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28 Dec, 2013

Commentary: When the world recognized Indonesia as an equal – The Jakarta Post

Indonesia’s independence proclamator, the late Muhammad Hatta, was asked regarding events he personally considered most significant in the nation’s revolutionary struggle. He named two: Aug. 17, 1945 and Dec. 27, 1949.No Indonesian would be ignorant of the former. Few Indonesians are mindful of the latter.

If Aug. 17, 1945 was Independence Day, then Dec. 27, 1949, was Indonesia’s emancipation from colonialism. The day the Dutch East Indies ceased to exist.At the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, then prime minister W. Drees and Queen Juliana transferred sovereignty to a federal Indonesian government represented by Hatta.

In a magnanimous speech, Queen Juliana said the Netherlands and Indonesia now stood side by side. “However much violated and torn and full of the scars of resentment and regret, incalculable is the satisfaction of a nation that sees its freedom realized,” she remarked.

A day later, Sukarno returned to Jakarta from Yogyakarta.

via Commentary: When the world recognized Indonesia as an equal | The Jakarta Post.