KBRN, Pamekasan: Commemorating the National Heroes Day over the weekend, Commander of the Pamekasan 0826 Military District, Lieutenant Colonel Infranteri Herik Prasetiawan, urged local people to emulate M. Tabrani of Pamekasan, who was named a national hero last year for his struggle to make Indonesian the language of unity.

M. Tabrani was named as a national hero by then Presiden Joko Widodo in November 2023.

"The effort made by Pamekasan regency administration to have M. Tabrani named as a national hero underwent a lengthy process, backed by East Java Language Council and all stakeholders," he said.

Mohammad Tabrani Soerjowitjitro or M. Tabrani was born in Pamekasan, Madura, East Java on October 10, 1904. During his life, he studied at Hollandsch-Inlandsche School (HIS) Pamekasan, Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO) Surabaya, and (Opleidingsschool Voor Inlandsche Ambtenaren) OSVIA Bandung.

Tabrani began his career in 1925 as a journalist of Hindia Baroe, a Malay language newspaper first published on 2 January 1925. He wrote an article titled "Bahasa Indonesia" on the newspaper's edition of February 11, 1926. From July 1936 to April 1952, he was the editor-in-chief of the Pemandangan newspaper.

Tabrani played an important role in fist Indonesia's Youth Congress. He was chairman of the First Youth Congress held on April 30-May 2, 1926.

Among the important issues discussed in this congress the need for a unifying language. Tabrani insisted to have Indonesian as the unifying language, which later led to the birth of Indonesian language during the second Youth Congress held from October 27-28, 1928. Tabrani was then nicknamed the Father of the Indonesian Language

In honour of M. Tabrani and to ensure that his legacy remains a source of inspiration and a role model, the Pamekasan regency administration issued Regent Regulation (Perbup) Number 188 /2023 to change the names of streets, buildings, and parks after M. Tabrani's.

For example, Jalan Swatantra was changed into Jalan M. Tabrani, the public district library was named M. Tabrani Library, the sports center on Jalan Teja was named M. Tabrani Sports Center, and Gladak Anyar park became M. Tabrani Park. ***