Wakil Joesoef was an Acehnese whose daughter was taken as a hostage by the Dutch, according to the allegation made by H. van Kol in the Tweede Kamer on 17 November 1897.
The allegation
Van Kol’s words were: “Men nam de dochter van Wakil Joesoef als gijzelares, en heeft vroeger wel eens vaders gevangen genomen om van de dochters te genieten” — the daughter of Wakil Joesoef was taken as a hostage, and formerly fathers had sometimes been imprisoned in order to enjoy the daughters.
The statement immediately followed his citation of the latest Koloniaal Verslag, which spoke of the laying of kampongs in ashes, the destruction and burning of hiding-places and the extirpation of forests, and immediately preceded his charge concerning the some fifty thousand persons sentenced to labour who had been exposed to hostile fire.
The title
Wakil is an Arabic-derived term for a deputy, agent or representative, used in Acehnese and Malay official usage for the deputy of a chief or of a religious functionary. The source does not state of whom Joesoef was wakil, nor his district, nor the date or circumstances of his daughter’s seizure, nor her fate.
Reception
The Minister of Colonies Cremer did not answer this case specifically, replying to the general charge that he had heard nothing of cruelties committed in cold blood and did not believe they had been committed.
See Also
- Atrocities in the Aceh War as alleged in the Tweede Kamer (1897)
- H. van Kol
- Koloniaal Verslag
- J. T. Cremer
- 1897
Source
Atjeh in de Tweede Kamer: Debatten bij de behandeling der begrooting van Nederlandsch-Indië voor 1898, uitgave van de Sociaaldemokratische Arbeiderspartij in Nederland (Amsterdam: J. A. Fortuijn, 1897). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Br P95-178, p. 64.
Acknowledgement of sources. The material in this article derives from Atjeh in de Tweede Kamer: Debatten bij de behandeling der begrooting van Nederlandsch-Indië voor 1898 (Amsterdam: J. A. Fortuijn, 1897). Dutch passages are quoted in the original with an English rendering.