Atje Bastaman, Another Figure Behind Bandoeng Laoetan Api

There was no cool air that day. Everything turned hot and red. For seven hours, black smoke billowed high and filled the twists and turns of every street in the city of Bandung. Not only that, all the electricity went out.

No one knows what is going on in Bandung. However, a young journalist named Atje Bastaman perpetuated this historic event through news in the daily Suara Merdeka which was released on March 26, 1946. He conveyed what his eyes saw directly at that time.

As liputan6.com wrote in an article entitled "Bandung Ocean of Fire 1946: The Struggle Spirit of the Indonesian People Rejects the Colonial Order", Atje witnessed the burning of Bandung from Mount Leutik Hill around Pameungpeuk. From that peak, Atje saw a reddened Bandung along the Cicadas to Cimindi area.

After listening to the incident, Atje went straight to Tasikmalaya. Arriving there, he immediately wrote the news and titled it "Bandoeng Djadi Laoetan Api". However, due to lack of space for the title, it was shortened to "Bandoeng Laoetan Api".

He described how the people of Bandung chose to sacrifice better than surrender to the colony. Exactly on March 24, 1946, about 200 thousand residents of Bandung together with the Indonesian Army (TRI) and the people's army set fire to their homes and property.

There was no other choice at that time for the citizens of Bandung. Everything was done in order to keep Bandung from becoming a strategic military headquarters for the allied troops and the Dutch NICA soldiers in the Indonesian War of Independence.

They also left the North Bandung area for the mountains in the south. At the same time, the British army began to attack, fierce fighting ensued.

The Bandung fighters at that time were under the command of Colonel AH Nasution, a TRI Division III commander. In the book "Bandung Lautan Api" by Djajusman (1975), Nasution asked for the green light from Sutan Sjahrir, a prime minister when the Indonesian government was still in the form of a Union, to carry out scorched earth.

However, Sjahrir firmly rejected Nasution's request. He asked to obey British orders and ultimatums on behalf of the people.

"Don't hold burnings and so on, because it will be our own people who will lose and we will have to build it later," said Sjahrir at the time.

Nasution is worried. As a commander and for the sake of protecting the people and maintaining the dignity of the City of Bandung, he must not submit to the Allies. However, the British also did not play games and seriously ordered the evacuation of the northern part of Bandung. So there is no choice but to burn Bandung. (din)**

Head of Discominfo Bandung

Yayan A. Brilyana