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The emblem of the Partai   two: First, the Party Board which served   Alfatah and a number of Muhammadiyah             neutral position vis-à-vis the existing   rule Muslims who engaged in politics    Office of the Central
                 Bulan Bintang (PBB,      as the board of supervisors (Majelis    leaders under the leadership of Kyai Haji             parties; nonetheless, according to other   were always supervised, the Japanese   Board of Partai Bulan
                 Crescent Star Party).    Tahkim, or Arbitration Assembly) and    Mas Mansur sent a proposal to the PSI                 members, their support for political   government had different policies. The     Bintang (PBB, Crescent
                                          second Lajnah Tanfidziyah (Executive    asking for changes in the hijrah politics             involvement was personal and did not   Japanese colonial government embraced      Star Party) in Pasar
                 Source: Directorate of
                 History and Cultural     Committee) in charge of the party’s daily   that were considered too restrictive under        represent the Muhammadiyah as an       Muslim leaders to fill political leadership   Minggu, South Jakarta.
                                                                                                                                                   23
                 Values, Ministry of      activities. The daily affairs had been   major obstacle for the party to achieve              organization. Support from other regions   positions in Indonesia. The Dutch were   The founding of the PBB
                 Education and Culture    handed over to young leaders, while     its goals. These leaders proposed that                was also sufficiently strong so that the PII   wary of Muslims who adhered to Islamic   was declared on July
                 of the Republic of       the Arbitration Assembly consisted      the PSII deal only with political issues              briefly established branches outside Java   political doctrines of local agitation   26, 1998 in the Grand
                 Indonesia.               of senior leaders insupervisory roles.   and refrain from religious, social, and              such as Kalimantan, and Sulawesi.      and the spirit of Pan-Islamismand saw      Al-Azhar Mosque in
                                          However, this regeneration of the       educational affairs for they were handled                                                    them as enemies while Japan actually       Jakarta. The building of
                                          leadership was not done properly and    by other Islamic organizations. The                   In general, the PII adopted a          provided for open political channels for   the central board was
                                          marked by conflicts within the party    central leaders PSII had also ignored the             cooperative strategy and it supported   Muslims in Indonesia. 24                  inaugurated in 2001.
                                          leadership. Consequently, Sukiman       request to take disciplinary action against           and encouraged its members to take                                                Source: Directorate of
                                          and Surjopranoto who were considered    the Muhammadiyah.                                     positions in existing representative   Of course, Japan’s accommodative           History and Cultural
                                          potential rivals to the leadership were   Because these proposals were rejected,              institutions. It also wanted a democratic   position towards Islamic political    Values, Ministry of
                                          forced to agree to their dismissal. Agus   some Partii members began to think                 state, the extension of political rights,   movements in Indonesia and Muslim     Education and Culture
                                          Salim himself, who held an important    of creating a new political party. They               freedom of speech, and freedom         leaders’ enthusiasm for cooperation        of the Republic of
                                          position in the party, did not automatically   found a proper channel in Yogyakarta,          of the press while it also decided     with Japan had many dimensions. As a       Indonesia.
                                          replace Tjokroaminoto who died in 1934,   i.e. the Islam Study Club led by Ahmad              to join the MIAI in the struggle for   matter of fact, it is difficult to measure
                                          because Tjokroaminoto was replaced by   Kasmat and they joined it. On December                Indonesian independence. Shortly       the seriousness of the intention of the
                                          his brother, Abikusno Tjokrosujoso.     4, 1938 they finally agreed to establish              before Japan’s arrival in Indonesia, the   Muslims to support Japan, as is the
                                                                                                                                        Dutch apprehended PII leaders Ahmad
                                          Sukiman’s dismissal in 1933 had led to   the Partai Islam Indonesia (Islamic Party            Kasmat, Faried Ma’ruf and Haji Abdul   measure of Japanese favor in view
                                          criticism from various circles. The boards   of Indonesia, PII) by appointing Raden           Kahar Muzakkiron the accusation of     of Muslim figures, but they certainly
                                          of branches in various regions asked the   Wiwoho, the former chairman of the JIB             sympathizing with Japan.               cannot be ignored. Islamic collaboration
                                          party leadership to review the dismissal,   who was also a member of the Volksraad                                                   with Japan was one of the Japanese
                                          or at least they asked for a referendum   as the chairman of the PII. Many                    The Muslim political struggle went     efforts to sever the linkages the former
                                          to measure the validity of the party’s   Muhammadiyah figures joined the PII’s                through major changes after the        bureaucracy had with the Dutch in the
                                          policies. Those who disagreed with the   central leadership, while Persis figures             Japanese occupation of Indonesia,      hope that Muslims groups would become
                                          dismissal established a new group called   dominated the leadership in the Priangan           that was the time when the Japanese    the new elites and replace the old ones.
                                          “Persatuan Islam Indonesia” that center   region, and Permi figures did the same              military authorities granted Muslims   The reason was that Muslims were very
                                          edits activities on Islam, nationalism   in Sumatra. The Muhammadiyah itself                  the freedom to establish political     antipathic towards the West and they
                                          and self-reliance. In the mid-1930s, the   highlighted the involvement of these               organizations. If under Dutch colonial   constituted a formidable power, and so
                                          leaders of Parti, namely Sukiman, Wali   figures in the PII which underlined its              23. Noer. Gerakan Modern ...,p. 177.   24. Benda. Bulan Sabit ...,p. 44.



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