IN Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto, one finds rebellion and compromise, at the same time. He repudiated the attributes of feudalism: putting aside the title of ‘raden’, protesting against laku dodok or kowtowing before an aristocrat—and demanding equality for the people of the Indies. He then urged his followers to wear ‘European clothes,’ as a symbol that the “native people are human beings like the Dutch.”

The struggle for equality can clearly be found in the speeches and writings of Tjokro. In 1914, in Doenia Bergerak (The World Awakens), he wrote this poem:

You sleep soundly, praised as the gentlest nation on earth.
Your blood is sucked and your meat eaten, so all that remains is skin.
Who does not praise the cow and buffalo?
People can order them to work, and people eat their meat.
Yet if you demand your rights, people think you arrogant, but you refuse to be oppressed.
Your language is praised as polite and refined the world over.
You address other nations in a high language, yet others address you in a lowly manner.
And wanting to turn that around, would make you insolent

Then, in a “loud, baritone voice so he could be heard by thousands of listeners without a microphone,” Tjokroaminoto sowed the seeds of a movement for equality. “It is not right for Indonesia to be fed only for its milk,” he exhorted in a 1916 speech in Bandung. “It is not right to exploit this country without being accountable to its people, particularly its indigenous people who are given no right to participate in political issues which affect their lives…”

Yet, unlike other radical leaders of the movement, Tjokro acted ‘under the protection’ of the Dutch government in motivating his movement. He chose to ‘cooperate’ in developing Sarekat Islam, the organization founded by Samanhoedi, a Batik entrepreneur from Laweyan, Solo, in 1912. Together with Douwe Adolf Rinkes, advisor to the Dutch Governor-General on indigenous affairs, he established branches of Sarekat. Four years after it was founded, the association opened more than 180 branches with 700,000 members, 20 times its original number. Tjokro used almost half of his time in nurturing this organization—although its development was not always smooth.

Unlike the elitist Boedi Oetomo which was founded several years earlier in 1908, Sarekat Islam brought the ‘nationalist’ spirit to a wider public. Aristocrats and common people alike had their first experience at seeing a new world, when the Javanese-Dutch hierarchy was abolished. Leaders of the Sarekat Islam sat at the same level as Dutch officials, while proclaiming the Indonesians to be human beings, just like the Dutch. At that time, the indigenous people were dubbed ‘one-quarter human being.’

The common people had a new identity. They began to enthusiastically attend Sarekat meetings. Mas Marco Kartodikromo, writing in Student Hidjo described in great detail the 1913 Sarekat congress in Solo: “At five thirty in the evening the NIS station in Balapan, Solo was full of people, who had come to pick up passengers arriving on the train. Dozens of horse-drawn carriages, all decked with banners with ‘SI’ written on them, indicated that the carriages had been rented by the Sarekat Islam association.

People who were not members of SI were forced to walk. There was not one horse carriage that did not have an SI banner. All Muslims seemed to show their solidarity with one another. On the streets, SI members showed how happy they felt. Then the SI carriages headed for Kampung Kabangan, the place where the vergadering Bestuur—congress—was held.”

Tjokro’s writings themselves were not that extraordinary. He mostly wrote in a formal way, including the book, Islam dan Sosialisme, written at the height of the conflict between the Sarekat Islam and the Red Sarekat Islam. What was special about Tjokro was his oratory, which could cast a spell over an audience, and inspired the likes of Sukarno—his student, boarder, and his son-in-law, who would become the first president of the Republic of Indonesia.

With his speeches, Tjokro inspired nationalism and hope. People regarded him as the ‘Ratu Adil’ the mythical ‘king of justice.’ The Dutch government called him the ‘King without a Crown.’ Today, we remember him as the father of the nation’s founders. “All of the leaders who went their different paths in the 1940s had at one time shared a meal at the home of Tjokro,” said historian Anhar Gonggong. Among them were nationalist figures like Sukarno, Musso, Kartosoewirjo and Tan Malaka.

During the early and difficult years of the Sarekat Islam, Tjokroaminoto was seen as a ‘guardian angel’ by the activists. He joined the organization in May 1912 at the invitation of Haji Samanhoedi, who sought well-educated people with experience to strengthen the organization.

Samanhoedi was born in Sondokoro, Karanganyar, Central Java to a family of batik merchants, who moved to Laweyan when he was 2 years old. He completed two years of basic education then helped his father sell batik cloth until he was able to start his own business. He was successful and opened branches in various cities. Facing competition from Chinese merchants, he formed the Sarekat Islam.

Under the merchant Samanhoedi the organization ran with little control. Although it had noble aims, the leadership did not reach out to the members. The organization also failed to expand its activities, limiting itself to competing with Chinese merchants and aristocrats.

After joining the Sarekat Islam, Tjokroaminoto was assigned to create a charter. He came up with a clear organizational structure, rapidly becoming the most influential person in the association. The extraordinary expansion of Sarekat during the first half of 1913 was probably triggered by bumiputra (indigenous) solidarity expressed in newspapers and meetings.

With a voice that was militant, convincing, energetic and pleasant to hear, Tjokro was unparalleled. At the congress in Solon, he eventually took over from Samanhoedi, who was named honorary chairperson, a position with no authority.

Born in Bakur, Madiun, on August 16, 1882, Tjokro came from an aristocratic family. He completed school in government administration in Magelang, Central Java. He then became a government employee as secretary to the regent of Ngawi for three years, before being promoted to regent himself. But his rebellious character soon surfaced, so he left, moving to Surabaya, where he worked for a Dutch company.

Tjokro took courses at night, studying mechanical engineering. Having mastered those skills, he worked in a sugar factory on the outskirts of the city. When Samanhoedi approached him in May 1912, he was already known for his radical sentiments, opposing all forms of feudal behavior, asserting his equality to everyone else. His attitude led people to dub him Sarekat Islam’s Gatotkoco, a hero in the Hindu mythology, Mahabharata

As chairman, Tjokro lived simply. His house was in the middle of a densely populated neighborhood, nearby Kali Mas, the river that divides the city of Surabaya. He lived with his wife, Suharsikin and four children—Utari, Utaryo Anwar, Harsono, and Suyud Ahmad. The family lived in the front. The back part of the house was divided into 10 small rooms rented out to young students, such as Sukarno, Alimin, Muso, Soeherman Kartowisastro, and Semaoen. The youths soon discovered a brand-new world through the guidance of Tjokro, who was the first to lead movements, earning him the title, ‘King without a Crown.’

Close to a centenary after Tjokroaminoto joined the Sarekat Islam which propelled him to historical prominence, Indonesians would do well to continue defending the equality he fought to achieve. Today, it is not equality with the colonizers that we must strive for, but equality among the diverse groups of this republic.