General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Zulkifli Lubis (December 26, 1923 – June 23, 1993) was

Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army The Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army ( id, Kepala Staf TNI Angkatan Darat, abbreviated KSAD or KASAD) is the highest position in the Indonesian Army. The position is held by the four-star General appointed by and reporting directly to the ...

from May 8, 1955 to June 26, 1955 and founder and first Chairman of the first Intelligence Agency in Indonesia.

Early life

Zulkifli was the fifth of ten children. His father was Aden Lubis, with the title of Sutan Srialam and his mother was Siti Rewan Nasution. Both of his parents were teachers at a ''Normaalschool''. Zulkifli Lubis enjoyed a Dutch education at the ''Hollandsch Inlansche School''. After completing HIS, then Zulkifli continued to ''

Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (Dutch, "more advanced primary education") was during part of the twentieth century a level of education in the Netherlands (and the Dutch East Indies), comparable with the junior high school level in the US educatio ...

'' (MULO). At that time Zulkifli Lubis begans reading the ''Deli Blaad'' newspaper, which he obtained from a friend who was selling it. Through ''Deli Blaad'', Zulkifli got to know the speeches of

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

, Hatta,

Mohammad Husni Thamrin Mohammad Husni Thamrin (16 February 1894 – 11 January 1941) was a pre-independence Indonesian political thinker and nationalist who after his death was named a National Hero. Early life and beginning of political career Thamrin was born ...

and debates in the

Volksraad The Volksraad was a people's assembly or legislature in Dutch or Afrikaans speaking government. Assembly South Africa *Volksraad (South African Republic) (1840–1902) *Volksraad (Natalia Republic), a similar assembly that existed in the Natalia Re ...

. At MULO, Zulkifli and his friends were members of a Patriot group. They conducted silent opposition to Dutch rule by not singing the Dutch anthem,

Wilhelmus "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe", usually known just as "Wilhelmus" ( nl, Het Wilhelmus, italic=no; ; English translation: "The William"), is the national anthem of both the Netherlands and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It dates back to at least 1572 ...

, during ceremonies and inviting other participants in the ceremony to not sing as well. After graduating from MULO, Zulkifli continued to Algemeene Middlebare School B in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

. At AMS B, Zulkifli and his friends often held national discussions, including people from

Parindra Parindra ( id, Partai Indonesia Raya, , Great Indonesia Party, Parindra) was the name used by two Indonesian political parties. Pre-war party Establishment and early years The first Parindra was established at a congress in Solo from 24-26 Decem ...

Japanese occupation period

When Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies, Zulkifli Lubis followed his friend's invitation to take part in youth training organized by the

Japanese Army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

instead of being unemployed. After receiving about two months of training at the ''Seinen Kurensho'' (training center for youth ranks), Zulkifli received a special offer to receive military officer education at the ''Seinen Dojo'' (youth training center)

Tangerang Tangerang (Sundanese: , ) is a city in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the third largest urban centre in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area after Jakarta and Bekasi; the sixth largest city pro ...

, with about 40 students from all over Java. Zulkifli Lubis,

Kemal Idris Ahmad Kemal Idris (10 February 1923 – 28 July 2010) was a prominent Indonesian Army general during the 1950s and 1960s. He was an Indonesian guerrilla leader during the Indonesian National Revolution, who in 1949 was involved in continued resis ...

and

Daan Mogot Major Daniel Elias Mogot (28 December 1928 – 25 January 1946) was a military officer involved in the Indonesian National Revolution. He was part of a group that established the Tangerang Military Academy and became its first director. He wa ...

were among the first batch and introduced Zulkifli to state intelligence. Zulkifli was only there briefly, when he was transferred to Resentai (training corps)

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide. In December 1943, the ''shodancho'' were appointed and then returned to their respective cities or regions of origin to participate in the formation of ''daidan'' (battalions). Second Lieutenants Zulkifli Lubis, Kemal Idris, Sabirin Mochtar, Satibi Darwis, Daan Mogot, Effendi, and Kusnowibowo helped Captain Tsuhiya Kiso to prepare for the formation of daidans on the island of

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

. Zulkifli Lubis, Kemal Idris and Daan Mogot were involved in a special team called ''Boei Giyugun Shidobu'' with the task of dealing with matters concerning the PETA battalions.

