Three critics, one cause
The Indische Partij brought together three figures whose paths converged around a shared conviction: colonial rule and the social order supporting it had to change. E.F.E. Douwes Dekker, an Indo-European journalist, argued that Indo people should unite with Indigenous people rather than seek advancement alone. Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo criticised both colonial exploitation and the feudal constraints he believed held Javanese society back. Soewardi Soerjaningrat used his writing to attack the unequal conditions of colonial life.
Their views appeared in newspapers and magazines, including De Expres, De Locomotief, Het Tijdschrift, and Oetoesan Hindia. Tjipto left Budi Utomo because he did not share its approach, and he joined Dekker and Soewardi in founding the party.
The printed word as resistance
The founders did not stop when the party was banned. During the planned celebration of a century of Dutch independence from Napoleon, Tjipto helped form a committee that challenged the government’s use of public money and called for an Indies parliament. Soewardi published “Als ik eens Nederlander was” (“If I were a Dutchman”), a satire asking how a Dutch person should feel about celebrating independence while ruling another people. Tjipto followed with “Kracht of Vrees?” (“Power or Fear?”).
The authorities arrested Soewardi and Tjipto, and then Douwes Dekker after he protested their arrests. The three were sentenced to exile in the Netherlands. Their punishment showed the cost of political dissent, but it did not erase their influence: all remained politically or educationally active, and their ideas helped shape the nationalist movement.
