Question

What policy did the Dutch follow in Java to have control over the forests?

Answer 1

Hint: They needed wood to make sleepers for train tracks and build ships. Restrictions were imposed on slash and burn agriculture, central to the locals’ livelihood.

Complete answer: In the 19th century, the Dutch occupied Java (a prominent island in Indonesia) and developed into a profitable colony. This is why it was also called the Dutch East Indies. There were four million casualties due to forced labour and mass starvation.
When the Japanese came into Jakarta (1942-1945), as the Allied Powers mostly bypassed the islands, they facilitated education and grassroot level politics. This eventually paved the way for their Independence struggle.
- Indigenous rights over these lands were revoked, and they were punished for collecting timber or grazing their cattle. Alternatively, they had to pay rents and taxes to use the resources that originally belonged to them.
- These systems were replaced with scientific management and forestry. Heavy surveillance was instituted to fine defaulters. They cleared out land to grow profitable crops like rice.
- Exceptions were made under the blandongdiensten system to villages that provided buffaloes and labor for transportation and cutting. They were exempt from these duties, which actually just took away from the natives’ customary rights.
- They followed the Scorched Earth policy which pertained to burning of teak logs and destructing mills. This was done to prevent the Japanese from using them.

Note: In 1770, the people rose up in protest that was eventually quashed under Surontiko Samin. He was a villager who rose against the rulers about the stake of the state in ownership of the timber in Randublatung. His doctrine has been labelled Saminism.