Buruh Tani

"Buruh Tani" (lit. 'Worker-Farmer') is an Indonesian protest song that originated in the mid-1990s. Despite its common title, the song was originally titled "Pembebasan" (English: "Liberation"). It was composed in 1996 by Safi'i Kemamang, a young activist from Lamongan, East Java. At the time, Safi'i was involved in the clandestine Partai Rakyat Demokratik (PRD), an underground pro-democracy movement opposing President Suharto’s authoritarian New Order regime.^[1]

Safi’i composed Pembebasan to boost the morale of activists engaged in high-risk resistance activities, later explaining that political struggle without music felt incomplete, and that songs and poetry could function as unifying instruments for the movement.^[2] The Indonesian Anarcho-punk and activist band Marjinal became aware of the song after the Reformasi period and contributed to its popularization in the 2000s by recording it under the title Buruh Tani.^[3] Commonly misattributing the song to the band.^[2][1] The song is popular among Indonesian pro-democracy camps, student activist, labourers, socialists, and anarcho-syndicalists.

In 1996–97, Indonesia’s security forces were cracking down on student activists and labor organizers. “Buruh Tani” was born in the last years of Suharto’s New Order (Orde Baru), when political freedoms were severely restricted. The song was written by Safi’i Kemamang. Born as Arifin in Lamongan, East Java, he came from a poor farming family. Having to have suffered greatly, he alongside his family later migrated to Surabaya, where throughout his life, observed what he considered the four as the main victims of all the policies implemented by the regime; the workers, the farmers, the students, and the urban poor.^[4][5] During his work as a factory worker in Surabaya he joined a trade union. Safi’i was a labour field coordinator (korlap) for a labor action scheduled on 8 May 1996 after a collective musyawarah (deliberation). Six days before the protest, on 2 July 1996, he met with workers to discuss and agree on protesting the sharp rise in basic commodity prices. In addition to discussions, strategies were devised to ensure the demonstration proceeded as planned. While returning home from preparations for the factory strike, he was abducted at night and reportedly targeted for killing, but managed to escape despite sustaining serious injuries. Following the incident, Safi’i joined the local People's Democratic Party (PRD) sector in Surabaya. For his safety, on 8 July, he was advised to relinquish his role as a labor leader and to operate underground to avoid further threats to his life and continue the struggle.^[6]

Following the trauma of the Kudatuli incident, also known as the 27 July 1996 attacks, the New Order regime blamed the small leftist People's Democratic Party (PRD) for the attacks. Budiman Sudjatmiko and other party leaders, as well as Muchtar Pakpahan, were arrested and tried for subversion.^[7][8] All members of PRD were thus vilified by the regime as communist subversives, going as far as accusing the party of having links to the banned Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) and Amnesty International.^[7][9] Simply being associated with PRD or its “people’s songs” could be life-threatening. Safi’i Kemamang and his PRD sector in East Java, operating underground amid intense state repression, realized their struggle "needed encouragement" and a sense of unity.^[1] From this act, Safi’i thought that the fight against the New Order regime would be long, arduous, and tiring as the New Order system were built upon "militaristic-capitalism"^[5] Safi’i later recounted that one way to keep the fighting spirit alive was through music as a medium of solidarity. Thus, he penned Pembebasan in Surabaya in 1996, envisioning an anthem to inspire unity among the oppressed classes of workers, peasants, students, and urban poor against the tyranny of the regime.^[10][5]

At the time, he owned only a guitar that he had purchased during his studies at Universitas Dr. Soetomo (Unitomo). Safi’i had developed his guitar skills relatively late, beginning during his years at a Technical High School (STM) in Tuban.^[4][6] Whilst recovering from his injury and remaining in hiding at a safehouse, Safi’i wrote several anti–New Order songs; one of which was Pembebasan.^[6] The song’s lyrics explicitly call out these groups and urge them to "unite in solidarity to seize back democracy”. This was a radical message in a time when Suharto’s dictatorship tightly controlled political expression.^[11][2] Drawing from his background and beliefs, Safi’i sought to unite these four segments as a united front. Having little access to foreign revolutionary music and knowledge in foreign language, Safi’i had to take reference from Indonesian Revolutionary era songs such like "Halo, Halo Bandung" and "Garuda Pancasila".^[12]

Safi'i's songs alongside Pembebasan first took hold at the Bratang Terminal in Surabaya. Where Safi’i's close ties with buskers facilitated the promotion of his songs. His compositions were frequently performed on both city and intercity buses within the province, including routes from Bungurasih to Madiun and Ponorogo. Through this network of buskers, the songs gained wider popularity and circulation.^[6] After a while Safi’i Kemamang was compelled to serve as the legal representative during the formation of the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (KNPD) following the Kudatuli Incident and reemerged to the public in 1997, as no one else was willing to take on the role.^[1] As the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis hit, Safi'i would teach other activists of his songs about resistance while continuing to busk to make ends meet. A year after the onset of the economic downturn, mass protests emerged against the New Order regime. Beginning in February 1998 at the University of Indonesia in Salemba with around 750 participants, the demonstrations soon spread to campuses and cities across the country.^[13] Buruh Tani would then be at the forefront of the Student movement.^[6]

Safi’i Kemamang declined to patent the song, allowing others to adapt and reinterpret it freely.^[14] Over time, the lyrics gradually evolved, although it is unclear when or by whom these changes were made. The version most commonly associated with protest movements was recorded by the Indonesian anarcho-punk and activist band Marjinal in 1997. Meanwhile, rendition most frequently used in demonstrations is an acoustic cover performed by an unidentified male and female student/s.^[4] It is likely that the rendition was published from a repository for a University of Indonesia student orientation program from 2012, as it is the earliest found rendition. Though it might as well be older, as metadata suggest it was dated from 2004,^[15] concurrent to Amien Rais' presidential debate at the University of Indonesia organised by its students' representative council (BEM UI).^[16]

A second verse of the popular Marjinal rendition exists,^[17] though it is never used. Among university students, only the first verse is considered compulsory to memorize.^[18][19] The lyrics are the following;