Question

Give three values reflected from the Surontiko Samin’s challenge to the Dutch.

Answer 1

Hint: This question requires a conceptual level of the Samin’s challenge incident. A deeper insight into the incident and its aftermath shall be helpful to answer it.

Complete answer:
The famous historic social movement by Surontiko Samin is an Indonesian movement organized in the north-central Java, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unlike major contemporary movements which did turn violent at some point of time or the other, this movement was based on peaceful resistance; Samin encouraged the people to retaliate in a peaceful manner: non-payment of taxes, continued extraction of teak from the forests for their domestic use, etc.

Surontiko Samin, who was an inhabitant of Randublatung village famous for its teak forests, sought to challenge the Dutch authority by questioning state ownership of the forest. He firmly held that the state did not create the wind, water, earth and wood, or any other natural resource for that matter, so how could it possibly own it. This led to an emergence of a widespread movement by his kins and followers. By 1907, 3,000 families were among his followers.

Now, three values that were reflected from this incident are as follows-

1. An opposition to the self-centeredness of the Dutch capitalists,
2. Promotion of the self-faith in people and igniting the courage in their hearts to go against the brutal colonialists, and
3. Adherence to the peaceful and harmonious means of protest instead of revolutionary and violent means.

Note:
These are only three qualities, but if we have a deeper insight in this incident then Samin’s challenge reflected some more values like-
1. Collective and united action in times of crisis,
2. Organizing the disrupted masses into an entire community instead of secluded and individual resistance, and
3. Awareness of their natural rights.