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The Indische Partij (IP) or Indies Party () was a short-lived but influential political organisation founded in 1912 by the Indo people journalist E.F.E. Douwes Dekker and the Javanese physicians Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo and Soewardi Soerjaningrat. As one of the first political organisations pioneering Indonesian nationalism in the colonial Dutch East Indies it inspired several later organisations such as the Nationaal Indische Party (N.I.P.) or Sarekat Hindia in 1919 and Indo Europeesch Verbond (I.E.V.) in 1919. Its direct successor was Insulinde.
According to Dekker, if Indo's wanted to change their fate, then they had to work together with the Bumiputera to bring about change. The Indies were not just for the full-blooded Dutch, but for everyone who felt they were an Indies (Hindia or Indian). This view became the basis of the nationalist ideology espoused by the Indische Partij.
Criticism of colonial life dates back to the early 20th century. Suwardi Suryaningrat criticised the Dutch East Indies government in his writings. Various writings containing his views on the unequal life of colonial society were published in newspapers and magazines such as Het Tijdschrift and De Expres. Suwardi was of the view that the domination of the Dutch totok group over Indo and Bumiputera people must end because it was based on the arbitrariness of the colonial government. In his writings, Suwardi pressed on the importance of Indies nationalism in every political struggle so as to end the exploitation carried out by the government. Meanwhile, Tjipto Mangunkusumo criticised it through his writings published in De Locomotief newspaper. According to him, Javanese society was difficult to progress because it was confined by feudalism and society as a whole experienced excessive exploitation. This led to so much poverty and backwardness that he thought colonialism had to end. According to him, the way to end colonialism was through political struggle. This is what caused Tjipto Mangunkusumo to leave Budi Utomo who did not share his views. Then he met with Dekker and Suwardi Suryaningrat who were like-minded and formed the Indische Partij.
Cipto Mangunkusumo joined Surabaya with 70 other people. He travelled all the way from Malang to meet his old friend because he saw the similarity in his political vision with Dekker. Meanwhile, Suwardi joined because Dekker was impressed by his writings in De Expres and Oetoesan Hindia. In November 1912, both were drawn to Bandung to become directors of the daily De Expres.
Dekker gave speeches at vergadering to attract the masses and this was new in the Dutch East Indies. At the vergadering in Bandung, Dekker said that the founding of the Indische Partij was a declaration of war: light against darkness; civilisation against tyranny; good against evil; colonial tax-paying slaves against the tax-collecting state, the Netherlands. His passionate speeches easily attracted large crowds. At a vergadering in Semarang on 18 September 1912, around 300 people came to listen to Dekker's speech. Those who could not join Budi Utomo because they were not Javanese were welcome in the Indische Partij; non-Muslims who were reluctant to join Sarekat Islam could move freely in the Indische Partij; progressives of Budi Utomo who were dissatisfied with the organisation could easily find political satisfaction in the Indische Partij; and revolutionary Sarekat Islamists had their wishes fulfilled by joining the Indische Partij.
Due to the great enthusiasm of the people of the Dutch East Indies for the Indische Partij, within four months it had 25 branches with 5,775 members. The Surabaya branch of Indische Partij at that time had 827 members, Semarang 1,375, Jakarta 809, and Bandung 740. Indische Partij could attract up to 7,000 members and around 1,000 of them were Bumiputera. Indische Partij also had 30 branches throughout the Dutch East Indies. Not only that, Indische Partij also accepted members of Chinese, Arab and other descent.Slamet Muljana (2007) Sejarah. Sumatera Barat: Yudhistira Ghalia Indonesia. Hal 37-38. Under the slogan of “Indie voor Indiers” membership was opened to Indo-Europeans, Dutch permanent settlers, Indo-Chinese natives and all indigenous peoples. Inspired by the leading role Eurasian had played in the independence struggle in the Philippines, the IP envisioned a similar uniting role for the Indo Eurasians in the Indies. Over 5,000 of its 7,000 members were Indos.
Douwes Dekker however also warned the Indo community not to carry on the racist notions indoctrinated by the colonial system.
In 1912 the removal of the Batavia school for Civil Servants from the Dutch East Indies and the ban on establishing a Medical school for Indo-Europeans and Indo-Chinese had contributed to a strong undercurrent of dissatisfaction and the IP membership numbers were rising speedily. Within a month the Party's magazine had a 1,000 paying subscribers. In fear of a Malay language edition and collaboration with the ‘Sarekat Islam’ the colonial authorities stepped up its efforts to ban the IP.
