Perhimpoenan Indonesia

Perhimpoenan Indonesia or PI (English: Indonesian Association; Dutch: Indonesische Vereeniging) was an Indonesian student association in the Netherlands in the first half of the twentieth century. It was established under the Dutch name Indische Vereeniging (English: Indies' Association; Malay/Indonesian: Perhimpoenan Hindia). It later changed its name to Indonesische Vereeniging (Indonesian Association) in 1922, and its Malay translation Perhimpoenan Indonesia in 1925. Although small in membership numbers - throughout the period between 30 and 150 members - the organization was important because it was one of the first to campaign for full Indonesian independence from the Netherlands, and because many PI-students would later acquire prominent political positions in the independent state of Indonesia. History Perhimpoenan Indonesia was established in 1908 under the name of Indische Vereeniging and was initially a social club, providing a sociable environment for students from the Netherlands East Indies in the Netherlands. After the First World War the association politicized and changed its name to Indonesische Vereeniging in 1922 and Perhimpoenan Indonesia in 1925. From that moment onwards, it was an explicitly anti-colonial, nationalist organization with a strong anti-capitalist outlook. This was clearly visible in its journal Indonesia Merdeka ('Independent Indonesia'). The new principles of 1925 were: 'Only a united Indonesia putting aside particularistic differences, can break the power of the oppressors. The common aim – the creation of a free Indonesia – demands the building of nationalism based on a conscious self-reliant mass action. [...] An essential condition for the achievement of this aim is the participation of all layers of the Indonesian people in a unified struggle for Independence. The essential and dominant element in every colonial political problem is the conflict of interest between the rulers and the ruled. The tendency of the ruling side to blur and mask this must be countered by a sharpening and accentuation of this conflict of interests.'