Communal Land Rights of Malay People in North Sumatera: Power, State and Deulayatisasi

Edy Ikhsan

doi:10.15742/ilrev.v4n3.100

Abstract

This article aims to unravel a shift of control / ownership of communal land of the Malays of Deli in North Sumatra. The commonly well-known communal lands, before the arrival of the Dutch colonial, was still inherent with the authorities of villages and was evolutionarily taken over by the foreign planters through concessionary contracts, which were dully signed by the Sultanate of Deli and the said foreign planters. The Indonesian independence in 1945 and the period that went beyond had in fact not contributed any improvement of the situation and instead it had exacerbated social and legal relations between the Malays of Deli and their ancestral lands. The said successful state laws had been so successful to keep these local natives away from their most important resource of life, namely their very lands. “Deulayatisasi” through state laws that was heavily oriented to the interests of capitalization to have seemingly been so successful to curtail the long journey of communal land rights in this country that seemed to have been pioneered by Van Vollenhoven during the early period of 20th century. The customary land law, in Indonesia, will someday become a kind of a beautiful story in the course of historiographical laws of Indonesia.

Highlights

In almost a hundred year ago, Van Vollenhoven, the most paramount pioneer in the area of Customary Law in Indonesia, created a terminology in which the impulse to the present day remains to be felt and has been strongly being lingered, and even stronger and faster after the reform of 1998
“Deulayatisasi” through state laws that was heavily oriented to the interests of capitalization to have seemingly been so successful to curtail the long journey of communal land rights in this country that seemed to have been pioneered by Van Vollenhoven during the early period of 20th century
The brief historical accounts on the transfers of communal land rights of Malay People in Eastern Coast of North Sumatra, as elaborated above, has clearly showed the identity, which was fortified by the State against the neglects of the cultivating rights of customary people descended by their ancestors for many centuries

Summary

Introduction

In almost a hundred year ago, Van Vollenhoven, the most paramount pioneer in the area of Customary Law in Indonesia, created a terminology in which the impulse to the present day remains to be felt and has been strongly being lingered, and even stronger and faster after the reform of 1998. The forest lands, the wild land, the unused lands, the unattended lands, the uncultivated lands or any lands regardless of names, were types of lands being put in concession to the Dutch onderneming by the Sultanates in Eastern Sumatera, some of which might be falling within areas belonging to the villages (kampong) along with the structure of communal organizations underneath These were the lands called by Kleintjes ashet recht,hetwelk tot inhoud heeft de bevoegheid van een inlandsche gemeenschap – hetzij een territoriale als een dorp of dorpenbond, hetzij een genealogische als een stam om aan zichzelf en haar leden het recht toe te kennen binnen een zekeren gebiedskring den woestgebleven grond naar goedvinden in gebruik te nemen en aan anderen it recht toe te kennen, alleen met haar toestemming tegen betaling van retributie of een huldegift. (The lands by which the power rest upon the indigenous population, which was territorial in nature as a village or a unit of village that was genealogically as a tribe that granted rights to the members of the village community to use the blank lands as well as to outside users with approval and payment of retribution or as a giving in the form of honorary gift).

20 Article 62 verse 6 the RR stipulated

Conclusion