A. M. Azahari

The Japanese occupation of Brunei, they chose Azahari, then fifteen years old, to go to school in the Dutch East Indies[18] and pursue a career in veterinary medicine.He quit when Sambas accused him of advocating, but a number of influential people, including the chief of police, the government secretary, and the leader of the West Java Masjumi, pushed him to change his mind.[23] After five years, Azahari finally returned to Brunei, but not before encountering challenges organised by British Resident Eric Ernest Falk Pretty,[22] who at first denied his request to come back even after his identity was known.Pretty, who had known his family prior to the war, attempted to convince his uncle, Pengiran Mohammad, not to help arrange for his return, arguing that Sukarno had had a bad effect on him.In the end, he got a travel visa from the British embassy in Jakarta and went to Singapore, where he stayed with a Bruneian family until money was supplied, with the Colonial Office delegating the choice to the Sultan.[22] Hales, the manager of BMPC, was eager to deport the last forty Indonesian workers in 1953, so he purposefully portrayed them, Azahari, and the dissatisfaction among Bruneian Malay labour force as a danger to the company's ability to produce oil.The colonial officials interfered, refusing registration despite the Sultan's original desire to become a stakeholder and igniting a protest against Brunei's restrictive business laws.[28] Despite being in jail, his popularity grew, and an underground movement (Gerakan bawah di tanah)[30] began forming, with plans to organize a revolt, take over police stations, release Azahari, and establish a provisional government under his leadership.[31] Early 1953 BMPC investigations revealed that him, with direct help from Indonesia, was aiming to take over police stations, acquire weapons, and gather the European people.[32] Azahari became close friends with British Resident John Orman Gilbert and concentrated on managing his bus company, which employed 72 people and provided support to many in the oilfields.He backed Tunku Abdul Rahman's demand for a unified front for independence that included Northern Borneo by attending the UMNO congress in Kuala Lumpur.In contrast to Tunku's pro-British position, Azahari was more in line with the left-leaning Partai Rakyat Malaya (PRM), which was anti-British and advocated for an enlarged Indonesian–Malay homeland.Disagreements among local leaders and the government's unwillingness to recognise the party caused Azahari's effort to form a PRM branch in Brunei in January 1955 to fail.[37] A dissatisfied Azahari, whom the British considered an important political ally, threatened to revolt after long discussions between 1957 and 1959 failed to achieve the democratic goals of the PRB and preserved the Sultan's prerogatives.British officials Gilbert and Abell, viewing Azahari as the only reasonable politician they could negotiate with, discouraged him from quitting politics despite his occasional threats to do so.It had little bearing on the discussions because the PRB engaged British attorney Walter Raeburn in May 1957 to deliver their Merdeka statement, which supported electoral ideals and representative rights, to the Colonial Office.After Abell rejected his plans for a ministerial style of government, Azahari felt demoralized and considered quitting politics to concentrate on his faltering companies.This prompted him to denounce the council as undemocratic and a colonial relic that may push people toward communism, signaling his irreversible departure from representative politics.[42] Given his socialist leanings, Azahari was able to establish contact with anti-capitalist people, nations, and organisations via collaborating with like-minded Malayan mentors and peers.[45] The British authorities were concerned about his growing closer with Indonesia as he depended on Indonesian assistance for TNKU soldier financing and training[46] and looked to the Philippines for moral support.Disappointed by the lack of progress, leaders of the PRB, such as Azahari, looked at other options in light of the political standstill, including possible violent intervention by the TNKU, and pushed for quick democratic changes.However, in his capacity as the spokesperson for Bruneian politics, he made clear that the uprising was really against British colonialism and the Malaysia plan, with the goal of creating a Unitary State of North Borneo led by the Sultan.[55] The Philippines Government stayed uncommitted to Azahari,[56] the leader of the Brunei revolt, despite the fact that he was in Manila when it broke out, receiving unofficial financial support and sympathetic hearings from high officials.[57] After seizing control of the Seria oil fields quickly and capturing many Europeans as prisoners, the Yassin Affandi-led rebels targeted Brunei Town's government facilities, including the police station.[52] The failed rebellion destroyed any goals for democratic progress and blocked Azahari's plan to establish a Northern Kalimantan State ruled by the Sultan as a constitutional monarchy.