army officers and began openly criticizing the government. While initially reluctant to spark a civil war, in February 1958 he became leader of the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia in West Sumatra. The rebellion was soon defeated, and after three years of guerilla warfare Sjafruddin surrendered to the government in 1961. Imprisoned until 1966, once released he became a vocal critic of the New Order government for its corruption and imposition of the principle of Pancasila to religious and social organizations until his death in 1989. Despite opposition from the armed forces, he was declared a National Hero of Indonesia in 2011. Early life and career Sjafruddin was born in Anyer Kidul to an aristocratic santri family, in what is present day Serang Regency, Banten, on 28 February 1911. He was the son of a Bantenese father and a Bantenese-Minangkabau mother. His father, R. Arsyad Prawiraatmadja, was a district chief from a family of officials in Banten and was a member of the Sarekat Islam and Budi Utomo organizations. His maternal great-grandfather was a descendant of royalty in the Pagaruyung Kingdom, who had been exiled to Banten after the end of the Padri War. Sjafruddin began his education at a Europeesche Lagere School in Serang, before continuing to a Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs in Madiun. In 1931, he graduated from an Algemene Middelbare School in Bandung. He wished to continue his studies in Leiden in the Netherlands, but his family could not afford it, so he instead studied at law at the Rechtshoogeschool te Batavia, in Batavia (now Jakarta), earning a Meester in de Rechten (Mr.) degree in September 1939. During his studies in Batavia, Sjafruddin founded the Unitas Studiosorum Indonesiensis, a student organization which was sponsored by the Dutch authorities and tended to avoid engaging in politics, unlike the more radical Perhimpoenan Peladjar-Peladjar Indonesia (Indonesian Students' Association). After graduating, he became an editor for the newspaper Soeara Timur ("Eastern Voice"), and from 1940 until 1941 he was the chairman of the Perserikatan Perkumpulan Radio Ketimuran ("Eastern Radio Association"). Sjafruddin, who had developed strong nationalist sentiments, rejected the moderate demands presented by the 1936 Soetardjo Petition (made by Soetardjo Kartohadikusumo, the sponsor of Soeara Timur), and in 1940 refused to join the Stadswacht, the Dutch colonial militia. He also founded a war relief effort organization, where he served as secretary until the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East