The Cimareme Rebellion in Garut: 1 Family VS The Dutch Army
Haji Hasan was a key figure in the Cimareme Incident of 1919.
He was a descendant of the Banten Sultanate through his father, Kiai Tubagus Alpani. His mother, Djamilah, was the daughter of R. Kartaningrat, the founder of the Cimareme Islamic Boarding School in Cimareme Hamlet, Cikendal Village, Leles District, Garut Regency.
From a young age, Haji Hasan was highly respected by the local community. He taught religious studies, equipped his students with martial arts skills, and was deeply involved in sports. He founded pencak silat and soccer clubs. He was also politically aware and joined the Goena Perlaja association, led by Kiayi Abdullah from Tegalgubuk, Cirebon.
Goena Perlaja was the center of the revolutionary movement, sharing the same goals as the Islamic Union (SI) Afdeling B, or the Second Islamic Union. This association is thought to have ties to several figures, including Surjopranoto, Chairman of the Adhi Dharma (Sugar Workers Union), Semaun of the ISDV (Vocationalist Party of Indonesia), Alimin and Abdul Muis of the SI Batavia, and Sanusi from Bandung. At that time, the Communist Party did not yet exist.
This incident was significant because it had a significant impact on the early 20th century.
The cause of the Cimareme Incident was the rejection by KH Hasan Arif and his students of the rice sales system after the 1919 harvest failure.
When the Rice Purchase Regulation was enacted on March 17, 1919, H. Hasan strongly resisted. His refusal was not solely economic, but stemmed from his hatred of the Dutch. This hostility had been ingrained in him since childhood. His father always taught him to keep his distance from the Dutch and their agents.
Once, H. Hasan was even offered an official position by the Dutch East Indies colonial government as a religious figure, but he declined. This rejection left a lasting impression on local colonial government officials.
KH Hasan and his followers persistently refused to submit to Dutch regulations to sell rice to the government, leading to his being declared a rebel and his house being surrounded by KNIL troops, forcing him to surrender.
H. Hasan's first protest came when the Wedana of Leles visited H. Hasan's house with the Village Head of Cikendal. At that time, these two colonial government officials demanded a down payment for the purchase of 40 pikuls of H. Hasan's rice. However, the money was refused, as H. Hasan was only willing to sell 10 pikuls of his rice to the government. H. Hasan's courage in refusing the money from the Dutch East Indies colonial government officials was met with arrogance. The angry Wedana of Leles threatened to summon government officials and heavily armed troops to confiscate H. Hasan's rice fields.
After the two men left, the next day, H. Hasan sent a letter to the Wedana of Leles, inquiring about the government's policy on purchasing his 40 pikuls of rice and planning to summon government officials and armed soldiers to confiscate all his land. However, the letter was never answered, even after he sent a messenger to the Wedana of Leles.
The second climax of H. Hasan's resistance came when a colonial government clerk reported that H. Hasan was not even selling his rice at the designated locations, and that men dressed in white were armed with sharp weapons.
In retaliation for H. Hasan's actions, on July 4, 1919, the assistant district head ordered local officials to bring heavily armed Dutch soldiers to arrest H. Hasan. At the same time, H. Hasan sent another letter with the same questions to the assistant resident. The letter contained the same content as the first, concerning the planned confiscation of his land.
News of H. Hasan's impending arrest caused an uproar in Garut. Many supporters of SI Afdeling B, who were planning a rebellion, and residents sympathetic to H. Hasan's protest, also gathered at H. Hasan's house. Their numbers reached thousands.