Page 52 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

FROM VOLKSRAAD TO THE CENTRAL INDONESIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
(1917–1949)

on November 20, 1941, and “The Main Agreement between the Army and
the Navy concerning military rule in occupied territories”, dated Novem-
ber 26, 1941.

According to the documents, the military administration on Java was
governed by the Commander of the 16 Army, whose code was “Osamu
th
Group”. During the occupation, he was known as the Gunshireikan or
Saiko Shikikan (Commander-in-Chief), but the day-to-day governance

was carried out by the Head of Military Administration called the Gun- Volksraad Assembly discussed
seikan. Saiko Shikikan set the rules called Osamu Seirei, while the rules about sugar sales regulation.
issued by Gunseikan were called Osamu Kanrei. The regulations were (Source: De Sumatra Post,
30 January 1933)
published in Kan Fo, the state-owned newspaper, an official publication
by the Gunseikanhu (Office of the Head of the Military Administration).

The Japanese approximately three-and-a-half-year occupation of In-
donesia impacted the collective memory of the nation, both negatively
and positively. The cruelty of the Japanese military rule in Indonesia was
documented in historical records, taking the form of the romusha and
the pillaging of people’s wealth for Japanese interests. Women were also
forced into sexual slavery, becoming jugun ianfu or “comfort women” .

Still, the Japanese occupation also presented Indonesian youth with op-
portunities, such as being trained for Defenders of the Homeland (PETA)
army, being brought to the battlefield as members of the Heiho or auxil-
iary soldiers to the Japanese troops.

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