Mokhtaruddin Lasso (1915–1951) was a Sumatran-born Malayan independent guerrilla, a former anti-Japanese rebel during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
who later became one of the founders of
Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM – Malay Nationalist Party).
Life
Mokhtaruddin was born in
Padang
Padang () is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With a Census population of 1,015,000 as of 2022, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. Th ...
,
West Sumatera
West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5,534,472 at the 2020 ...
, in 1915. His given name was Mukhtar Sutan Indra Lasso. He had his early education in
MULO, Padang. After Silungkang uprising, he left West Sumatra and went to
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
joined with
Indonesian National Party
The Indonesian National Party ( id, Partai Nasional Indonesia, PNI) was the name used by several nationalist political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until the 2000s. The first PNI was established by future President Sukarno. After independence, th ...
. In 1937, he moved to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and Malaya. There he made a contact with
Tan Malaka
Tan Malaka (2 June 1897 – 21 February 1949) was an Indonesian teacher, Marxist, philosopher, founder of Struggle Union (Persatuan Perjuangan) and Murba Party, independent guerrilla, Indonesian fighter, and national hero. ''Tempo'' credited hi ...
. Influenced by Tan Malaka's concept, he established Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya and envisaged a socialist platform for the party. He was an
atheist, the earliest known in Malay history, and once debated about the existence of a god with his colleague and future
PAS president,
Burhanuddin al-Helmy
Dato’ Seri Dr. Burhanuddin bin Muhammad Nur al-Hilmi ( Jawi: برهان الدين بن محمد نور الحلمي; 29 August 1911 – 25 October 1969), commonly known as Burhanuddin al-Helmy, was a Malaysian politician. He was President o ...
.
During the declaration day of PKMM policies, 30 November 1945, he revealed 8 resolutions which were considered influenced by the
Communist Party of Malaya
The Malayan Communist Party (MCP), officially the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), was a Marxist–Leninist and anti-imperialist communist party which was active in British Malaya and later, the modern states of Malaysia and Singapore from ...
by the British colonists. Furthermore, PKMM's anti-
UMNO
The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...
and anti-
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
movement and activities were worried by the British. Due to this, the British refused Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya's registration under the Malayan's establishment law. Later, Mokhtaruddin, along with few other anti-British leaders were imprisoned and presumably executed.
References
Sources
* Harper, Timothy Norman; The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya, Cambridge University Press, 1999
{{Communism in Malaysia
1915 births
1951 deaths
Communism in Malaysia
Malaysian people of Minangkabau descent
Malaysian communists
Minangkabau people
Malaysian former Muslims
Indonesian emigrants to Malaysia
Indonesian Marxists
Indonesian former Muslims
Indonesian atheists
Former Muslims turned agnostics or atheists
People from West Sumatra
People executed by Malaysia