Tjokorda Rai Pudak

From the series Revolusi

While Republican and Dutch delegates were negotiating the terms of Indonesia’s independence in the autumn of 1946, the armed struggle continued unabated. The Dutch government was convinced that the island of Bali would remain loyal to the Netherlands. But there too, the struggle for freedom went on. Rai Pudak (1904-1946) was one of those Balinese freedom fighters.

Rai Pudak

In the early days of Indonesian independence, Tjokorda Rai Pudak founded the Republican socialist resistance organization The Fighting Lion (Angkatan Moeda Sosialis Fighting Lion, AMSFL).

Tjokorda Rai Pudak, 1927, unknown photographer. Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Tjokorda Gde Dalem Pudak

Loyal

For a long time, the Netherlands believed that Bali would remain loyal. The Dutch had lent their support to the Balinese nobility, who commanded the loyalty of the island’s largely illiterate population. But the desire for freedom had taken root in Bali too. The call for independence was as strong on the island as it was elsewhere in the Indonesian archipelago.

Map of Java en Bali, anonymous, 1861

Arrested

The head of Bali’s Gianyar regency ordered the arrest of Rai Pudak in 1946. He saw the freedom fighter’s revolutionary zeal as a threat to his power and the authority of his regency. He cooperated with the Dutch in the hope of maintaining his position.

Tjokorda Rai Pudak’s shredded army shirt. Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, collection Tjokorda Gde Dalem Pudak

Executed

On 9 October 1946, near the Balinese town of Ubud, Tjokorda Rai Pudak was executed. The shirt Pudak was wearing at the time shows where he was hit by the salvo of bullets. He died at the age of 42.

Tjokorda Rai Pudak’s shredded army shirt. Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, collection Tjokorda Gde Dalem Pudak

Tjokorda Rai Pudak

Rai Pudak

Loyal

Arrested

Executed

SUKARNO

Sutarso Nasrudin

Letty Kwee

Jeanne van Leur - de Loos

Tanja Dezentjé

Petrus Akihary

Tjokorda Rai Pudak

Julia Nelisse

Hans van Santen

Mohammad Toha