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The Indonesian People's Movement (Gerakan Rakyat Indonesia), better known as Gerindo, was a left-wing and nationalist political party in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) which existed from 1937 to 1942. It had modest goals and was largely cooperative to the colonial administration. More strongly anti-fascist than anti-colonialist, the party sought to support the colonial government in opposing fascism, especially Japanese fascism.

Founded as the successor to Partindo, the party's leaders were mainly left-wing nationalists who aspired to socialist ideals. Though more radical than its conservative counterpart, the Great Indonesia Party, Gerindo was tolerated by the colonial administration, becoming the only legal organization for radical nationalism. In 1939, Gerindo joined several other parties in forming the Indonesian Political Federation (GAPI), an umbrella organization of various different nationalist groups which called for Indonesian self-determination and an elected parliament. Following the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the party's activities were severely curtailed and it, alongside GAPI, was dissolved in the wake of the invasion of the colony by the Empire of Japan in 1942.

Background


Although the beginning of the Indonesian nationalist movement is conventionally dated 1908, the year when the political society Budi Utomo was established, the concept of an Indonesian nation only emerged very gradually in the various political parties which came into being after Budi Utomo. Among them was the Indonesian National Party (PNI), led by Sukarno, which strived for Indonesian independence through non-cooperative methods and mass organization. However, following Sukarno's arrest in 1929, the PNI suspended its activities and was later dissolved in April 1931. Most of its former membership subsequently joined the Indonesia Party (Partindo), led by Sartono. Like the PNI, Partindo sought to achieve independence through non-cooperation. However, the party was considerably more moderate in its methods than the PNI had been.

In December 1931, the Indonesian National Education Club (PNI-Baru) was established as a rival to Partindo by those who had opposed the PNI's dissolution. Under the leadership of Mohammad Hatta and Sutan Sjahrir, PNI-Baru sought to train a cadre of leaders who could maintain leadership of the nationalist movement should its leaders be arrested. Around the same time, Sukarno was released from prison and immediately attempted to reunify the nationalist movement. He failed and subsequently joined Partindo, which "seemed to share his style and instinct for mass action." Sukarno was subsequently elected party chairman by acclamation. Under his leadership, Partindo adopted a "firmer nationalist line" and grew rapidly. By mid-1933, the party had 50 branches and 20,000 registered members, as compared to the 1,000 of PNI-Baru.

However, both Partindo and PNI-Baru was left largely leaderless following the arrest of their leaders by Bonifacius Cornelis de Jonge, the new governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, in 1933 and 1934. The colonial government had previously perceived a dangerous potential for united action among the Indonesian movements following opposition to its Wild School Ordinance, which required permission from the authorities before any private school without a government subsidy could be established, and a brief mutiny of Dutch and Indonesian sailors aboard the HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën. After 1934, radical anti-colonialism on a non-cooperative basis was effectively dead, replaced in favor of more cooperative methods. This culminated in the introduction of the Soetardjo Petition to the Volksraad, the semi-legislative body of the colony. The petition, which called for the organization of a conference to discuss autonomy for the Dutch East Indies within a Dutch-Indonesian union over a period of ten years, was passed in the Volksraad by a vote of 26–20 and was then forwarded to the Dutch government for approval. However, the moderate proposal was received negatively by the Dutch, later being rejected by royal decree in 1938.

Founding
The dissolution of Partindo in 1936, the colonial government's negative reaction to the Soetardjo petition, and the rising threat of fascism (especially Japanese fascism), led to the establishment of Gerindo on 24 May 1937. As the successor to Partindo, Gerindo's membership largely consisted of former Partindo members as well as those who had grown disillusioned with the more conservative parties. Under the leadership of Amir Sjarifuddin, Adnan Kapau Gani, and Mohammad Yamin, Gerindo grew rapidly and it became the "powerful left-wing of the nationalist movement."