Hundreds of young people in the City of Heroes signed a petition Tuesday urging the government to immediately endow national-hero status to Sutomo, a resistance leader during the independence period.

The appeal was made ahead of the commemoration of the Battle of Surabaya which took place on Nov. 10, 1945. The government has designated Nov. 10 Heroes Day to honor those who died, mostly ill-equipped young men, in a clash against heavily armed British troops during their short-lived occupation following Indonesian independence.

Inspired by the replaying of Sutomo's distinctive, emotional speeches first broadcast on radio, young people from different political, social, ethnic and economic backgrounds added their signatures to three white banners stating Sutomo, better known as Bung Tomo with the honorific bung, deserves formal recognition as a national hero.

The gathering took place at the Surabaya station of public radio RRI on Jl. Pemuda.

Djoko Susilo, a legislator with the National Mandate Party (PAN) who helped organized the gathering, characterized the government's treatment of Bung Tomo as discriminatory, linked to Bung Tomo sharp criticisms of the New Order.

"Almost all cities in the country have already granted the name "10 November" to a major street, and Surabaya has the 10 Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) to commemorate the battle and its key leader, but otherwise he is not receiving sufficient acclaim by the state."

"The state has no plausible reason not to endow the title of national hero to Bung Tomo whose charismatic leadership spurred young people of different ethnic and other backgrounds to take up arms to resist foreign forces after the country's independence in 1945."

Meanwhile, executive chair of the 1945 Generation Forum Pudjo Hardjo said Bung Tomo should be granted national-hero status for his meritorious dedication to the state.

"I don't know why the government rejected granting the title to him after the East Java provincial administration officially proposed it in 1981, the year he died while on pilgrimage to the Holy Land," he said.

"The government should not let political considerations influence the granting of awards to those who dedicated their lives to the nation and the state."

Sutomo was born in Blauran village in Surabaya in 1920 to his Javanese father, Kartawan Tjiptowidjojo, who worked as a clerk, and a mother of mixed Javanese, Madurese and Sundanese heritage.

Sutomo had close ties with founding father Sukarno. At first he supported Soeharto's replacement of Sukarno's left-leaning regime, but later fiercely criticized the corrupt New Order regime, which is apparently the main obstacle to the granting of national hero status to Bung Tomo.

Sulistomo, Bung Tomo's son, said his extended family had entrusted the issue to the younger generation because the family believed Sutomo gave his best to the nation and the state.

"Everyone, including students, knows from Indonesian history books Bung Tomo played a key role in that battle," he said.

Firda Djoko Susilo, a legislative candidate from PAN, said a morning walk would be organized on Nov. 9 in which thousands of young supporters would take part. The event supports the provincial administration which recently submitted another request that Bung Tomo assume the ranks of national hero. JP/Ridwan Max Sijabat

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