All India Radio from 1940-42, and later joined the Free Press Journal. Mani, to quote the author, was ‘the eyes and years of Jawaharlal Nehru’. Impressed with his knowledge and understanding of Indonesia, Nehru inducted him into the Indian Foreign Service. The author further writes President Sukarno complimented Mani by name in his Independence Day speech and thanked him for his support to the Indonesian cause. The second person was TG Narayanan the correspondent of The Hindu in South East Asia. Narayanan was very friendly with top Indonesian leaders Sukarno, Hatta and Sjahrir. The third person was none other than the legendary Biju Patnaik, who flew Sjaharir to the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi in 1947 by his Dakota. The author mentions that when Meghawati Sukarnoputri visited India as the President of India, she recalled that the name Meghawati-daughter of the clouds-was suggested by Patnaik. A grateful Indonesian nation conferred the title Bhumiputra (son of the soil) and offered Patnaik a “royal salute” in July 1980. The fourth person was Mohammad Yunus, a friend of Sukarno.

The author mentions the impact and influence of India and her leaders on Sukarno. Sukarno wrote, he quotes, “India and Gandhi frequently inspired me and our struggle for freedom, and in those lonely years, when I had been exiled from my own people, only because I sought freedom of my people or confined to death prison cell…, it was my strong belief in God and the inspiring spirit of India that raised my hopes and my own faith in our cause.” It would have been better if the author could have given the citation of this important quote. The author further observes that what brings together the counties is the credo of secularism. He writes that India and Indonesia were two countries, where nationalists leaders, as a matter of deliberate choice, rejected majority religion as the basis of nationhood and resolved to make their countries secular states.

In the second chapter on cultural interaction, he quotes from an article written by President Sukarno and published in an English daily to substantiate the cultures and civilisations convergence between the two countries and their people. Sukarno wrote, “In the veins of my people flows the blood of Indian ancestors and the culture that we possess is seeped through and through with Indian influences. Two thousand years ago, people from your country came to Yavadvipa and Suvarnadvipa in the spirit of brotherly love... We learnt then to worship the very Gods that you worship still and we fashioned a culture that even today is largely identical with your own. Later, we turned to Islam, but that religion too was brought to us by people coming from both sides of the Indus.” The author mentions yet another anecdote narrated by the danseuse Dr Padma Subramaniam when ZA Bhutto tried to build close relations with Indonesia on the basis of Islamic solidarity, and Sukarno responded, “Yes, I am a Muslim by faith, but I am a Hindu by cultural inheritance.”

Due to paucity of space, only a passing reference is made to other chapters of the book without compromising the overall contents of the book. In chapter three on imperialist phase, the author alludes to the visit of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore to Indonesia in 1927. The fourth chapter delineates Indian solidarity with Indonesia during the nationalist phase. In the fifth chapter, the author writes how heroes from Indian epics such as Arjuna, Bhima, Gotokcha, Indra, Hanuman and a host of others moulded the personality of Sukaerno. Quoting Sukarno, the author mentions that life, ideas and ideals of Indian leaders such Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Benerjee, Gopal Krishna Gokhlale, Aurobindo, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lajpat Rai etc, had inspired and influenced the Indonesian leaders. The author further writes that Sukarno highlighted the military achievements of Samudra Gupta, Shivaji and Akbar. In the sixth chapter, he recalls the humanitarian gesture of Indonesia when it offered rice to India in 1946 at a time of acute shortage of food grains.

In the seventh chapter on ‘India-Window to the Outside World’, the author recalls the role of India to internationalise the yearning of the Indonesian people for the liberation of their motherland at the Asian Relations Conference in March-April 1947. The Conference was not official in character as it was sponsored by the Interim Government. Nevertheless it was attended by twenty-eight countries. The Indonesian leaders were very happy because it was the first International Conference in which they were participating.

In the eighth chapter on ‘Together in Struggle’, the author alludes to the initial phase of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries. In this chapter, he also refers to the Indian medical assistance to Indonesia in August 1947. In the penultimate chapter “Indian Diplomacy at its Best”, the author analyses, among other issues, India’s initiative and role at the Conference on Indonesia, which New Delhi organised in January 1949. In the concluding chapter titled ‘Bliss was it in that Dawn to be Alive’, the author very fondly recalls that President Sukarno was the chief guest at the first Republic Day parade on January 26, 1950. The next day Delhi University conferred the honorary doctorate on him.

The reviewer is an independent foreign policy analyst. Views are personal