After the end of the propaganda journey, on 25 December 1912 a meeting of Indische Partij representatives was held. In this meeting, the Articles of Association and the party's management were drawn up. The composition of the board was as follows:
The black flag was used as the party flag. Some interpreted the black colour as identical to the colour of Indier skin. There are also those who interpret it as the colour of mourning because the country has not yet become independent. In the right corner, there is a tri-colour strip of green-red-blue. The green colour symbolises the goal to be achieved, namely prosperity, the red colour symbolises the spirit of the party's courage, and the blue colour symbolises the indier's loyalty to his homeland. The Indies was a national home for all people of Bumiputera, Dutch, Chinese, Arab and other descent who recognised the Indies as their homeland and nationality. This understanding emulsified into what was known as Indisch Nationalism, which later through the Indonesian Association and the Indonesian National Party became Indonesisch Nationalism or Indonesian Nationalism.
On 25 December 1912, the Indische Partij leaders went to the Bogor Palace to gain recognition from the Dutch East Indies government. This was important so that the Indische Partij would not be considered a wild and unsettling association. Upon seeing Dekker's application for legal recognition of the Indische Partij, the government assigned its advisor on indigenous affairs, Dr G.H.J Hazeu, to investigate Dekker. On 13 January 1913, a report on Dekker containing his personal background, ideas and ideals as well as the influence of his propaganda on the people of the Dutch East Indies was submitted to Governor-General, Alexander Idenburg.
On 4 March 1913, Governor-General Idenburg officially rejected the Indische Partij board's application to obtain legal entity status by referring to article 111 of the Regerings-Reglement or Government Regulation of 1854. The use of the article itself surprised the Indische Partij board because the Dutch East Indies government had long intended to abandon the article.
After learning of the rejection decision, on 5 March, Dekker and the other board members held a discussion about the next step. The meeting resulted in a decision to change the wording of article 2 regarding the purpose of the Indische Partij. After that, Dekker went back to Idenburg, but was again rejected in a decision letter dated 11 March 1913 on the grounds that although the wording of article 2 was changed, it did not in any way intend to change the basis and spirit of the organisation. On 13 March, Dekker tried a third time but was still rejected. At that time Dekker questioned whether the future government would grant independence to the colonies. Idenburg shook his head and stated that the issue of independence for the Dutch East Indies did not matter.Slamet Muljana (2008) ‘’ Kesadaran Nasional; Dari Kolonialisme Sampai Kemerdekaan (Jilid 1) Yogyakarta: Lkis Pelangi Aksara. Hal 97-98.
The triumvirate continued to voice their criticism of the government through De Expres. For example, when the Dutch East Indies government wanted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dutch independence from Napoleon Bonaparte in the Dutch East Indies by collecting money from the people, they formed the ‘Bumiputera Committee' in July 1913 headed by Tjipto. This committee later congratulated the queen and asked her to revoke article 111 of the R.R. and immediately convene an Indies Parliament.
Meanwhile, Suwardi Suryaningrat wrote an article satirising the Dutch East Indies government entitled Als ik eens nederlander Was or ‘If I were a Dutchman’. The contents of Suwardi's writing include:
Then Tjipto Mangunkusumo also wrote an article entitled Kracht of Vrees? which means ‘Power or Fear?’. As a result, they were both arrested by the Dutch and exiled. Later Dekker protested against the arrest of his two friends and wrote Onze Helden: Tjipto Mangunkusumo en R.M. Suwardi Suryaningrat (Our Heroes: Tjipto Mangunkusumo and R.M. Suwardi Suryaningrat). He to was arrested.
The activities of the committee initiated by this triumvirate were considered dangerous by the government so that based on article 48 of the R.R, Governor-General Idenburg sentenced them to exile. Initially 18 August 1913 on domestic exile, and then changed to foreign exile on 27 August, to the Netherlands. With the exile of the Indische Partij leaders, the Indische Partij's work in Indonesia ended. Van Deventer likened the organisation to a stillborn baby, meaning that the Indische Partij could not prove its greatness amidst the national movement organisations because the Dutch East Indies government had already dissolved it.
The exile of E.F.E. Douwes Dekker was lifted in August 1917, Suwardi Suryaningrat in July 1918, and Dr Tjipto Mangunkusumo in July 1914. They were able to remain politically active and eventually return to the Dutch East Indies. Upon arrival in the Dutch East Indies, Dr Tjipto Mangunkusumo engaged in politics and later became a member of the PNI. Meanwhile, Dekker and Suwardi plunged into education. They each founded the ‘Ksatrian Instituut’ school and the Taman Siswa school, which meant strengthening the ranks of private schools that had been pioneered by the Muhammadiyah school. Tjipto became future president Sukarno's second political mentor, after an imprisonment in Banda Islands he died in 1943. After Indonesia's declaration of independence in 1945 Douwes Dekker, now named Danoedirdja Setiaboeddhi to sound Indonesian, became minister of state in the cabinet of Indonesian prime minister Sjahrir. Soewardi became Indonesian minister of education in 1949, having changed his name to Ki Hadjar Dewantara in 1922.
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