The Yogyakarta Special
C28 class (SS class 1300) 4-6-4 tank engine (photo: Rob Dickinson)Jakarta in December 1945 had become an unsafe place for the leaders of the fledgling Republic of Indonesia. Japan had been defeated and the Netherlands was trying to regain control of its former colony. Soldiers of the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) were terrorising the homes of President Sukarno and Vice President Mohammad Hatta. The two leaders had to be constantly on the move for their safety. Finally, on 4 January 1946, at around 7 o’clock in the evening, Sukarno and Hatta secretly left Jakarta for Yogyakarta. Earlier, Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX of Yogyakarta had invited Sukarno to move the seat of government to Yogyakarta.
Republican railway workers had arranged a special train to transport the leaders. At the head of the train was C2849, a 4-6-4 Esslingen tank engine. The locomotive’s regular duty was hauling one of the Staatsspoorwegen (State Railway Company) crack Vlugge Vier (Speedy Four) trains between Jakarta and Bandung. Inconspicuously, at the very end of the rack were two teakwood boogie carriages, IL-7 and IL-8, now preserved in the Transportation Museum in Jakarta, which carried the President, the Vice President and their families. These two carriages, built in 1919 in the works in Bandung, used to be the private saloons of the Governor General of the Netherlands Indies. They replaced an earlier saloon built in 1891, which was the first boogie passenger carriage in Indonesia.
To allow Sukarno, Hatta, and their party to board the train, it was shunted back and forth along the tracks behind Sukarno’s home at Pegangsaan Timur 56. The train was dark; no single light was turned on. After the whole group had boarded the train, it moved slowly to Manggarai Station. There, Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) soldiers checked the first carriage. They found it empty and looking at the other dark coaches assumed that they were also empty.
Vice President and Mrs Rahmi Hatta on board the Yogyakarta SpecialBefore leaving Jakarta, the train made another stop at Jatinegara Station. There, Dutch soldiers looked suspiciously but did not enter the coaches. After a brief stop the train moved towards its destination. The lights were switched on after entering republican controlled territory at Kranji. At the stations along the way people were waiting to greet the two leaders.
Finally at 10 o’clock in the morning of 5 January it reached Yogyakarta’s Tugu Station, where Hamengku Buwono IX was already waiting. Soon afterwards Sukarno made a radio speech announcing to the world that as of that day the government of the Republic of Indonesia had moved to Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta would be Indonesia’s capital for the next four years.
References:
Atmakusumah (ed.)(1982) Tahta Untuk Rakyat: Celah-celah Kehidupan Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, Jakarta: Gramedia
De Bruin, Jan (2003) Het Indische spoor in oorlogstijd, s’Hertogenbosch: Uquilair
Hatta, Rahmi (1982) ‘Uang Belanja Pemberian Sri Sultan Masih tersimpan Sebagai Kenangan’, in Atmakusumah (ed.)(1982) Tahta Untuk Rakyat: Celah-celah Kehidupan Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, Jakarta: Gramedia
(photo: Rob Dickinson)
IL-7 and IL-8 at the Transportation Museum, Jakarta (right, top photo); Governor General of the Netherlands Indies D. Fock boarding his special train at Tanjung Priok Harbour in 1921 (bottom photo).
Jakarta pada Desember 1945 tidak aman lagi bagi pemimpin-pemimpin Republik muda yang baru diproklamasikan. Jepang telah menyerah dan Belanda berusaha menguasai lagi bekas jajahannya. Tentara Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) terus menteror kediaman Presiden Sukarno dan Wakil Presien Mohammad Hatta. Demi keselamatan mereka, kedua pemimpin itu terpaksa selalu berpindah-pindah tempat. Akhirnya, pada 4 Januari 1946 sekitar jam 7 malam Sukarno dan Hatta diam-diam meninggalkan Jakarta menuju Yogyakarta. Sebelumnya Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX telah mengundang Sukarno untuk memindahkan pemerintahan ke Yogyakarta.
Pegawai kereta api pro-republik telah menyiapkan kereta api luar biasa (KLB) untuk mengankut kedua pemimpin itu. Penghela kereta adalah lokomotif C2849 buatan Eslingen. Biasanya lokomotif ini berugas menarik kereta api Vlugge Vier antara Jakarta dan bandung dari Staatsspoorwegen (SS). Di belakang sendiri, tidak terlihat menonjol, adalah dua kereta kayu, IL-7 dan IL-8, yang sekarang dipreservasi di Museum Transportasi Jakarta, berisi Presiden, Wakil Presiden dan keluarga mereka. Kedua kereta buatan balai yasa Bandung pada 1919 semula adalah kereta pribadi Gubernur Jenderal Hindia Belanda. Kedua kereta ini menggantikan kereta pribadi gubernur jenderal yang dibuat 1891, yang adalah kereta penumpang berboogie pertama di Indonesia.
Sebelum meninggalkan kota Jakarta kereta api itu berhenti lagi di Stasiun Jatinegara. Di stasiun itu tentara Belanda mengamati dengan curiga, tapi tidak memasuki kereta. Setelah berhenti sebentar di Jatinegara KLB itu meneruskan perjalanan. Setelah memasuki wilayah yang dikuasai Republik di Kranji baru lampu-lampu dinyalakan. Di stasiun-stasiun perhentian di sepanjang jalan rakyat menyambut kedua pemimpin mereka itu.
Akhirnya, pada pagi hari 5 Januari sekitar jam 10 KLB tiba di Stasiun Tugu Yogyakarta, di mana Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX telah menunggu. Tidak berapa lama kemudian Sukarno berpidato melalui radio, mengumumkan pada seluruh dunia bahwa sejak saat itu pemerintah Republik Indonesia telah pindah ke Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta akan menjadi ibukota Indonesia selama empat tahun.Referensi:
(Anonymous) Sosok Bersahaja Bung Karno, http://solindo.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/sosok-bersahaja-bung-karno/Atmakusumah (ed.)(1982) Tahta Untuk Rakyat: Celah-celah Kehidupan Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, Jakarta: Gramedia
De Bruin, Jan (2003) Het Indische spoor in oorlogstijd, s’Hertogenbosch: Aquilair
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