Otto Iskandar Dinata Murdered

VIVAnews - 63 years ago today, on 20 December 1945, Otto Iskandar Dinata, the State Minister in Indonesia’s first cabinet, was kidnapped and murdered.

Raden Otto Iskandar Dinata was born in Bandung, West Java, on 31 March 1897. Dinata was one of few Indonesians who were active in politics during the Netherlands Indies rule. Dinata, nicknamed “Jalak Harupat,” became the head of Paguyuban Pasundan (Association of Sundanese People) from 1929 to 1942. In 1931, Dinata was elected as the member of Volksraad, Indonesian parliament under the Dutch administration.

After Indonesia’s independence, Dinata was appointed as state minister in the republic’s first cabinet. This was shortly after the Declaration of Independence on 17 August 1945, when there were no political parties yet.

During an official visit to Banten, shortly after, in December 1945, Dinata was kidnapped and murdered, apparently by decapitation. To honor him and his struggle, the government made him a national hero and a monument was constructed in Lembang, Bandung, to commemorate him and his struggle.