Wawancara Maria Ulfah Santoso: PKI dan Gerwani Berusaha Menguasai Kowani (Tempo, sekitar 1977; terjemahan JPRS)

Title: JPRS (1977) - Indonesian press item on Kowani and Gerwani (Maria interview) [Translations on South and East Asia 710-730, HathiTrust coo.31924082071717] Source: HathiTrust Digital Library (full view, US government work), page OCR text via text-only view Volume: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924082071717 Date retrieved: 2026-10-17 Note: page-image PDFs could not be downloaded (HathiTrust temporarily blocked image downloads); OCR text only. Page #268 Soebandrio's Advice "At that time I felt free, for my adopted child had become an engineer and had married. That was in 1959. Then I began to think about keeping house again," Maria told Mansur Amin, a TEMPO reporter. Maria's union with Santoso had not been blessed with children, and they adopted Santoso's nephew, Darmawan. Early in 1962 Soebadio was being held in Madiun by the Sukarno government together with Moh. Roem, Prawoto Mangkusasmito, Mochtar Lubis and others. The wives and families of the prisoners were allowed to visit them. "But Soebadio had no wife and only his brother and mother came to visit him. His situation could have been different, and I am always drawn to people who are in trouble," she said. She visited Madiun but the visits did not always go smoothly, for only wives were permitted to visit on a regular basis of once a month. "On the advice of Dr Soebandrio, whom I knew, I wrote a letter to Bung Karno asking for permission to marry Soebadio," Maria said. Understand that this was a marriage to a political prisoner and that Dr Soebandrio was then deputy prime minister and the head of the Central Intelligence Bureau (BPI), which was holding Soebadio. "I made the decision to marry probably late in 1963, in October or November." And apparently Bung Karno gave his permission for Soebadio was given a 10-day leave and, escorted by Djoko Santoso of the BPI, arrived in Jakarta on 8 January 1964. The marriage was performed in Maria's house on the 10th and they stayed there until the leave expired. Soebadio, of course, had to return to his place of detention in Madiun. Maria was born in Serang on 18 August 1911 to a Banten family with a long lineage. She has had a determined nature since she was small. She would often have differences of opinion with her father, Moehammad Achmad, the head of Kuningan district, and her father would often admit that his daughter was right. Maria got into the women's movement at a young age. She attended the Indonesian Womans Congress in Yogyakarta and she taught at the People's Normal School and the Muhammadiyah Normal School in Jakarta. "At that congress I got to know some of the leaders of the national movement, such as Wilopo, Soemanang and others," she said. And since the Dutch considered the congress to be part of the national movement, the PID (Politieke Inlichtingen Dienst, Dutch secret police) were watching it. Maria herself did not escape the surveillance of the PID, although she was not a member of any political party. Gerwani Worked Diligently The upshot was that Maria's father, the district head, was summoned by Resident van der Plaas and asked to account for the actions of his daughter. "My father said: 'She is grown up now and I can't stop her'," Maria said. "I am happy that my father was progressive and never forbade me to join the national movement." 47 Page #269 The district head subsequently provided convincing proof of his progressive ideas. After he retired Moehammad Achmad joined Parindra (Partai Indonesia Raya), which was then known as a nationalist party. "The result of this was that at that time many people became upset over the matter of a retired district head joining a nationalist party that was opposed to the colonialists," Maria said proudly. Her acquaintance with nationalist leaders during the Dutch period encouraged Maria to enter the world of politics. Later, "I got to know Bung Sjahrir well and was greatly attracted by his ideas, although at that time I was not yet a member of the PSI," Maria said. During this period Maria was a widow and was busy with women's organizations. Perwari [Republic of Indonesia Women's League) was the first organization in which she became an active member. So when she was appointed minister of social affairs, "I did not represent the GWS but was only a member of Perwari," she explained. The GWS or Socialist Women's Movement was the women's auxiliary of the PSI. She was also active in Kowani (Indonesian Women's Congress] as an individual representative. Beginning in 1952 she was active for 11 years in leading this organization, "but during this period PKI and Gerwani worked diligently to gain control of Kowani and I finally withdrew completely," she said. Maria is again active in Kowani, but only as an advisor. It was not until 1955 that she became an active member of a political organization, the PSI. Maria and Soebadio have not had any children. They live on the money they receive from their pensions, she as a former minister and member of the Supreme Advisory Council and he as a former member of Parliament. How much do they receive a month? Is it enough? "Yes, it's enough," she replies with a smile. Certainly it is more than adequate for during the last 10 years this small family has had savings on deposit in a bank that are the equivalent of the price of a house in the Menteng area. During the last few months her husband has been on a trip around the world. He is gathering material for a book on periods in the struggle for independence that have not been written about. He is scheduled to return to Indonesia around the middle of February. Meanwhile Maria has returned to the profession she has dreamed about since she was young: protecting the rights of women through the law. 5458 CSO: 4913 48 Page #270 INDONESIA EDITORIAL COMMENTS ON PARTY PLATFORMS Jakarta MERDEKA in Indonesian 28 Feb 77 p 5 [Editorial: "The Problem of Land Is the Problem of the People"] [Text] The election campaign began on 24 February. The attitude displayed by the three political organizations that are going into the election is one of calmness. The voters who are watching them also are calm. The ones who seem to be somewhat less than calm are the government officials, for they are devoting maximum attention to efforts aimed at preserving calmness, tranquility and stability during the election period. The two parties and Golkar have begun to go to the people with their campaign ideas, and the wares that they are peddling to the public are very interesting. The PDI has taken up the land problem. This problem, apparently now being resurrected, is always complex, especially when viewed in terms of the function and and benefit of land when the majority of the people are concerned. which represent the people over The PPP wants democratic controls, and especially control by Parliament and the regional legislative assemblies "executive agencies." Obviously it is referring to the government and its apparatus. While Golkar issues ideas and statements that are representative of the position of a "strong man," a "Hercules." With a wave of the hand it guarantees there will be no pressure or coercion. Propounding moral concepts in the interests of the majority, Golkar proclaims itself to be an organization that is close to the people and that is filled with a burning desire for development. For the people the issue is: what kind of development, and for what purpose, and for whom? And, is this democratic political line the same in word and in deed? The prominence being given to the land problem in the PDI campaign is interesting to note. "The implementation of the basic agrarian law and of the city planning and land use law must be intensified," they say. To the best of our knowledge the basic agrarian law is not being implemented, and so its implementation cannot be intensified. And because it is not being 49