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