The Centre of the People's Power (, Putera) was a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

organization established by

the Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

during their occupation of the Dutch East Indies. This organization was founded in March 1943, as a replacement for the 3A movement which was deemed to have failed to fulfill its objectives. The Putera united all national organizations, both political and non-political organizations to work together to form self-government. Although in the hands of secular nationalists. Putera does not represent any particular group and consists only of individuals. Moreover, Putera is not a mass movement, but only a group of committees located in the city center. This was under tight control from Japan but appointed four major Indonesian figures as leaders, namely

Sukarno Sukarno (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 the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

, Hatta,

Ki Hajar Dewantara Raden Mas Soewardi Soerjaningrat ( EYD: Suwardi Suryaningrat); from 1922 also known as Ki Hadjar Dewantara (EYD: Ki Hajar Dewantara), which is also written as Ki Hajar Dewantoro to reflect its Javanese pronunciation (2 May 1889 in Pakualaman ...

and Kyai Hajji Mas Mansoer. These four figures are known as the Empat Serangkai (Four-leaved clover). Putera also has several advisors from the Japanese side. They are S Miyoshi, G Taniguci, Iciro Yamasaki, and Akiyama. This movement is not funded by the Japanese government. However, the nation's leaders were allowed to use Japanese facilities such as newspapers and radio. The establishment of Putera aimed to attract the sympathy of the Indonesian people to help Japan win the war against the Allies. It was urging the Indonesian people to support the Japanese occupation because it had helped liberate Indonesia from protracted colonialism.

Dismissal

But this organization also received little support, as did the 3A Movement, partly because Japan did not support the youth movement. The Putera were not allowed to work in small towns or the countryside. Meanwhile, the situation in the countryside worsened, partly through Japanese army agents working through Indonesian civil servants to solicit rice from farmers to control low prices, and worse still to recruit so-called romusha (literally "labor activists"). Thousands of these forced laborers were sent from Java to the most remote areas of the Japanese occupation, and a large number died in the war. The export of foodstuffs from one residency to another is also prohibited. Japan realized that Putera was more favorable for the Indonesian national movement than Japan's interests. In 1944, Japan disbanded Putera.

References

{{Reflist Japanese colonial empire Indonesian collaborators with Imperial Japan Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies Propaganda in Indonesia