Soekarno, Indonesia's First President Who Led the Nation Out of Colonial Rule

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Soekarno was the first president of the Republic of Indonesia, leading the country from 1945 to 1967. He is widely recognized as the proclaimer of Indonesia's independence, having liberated his nation from colonial rule after centuries of subjugation.

In his youth, Sukarno lived with H.O.S. Tjokroaminoto, one of the most influential figures in the early 20th-century national movement and the leader of the Sarekat Islam organization. It was from Tjokroaminoto that Sukarno gained much of his knowledge regarding oratory and anti-colonial ideas, which would later shape the course of his struggle.

His interest in politics led him to found the Indonesian National Party (PNI) in 1927 to demand independence from the Dutch colonial government. Due to these activities, he was repeatedly arrested and exiled to remote regions, yet his struggle never wavered.

Following Japan's surrender in World War II and the resulting power vacuum in Southeast Asia, Sukarno seized the moment to declare Indonesia's independence. This proclamation made Indonesia one of the first nations in Asia to break free from European colonial rule in the post-war era.

As president, Sukarno formulated Pancasila, five fundamental principles that unite the diverse religious, ethnic, and cultural groups within the archipelagic nation. This ideology remains the official foundation of the Indonesian state to this day.

On the global stage, Sukarno was a key figure behind the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, which brought together nations that had recently gained independence from colonial rule. This gathering laid the groundwork for the Non-Aligned Movement, which united developing nations during the Cold War.

Soekarno passed away on June 21, 1970, in Jakarta following a decline in health after the political crisis of 1965, and was buried in Blitar, East Java. He is remembered as a symbol of the anti-colonial struggle in Asia and as the figure who laid the foundation for Indonesia as an independent and sovereign nation.