Intelligence Commander

In the middle of 1944, Zulikfli Lubis was invited by Rokugawa (former commander of the ''Seinen Dojo'') to

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and Japanese occupied Singapore. Zulkifli Lubis was the only Indonesian in

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, borde ...

to study state intelligence, with guidance from Rokugawa. Zulkifli and Rokugawa regularly reported to the Japanese commander for Southeast Asia in Singapore. Rokugawa taught Zulkifli on how to find out the number of residents in a city or know whether the people were anti-Japanese or pro-Japanese. After studying intelligence abroad, Zulkifli returned to Indonesia, where he was involved in the Japanese plan to form intelligence groups in various places in Java as a guerrilla force to confront a potential

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

landing. After the

Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, the Allies landed with little resistance from the intelligence group organized by Zulkifli Lubis. After the proclamation of independence, Zulkifli Lubis was entrusted by the central leadership of the

People's Security Agency The People's Security Agency ( id, Badan Keamanan Rakyat), or commonly abbreviated as BKR, was an Indonesian government agency established to undertake the task of maintaining security together with the people and the state offices. The BKR was fo ...

chaired by Kaprawi and assisted by Sutalaksana (Chairman I), Latief Hendraningrat (Chairman II), Arifin Abdurrachman and Machmud to begin preparations for the formation of an intelligence agency called the ''Badan Istimewa'' with, Sunarjo, Juwahir and GPH

Djatikoesoemo Goesti Pangeran Harjo Djatikoesoemo (1 July 1917 – 4 July 1992) was an Indonesian army officer and diplomat who served as the first Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army (1948–1949) and Ambassador to Singapore (1958–1960). He was a member ...

, they formed the agency with about 40 former ''Giyūgun'' from around Java. Zulkifli Lubis also formed the ''Penyelidikan Militer Chusus'' (PMC) at the end of 1945, with Sutopo Yuwono. PMC reported directly to President

. The agency sent expeditions to

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...

, Maluku and

Nusa Tenggara The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up t ...

and smuggled weapons from Singapore. This was carried out by the PMC in Sumatra, Kuala Enoch or Kuala Tungkal. The smuggling was also carried out to assist operations in Kalimantan under the leadership of Muljono and

Tjilik Riwut Anakletus Tjilik Riwut (2 February 1918 – 17 August 1987), more commonly referred to simply as Tjilik Riwut, was an Indonesian journalist, military officer, and politician, who served as the second Governor of Central Kalimantan from 1958 until ...

. In April 1946, the PMC branch in

Purwakarta Purwakarta (Dutch: Poerwakarta) is a district and town in West Java, Indonesia which serves as the regency seat of the Purwakarta Regency. It had a population of 165,447 at the 2010 Census,. rising to 179,233 at the 2020 Census. History Purwakar ...

received fierce opposition from the army, because it was accused of carrying out a series of arbitrary arrests and seizures. These objections also appeared in other areas and led to the disbandment of the PMC by the People's Security Army Headquarters on May 3, 1946. Then a few months later, Zulkifli and Sutjipto (leader of the General Military Investigator) were involved in The

July 3, 1946 incident The 3 July Affair in 1946 was a political upheaval in the then newly formed Republic of Indonesia. The Prime Minister, Sutan Sjahrir, was kidnapped by factions within the military opposing the Republic’s negotiations with the Dutch during the ...

