Abdul Haris Nasution

Abdul Haris Nasution (Old Spelling: Abdoel Haris Nasution; 3 December 1918 – 6 September 2000) was a high-ranking Indonesian general and politician.

He served in the military during the Indonesian National Revolution and he remained in the military during the subsequent turmoil of the Parliamentary democracy and Guided Democracy.

Following the fall of President Sukarno from power, he became the Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly under President Suharto.

Born into a Batak Muslim family, in the village of Hutapungkut, Dutch East Indies, he studied teaching and enrolled at a military academy in Bandung.

He became a member of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, but following the Japanese invasion, he joined the Defenders of the Homeland.

Following the proclamation of independence, he enlisted in the fledgling Indonesian armed forces and fought during the Indonesian National Revolution.

Nasution was born on 3 December 1918 in the village of Hutapungkut, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra, into a Batak Muslim family.

He was the second child of his parents and the oldest son.

His father was a trader who sold textiles, rubber, and coffee and was a member of the Sarekat Islam organisation.

His very religious father wanted his son to study at a religious school, while his mother wanted him to study medicine in Batavia.

However, after graduating from school in 1932, Nasution received a scholarship to study teaching at Bukitinggi.

In 1935 Nasution moved to Bandung to continue his studies, where he remained for three years.

His desire to be a teacher gradually faded as his interest in politics grew.

He secretly bought books written by the Indonesian nationalist Sukarno and read them with his friends.

Following his graduation in 1937, Nasution returned to Sumatra and taught in Bengkulu, living near the house where Sukarno lived in exile.

He occasionally spoke with Sukarno and heard him give speeches.

A year later Nasution moved to Tanjungraja, near Palembang, where he continued to teach, but became more and more interested in politics and the military.

In 1940, Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands and the Dutch colonial authorities established an officer reserve corps that admitted pribumi (native Indonesians).

Nasution applied to join, as this was the only way to obtain military training.

Along with a few other Indonesians, he was sent to the Bandung Military Academy for training.

In September 1940 he was promoted to corporal, then three months later to sergeant.

He subsequently became an officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL).

In 1942 the Japanese invaded and occupied Indonesia.

At the time, Nasution was in Surabaya, having been posted there to defend the port.

Nasution then found his way back to Bandung and went into hiding, as he was afraid of being arrested by the Japanese.

However, he later assisted the Japanese-backed PETA militias by carrying messages but did not become a member.

After Sukarno declared Indonesia's independence on 17 August 1945, Nasution joined the fledgling Indonesian Army, then known as the People's Security Army (TKR), which was fighting the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch.

In 1946, he was appointed commander of the Siliwangi Division, the guerrilla unit operating in West Java.

After the end of the national revolution, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the army, until he was suspended for his involvement in the 17 October affair.

In May 1946, he was appointed Regional Commander of the Siliwangi Division, which looked after the security of West Java.

In this position, Nasution developed the theory of territorial warfare which would become the future defense doctrine of the Indonesian Army.

In January 1948, the Indonesian Government and the Dutch Government signed the Renville Agreement, dividing Java between areas under Dutch and Indonesian control.

He was reappointed to the position in 1955.

In 1965, an attempted coup occurred, later officially blamed on the Communist Party of Indonesia.

Nasution's house was attacked, and his daughter was killed, but he managed to escape by scaling a wall and hiding in the Iraqi ambassador's residence.

In the following political turmoil, he assisted in the rise of President Suharto and was appointed Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly.

He had a falling out with Suharto, who saw him as a rival, and he was pushed out of power in 1971.

Once he was removed from positions of power, Nasution developed into a political opponent of Suharto's New Order Regime, though he and Suharto began to reconcile in the 1990s.

He died on 6 September 2000 in Jakarta, after suffering a stroke and going into a coma.

His body was interred at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery.