The Republic Day of 1950 had Ahmed Sukarno of Indonesia as the chief guest.? He was chosen because Indonesia had always remained friendly to the Indians and sympathetic to the Indian struggle for Independence.?Sukarno was born in 1901 in Surabaya (East Java) and received his elementary education at his father's school (East Java).?
Under Umar Said Cokroaminoto, the head of Sarekat Islam, a popular organisation, Sukarno met many of the nationalist leaders of the time.?He got active in the anti-colonial campaign in Bandung. Sukarno was also the chairman of Jong Java and a founding member of the General Study Club in 1926. He urged all nationalists to get together in order to achieve their shared objective of independence.
Sukarno helped establish the Partai Nasional Indonesia (PNI) and became its first chairman. Sukarno's prowess as an orator attracted enormous crowds to its meetings, and the PNI eventually emerged as the primary voice of secular nationalism in Indonesia.?But due to the success of the PNI Sukarno was detained, tried, and found guilty in December 1929 of acting in a way that was intended to disturb peace.
His defence speech was inspiring and is now hailed as a classic in liberation speeches. After being released from prison in December 1931, Sukarno joined Partindo, the PNI's successor, and was then detained once again in 1933. He was exiled first to Flores and later to Bengkulu despite his resignation from Partindo and his assurance to the authorities that he would refrain from political activities.
Sukarno returned to Jakarta during the Japanese occupation in 1942 and served as the head of both the occupation regime's central advisory committee and its mass organisations. The positions offered him a chance to soften some Japanese demands, and by using the radios that were available in every town, he rose to become the most well-known Indonesian politician. He outlined his "Panca Sila" in June 1945, emphasising nationalism, internationalism, democracy, social progress, and faith in God.
The provisional constitution of 1950 established a parliamentary system after the transfer of power and promoted the establishment of numerous political groups.
At Bundung, in 1955, Sukarno took the lead in launching the momentous Asia-Africa Conference. Following the meeting, the Non-Aligned Movement spread throughout Latin America with the aim of fostering closer and amicable cooperation in the domains of economic, cultural, and political cooperation.
He provided significant political and material support to the South African liberation movements. He is considered the founder of the Indonesian Republic and was one of the charismatic figures of Afro-Asian nationalism.
The Better India Writes,’‘On 25 January 1950, Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia, landed in Delhi. At the airport, he was warmly received by his friend and close ally, Nehru, and C Rajagopalachari. It was only a month prior, in December 1949, when Sukarno finally persuaded the Dutch colonists to transfer complete sovereignty to the new south-east Asian nation.
India and Indonesia had cultural relations dating back centuries, but Sukarno and Nehru shared similar ideals of anti-imperialism and secularism. After all, both were proven freedom fighters. Moreover, even before India had attained Independence in 1947, Nehru played a pivotal role in bringing global attention to Indonesia’s struggles against the Dutch.’