, an attempted power struggle led by Major General Sudarsono, Head of Division III Yogyakarta. Sutjipto was caught, but Zulkifli Lubis managed to escape. Zulkifli Lubis was able to cover his tracks after taking action and was granted a pardon from President Sukarno for his involvement in the 3 July 1946 Incident. Zulkifli Lubis was then entrusted with forming the Indonesian State Secret Service (Brani) and became its chairman. To recruit members to Brani and, Zulkifli used mostly students, from the former ''Seinen Dojo'' and ''Yugeki''. Defense Minister

Amir Sjarifuddin Amir Sjarifuddin Harahap ( EVO: Amir Sjarifoeddin Harahap; 27 April 1907 – 19 December 1948) was an Indonesian politician and journalist who served as the second prime minister of Indonesia from 1947 until 1948. A major leader of the lef ...

formed his own intelligence agency, called Defense Agency B, headed by former police commissioner, Sukardiman. This agency produced reports and analysis on the conditions for successful intelligence operations. On April 4, 1946, Amir Sjarifuddin ordered Roebiono, a doctor at the Defense Agency B, to form a secret news agency, called the ''Dinas Code'' – later to become the National Code Agency. For political consolidation, while serving as Prime Minister of Indonesia, Amir Sjarifuddin dissolved Defense Agency B and Brani, forming a new agency, Section V (KPV), in 30 April 1947 as coordinator of intelligence operations, directly under the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. As a result of the

Renville Agreement The Renville Agreement was a United Nations Security Council-brokered political accord between the Netherlands, which was seeking to re-establish its colony in South East Asia, and Indonesian Republicans seeking for Indonesian independence durin ...

, the Amir Sjarifuddin Cabinet fell in January 1948. KP V was dissolved, and the Army General Staff (SUAD) was formed. I SUAD became an intelligence organization. Lubis returned to being its leader and concurrently head of the Java Command Headquarters (MBKD-I).

Military career

After 17 October affair, an internal conflict within the Army, Zulkifli was appointed Deputy Army Chief of Staff (Wakasad) by Indonesian Minister of Defense,

Iwa Kusumasumantri Iwa Koesoemasoemantri (Perfected Spelling: Iwa Kusumasumantri; also Kusuma Sumantri; 31 May 1899 – 27 November 1971) was an Indonesian politician. Born in Ciamis, West Java, Iwa graduated from legal school in the Dutch East Indies (now I ...

, in December, 1953, accompanying

Bambang Sugeng Lieutenant General (Ret.) Bambang Soegeng (EYD: Bambang Sugeng; 31 October 1913 – 22 June 1977) was an Indonesian military officer and diplomat. He was the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army between 1952 and 1955, and was later ambassador to ...

. After Bambang Sugeng resigned in mid 1955 he was appointed as

. Due to the large number of votes against him, because he was considered pro-Western, he was replaced by Bambang Utoyo. After the Cikini Incident on November 30, 1957, Zulkifli Lubis was accused of being one of the masterminds, Zulkifli Lubis denied the accusation. Instead, he recommended peaceful action against the terrorists, Ismail and Saleh Ibrahim. Both were part of Islamic groups that formed a network of Zulkifli Lubis' cells. At the time of the incident, Zulkifli Lubis was not at the scene of the crime, he was with Colonel Prajitno in Cideng, but the army began hunting for Zulkifli Lubis. Zulkifli Lubis moved to Sumatra, where he joined the

Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia The Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Pemerintah Revolusioner Republik Indonesia (PRRI)) was a revolutionary government set up in Sumatra to oppose the central government of Indonesia in 1958. Although frequently referr ...

(PRRI) in around 1958. Zukifli had sympathies for the officers in the regions, and wanted to oppose the central government, Afterwards, Zulkifli Lubis became a fugitive until the

fall of Sukarno Indonesia's transition to the New Order in the mid-1960s ousted the country's first president, Sukarno, after 22 years in the position. One of the most tumultuous periods in the country's modern history, it was the commencement of Suharto's ...

. Zulkifli died in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

on June 23, 1993, at the age of 69 and was buried at Dreded Heroes Cemetery,

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

References

{{reflist Chiefs of Staff of the Indonesian Army 1923 births 1993 deaths People from Banda Aceh Indonesian generals