Musso and the Madiun Movement

His name was Musso, a son of Kediri known for his religious diligence as a child. Having received his political education while staying at the boarding house of HOS Tjokroaminoto, his influence during the early years of independence should not be underestimated. In fact, the role played by Musso should be set alongside those played by Sukarno, Hatta, Sjahrir and Tan Malaka.

He studied politics in Moscow, Russia, and observed up-close the strategies employed by European communist movements. He dreamed that his homeland would one day be a just, egalitarian and free nation. He opted for the radical path, parting company with his non-communist contemporaries, even those on the left whom he deemed insufficiently radical. It was radicalism that drove him, and he devoted himself to cultivating a movement that was little more than a seed in his youth. At the end of October, 62 years ago, Musso joined the ranks of the fallen.