The Feminist in Two Councils (Umi Sardjono in the Konstituante and DPR)

Hussein Abri The Feminist in Two Councils Monday, October 4, 2021 As a legislator, Umi Sardjono was keen to push regulations in favor of gender equality and women’s protection. She was reluctant to support East Timor’s independence. arsip tempo: 179233733058.7978828 DURING her three years as a House of Representatives (DPR) member, Suharti Sumodiwirjo—better known as Umi Sardjono—showed her strength further. She aggressively pushed for changes to immigration laws. “Because women who wanted to go abroad had to get their husband’s permission first,” said Umi as quoted by Ruth Indiah Rahayu, head of the Education Division of IndoProgress Institute for Social Research and Education, an organization that focuses on historical research, on Saturday, September 25. According to Ruth, Umi believed that women must not be restricted from traveling abroad. At the time many Indonesian women began to study abroad or involved in international events such as agriculture conference in Moscow, the Soviet Union, in 1950s. Umi often discussed immigration rules with her colleagues in the DPR. Other Council members welcomed her proposal. Ruth said the Indonesian Nationalist Party, the Indonesian Communist Party, youth groups, and students supported the regulation. “The struggle to pass the regulation was not hard, because there were many women in the DPR,” Ruth said. Umi shared the story with Ruth during 2002 to 2008. It takes quite a long time because she was not so open about her past. The New Order prison made her anxious when asked about her political activities and the organization she led, Indonesian Women’s Movement or Gerwani Umi Sardjono’s biodata as a member of the DPR from the PKI with member number 86. DPR RI Doc. In the DPR, Umi was part of the Gotong Royong Faction, which consisted of community representatives. From 1959 to 1965, she was a legislator representing women’s groups. In the parliament, Umi often fought for gender equality. In addition to immigration regulations, she also pushed for the discussion and ratification of the Marriage Bill. The bill’s draft was actually submitted to the DPR in 1946. However, the discussion was endless, and there were long debates in the parliament regarding the age limit for marriage, as well as the provisions for monogamy and polygamy. “Umi and Gerwani wanted the Marriage Law to prohibit polygamy,” Ruth said. In the book Laporan Umum Gerwani: Meluaskan Aksi-aksi untuk Memperkuat Tuntutan Hak-hak Wanita serta Anak, dan Perdamaian (Gerwani General Report: Expanding Actions to Strengthen Demands for the Rights of Women and Children, as well as Peace), Umi mentioned a number of reasons for the immediate adoption of the Marriage Law. She reiterated this statement during the 3rd Gerwani Plenary Session in June 1956. Umi believed, as written in the book, the rule was needed to protect women. At that time, Gerwani found a number of cases of forced marriages in many areas, among them was Maisuri. This underage girl was forced by her father to marry a man who already had three wives and 12 children in 1955. Gerwani also found around 115 cases of marriages that harmed women. The cases were found in Jakarta, West Java and Central Java. Most of these are about women whose rights were neglected after divorce, and cases of polygamy that the first wife did not know of. In the book Penghancuran Gerakan Perempuan Indonesia (The Destruction of Indonesian Women’s Movement), Saskia E. Wieringa noted that in 1956 half of marriages ended in divorce. In addition, there were 60,000 cases of men that had second marriages. Based on the data, Umi proposed that the minimum age for marriage for women should be 21. According to Ruth Indiah Rahayu, the proposal was the result of Umi’s comparative study to China before becoming a member of the Council. At that time, Umi saw progress from the communist revolution in China, one of which was the age of marriage. Twenty-one was an age considered as proper for women to be married. “Ready in terms of medical and maturity,” said Umi, as quoted by Ruth. Umi and Gerwani’s ideas were opposed by Islamic women organizations in the Indonesian Women’s Congress (Kowani) and parliament, such as the Aisyiyah Muhammadiyah and Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama. The organizations opposed the ban on polygamy, citing that in Islam there is no prohibition against having more than one wife. Likewise, regarding the age of marriage, opinions differed. A number of Islamic women organizations and members of the DPR even suggested a far younger minimum age for marriage for women i.e. 12. By the time the DPR plenary session was held in 1965, the Marriage Law was still not passed. At that time, the session leader from the Masyumi Party, Abikoesno Tjokrosoejoso, suspended the discussion of the draft regulation. It was not until 1974, when Umi was still in prison, that Indonesia finally had a Marriage Law. Law No. 1/1974 regulates polygamy. A man who wants to have more than one wife must submit an application to his local court. The letter must include a permission from his wife, as well a guarantee that he can provide for all his wives and children. The minimum age for marriage was set at 16. Umi also pushed for laws governing land. In the report of the 3rd Gerwani Plenary Session, which took place June 1956, Umi said that many female farmers lived in poverty as they, who have worked on farmlands since the Japanese occupation, did not have certainty about the right to own lands. The condition became worse after Indonesia participated in the Round Table Conference with the Netherlands in November 1949. The lands managed by the farmers had to be handed over to the owners of capital. Those who refuse to hand over their lands were expelled or arrested by police. Therefore, Umi became one of staunch supporters for the ratification of the Basic Agrarian Law. To Ruth, Umi expressed her desire for women to have rights to land distribution, land ownership, and profit sharing. “She supported the struggle of women farmers,” Ruth said. The law was signed by Sukarno on September 24, 1960. In the DPR, Umi often argued with her colleagues. One of them was with Fransisca Fanggidae, a DPR member from the Gotong Royong Faction. Fransisca was a representative of the journalist group appointed by Sukarno to become members of the DPR. Head of the Women’s Archives and History Room, Ita Fatia Nadia, said that Francisca once told her that she asked Umi to support the independence of East Timor, now Timor-Leste, in 1963. At the time, East Timor was still colonized by the Portuguese. Fransisca said that the conditions there were similar to Indonesia when it was colonized by the Dutch and Japanese. According to Ita, Fransisca had hoped Umi would support the idea because of her anti-colonial principles. But Umi rejected the idea. “Let’s not talk about that now. Let’s talk about Indonesia first,” Ita said, quoting Fransisca’s statement about the reply from Umi Sardjono, on September 28. Ita met Frasisca in the Nedherlands in 1997 and 2001. Fransisca had been in exile and could not come back to Indonesia since 1965. The government repealed her passport because she was considered as Indonesian Communist Party’s (PKI) supporter. Fransisca told Ita that she was disappointed by Umi Sardjono’s decision. “According to Fransisca, Umi was too dogmatic and didn’t understand the meaning of imperialism,” said Ita. Even though they had different views, the two women remained friends until the end of their lives. In several occasion Fransisca sent letters and some Euros for Umi through her acquaintances. She passed away in November 2013 in the Netherlands, two years after her best friend Umi died on March 11, 2011. BEFORE becoming a member of the DPR, Umi Sardjono was a member of the Constituent Assembly from the PKI on December 15, 1955. The Constituent Assembly’s job was to draw up a new Constitution to replace the Temporary Constitution of 1950. In addition to Umi, there were four members of Gerwani who also became members of the Council after the 1955 General Election. They were Suharti Suwarto, Mudikdio, Sundari Rachman, and Salawati Daud. Like Umi, they were also affiliated with the PKI. In her speech published in Laporan Umum Gerwani: Meluaskan Aksi-aksi untuk Memperkuat Tuntutan Hak-hak Wanita serta Anak, dan Perdamaian, Umi said that the election of a number of Gerwani members was inseparable from the increase in PKI’s votes. In the 1955 General Election, the PKI had the fourth most votes with 16.4 percent. The top three parties were the Indonesian Nationalist Party with 22.3 percent of the votes, the Masyumi Party with 20.9 percent, and the Nahdlatul Ulama Party with 18.4 percent. Umi also said that 50 percent of the total 37.78 million voters at that time were women. This result was achieved because many groups, including Gerwani, convinced female voters of the importance of general elections. In the same book, Umi also expressed her gratitude to the PKI and its voters because they helped Gerwani to be represented in the parliament. “The executive council propose to the plenary to convey a profound gratitude to the PKI and its voters who have helped them winning (the election),” said Umi during Gerwani 3rd plenary meeting in June 1956. Umi Sardjono (seated, second from left) with Gerwani executives at the 3rd Gerwani Congress in Solo, Central Java, December 1957. Uchikowati Doc. Ruth Indiah Rahayu said the Constituent Assembly did not last long. President Sukarno dissolved the Constituent Assembly because discussions on the Constitution had not reached a consensus. In 1959, Sukarno issued Presidential Decree No. 150, which reinstated the 1945 Constitution. “Sukarno then formed a new parliament and cabinet,” Ruth said. Umi was elected as a DPR member representing women’s groups. Umi’s position reached the end following the events of September 30, 1965. She was arrested by the army, after being accused of getting involved in the murder of several army generals in Lubang Buaya, Jakarta. With her arrest, Umi Sardjono’s political career ended. Hussein Abri [end of article; site navigation trimmed]