by E.S. Reddy
The Parliamentary front has become more important than ever in the world-wide campaign against apartheid as the major Western Powers not only continue to block sanctions against the South African regime but are giving it comfort through propaganda against the liberation movement, support to terrorist groups in the frontline States and other covert operations. While action in the Western Parliaments is crucial, Parliaments and their members can play a positive role even in countries like India where governments are committed to the struggle against apartheid.
The establishment of the all-party Parliamentarians for Action for Removal of Apartheid (PARA-India) last year, and its decision to convene a global preparatory meeting of Parliamentarians in New Delhi on August 17-18 to consult on coordinated action and to prepare for a world conference of Parliamentarians, is to be welcomed.
India is an appropriate venue for launching this initiative since it was India, now the largest democracy in the world, which initiated Parliamentary action against racism in South Africa.
When Mahatma Gandhi began his public life as the spokesman and leader of the Indians in South Africa against racist measures, he devoted great effort to securing support among Members of Parliament and public figures in Britain. He kept up regular correspondence with Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Manucherjee Bhownaggree, who had served in the House of Commons. When he visited London in 1906, a South African British Indian Committee (SABIC) was formed - similar to the British Committee of the Indian National Congress - to draw attention to the plight of Indians in South Africa and make representations to the British government. Lord Ampthill, a former Governor of Madras, was its Chairman and Sir Manucherjee was a member.
At the same time, Gopal Krishna Gokhale espoused the cause of the Indians in South Africa in the Viceroy`s Executive Council in Calcutta. His energetic campaign in the Council and outside, in support of Gandhiji, obliged the government of India in 1911 to prohibit recruitment of Indian labour, under indenture, for South Africa. That was the first sanction against South African racism, half a century before the United Nations called for such action.
Leaders of the African people also began to lobby in the British Parliament, especially after the establishment of the African National Congress in 1912. Two years earlier, Britain had handed over power to the white settlers and the Botha-Smuts regime began to dispossess the Africans of their land, causing enormous suffering. The ANC sent deputations to London before and after the First World War.
They were able to secure the support of a few Members of Parliament. In 1914, for instance, two Liberal Members of Parliament - Sir Albert Spicer and Percy Alden - expressed their concern in the House of Commons over the South African Natives Land Act of 1913. In 1919, Dr. G. B. Clarke, a Liberal Member of Parliament, arranged a meeting for Solomon T. Plaatje, the ANC representative, with Prime Minister Lloyd George. When the colonial vote came before the House of Commons that year, a few Members of Parliament expressed grave concern over the racial situation in South Africa.
Sol Plaatje also met Fenner Brockway, then a journalist and a great friend of Indian freedom, who was to become an untiring advocate of African freedom during his long career in Parliament.
After the Second World War, when India helped internationalise the South African issue through the United Nations, the India League in London set up a special Southern Africa Committee to publicise the situation. Reginald Sorensen, M.P. was its Chairman.
Action by Parliamentarians against South African racism has thus a long history, though mainly in India and Britain. After the Sharpeville massacre of March 21, 1960, and the calls for sanctions against South Africa, it became internationally significant.
A number of Parliament Members joined the anti-apartheid movements which were set up in Western countries. Barbara Castle, David Steel and David Ennals were among the early leaders of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, as was Robert Hughes, the present Chairman of the Movement who is attending the Delhi meeting.
Many Parliaments in Non-aligned Countries debated and passed legislation on sanctions and other measures against the apartheid regime, and Members of Parliament began to press for such action in the Western countries where the governments were opposed to sanctions.
Though there was little progress on sanctions in Western countries for many years, except for the arms embargo, committed Parliamentarians kept the issue alive and built up public opinion. They were able, in several countries, to secure recognition of the liberation movement and assistance to the victims of apartheid and the frontline States.
In the past few years, several Western countries have imposed partial sanctions against South Africa. In some countries, the governments have taken the lead. In others, majorities in Parliaments have enacted legislation despite the opposition of governments.
In the Netherlands, a group of Parliament Members from the opposition parties, as well as from the ruling coalition, sponsored a motion in 1980 for an oil embargo against South Africa and almost toppled the government. Though they did not succeed at the time, the government was obliged to take some positive steps. Jan Nico Scholten, who moved the motion, subsequently left the Christian Democratic Party because of his support for the liberation struggle in southern Africa and opposition to nuclear weapons, and joined the Socialist Party. He is attending the Delhi meeting as a special invitee though not presently a Member of Parliament.
In 1986, the Danish Parliament enacted a trade embargo against South Africa despite the opposition of the government, with one party in the government joining the Opposition on this issue.
Later that year, the United States Congress enacted the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, with bipartisan support, overriding the veto of President Reagan.
The momentum has been lost, however, as the Western media have succumbed to South African censorship. The public outrage aroused by almost daily television coverage of police violence in South Africa has subsided. In the United States conservatives have seized the initiative to push legislative measures against the frontline States and the liberation movements.
There is an urgent need for determined efforts by committed Parliamentarians to revive Parliamentary action against apartheid. Consultations among Parliamentarians around the world can help in this respect.
The need for such consultation was recognised in Western Europe several years ago as governments began to cite EEC agreements as an argument against national action for sanctions against South Africa. A Conference of West European Parliamentarians for an Oil Embargo against South Africa was held in Brussels in January 1981 and a conference on sanctions at The Hague in November 1982. An Association of Western European Parliamentarians for Action against Apartheid (AWEPAA) was established at a third conference in Copenhagen in November 1984. AWEPAA has organised several conferences and studies since then.
Coordination of Parliamentary activity is difficult because of differences in national situations, constitutions, party alignments and traditions. But closer liaison and exchange of experience can be helpful. Greater uniformity in legislation, for instance, is essential to prevent evasions of sanctions.
Political parties with international affiliations can play a special role in promoting coordinated action. The Conference of Socialist Parties on South Africa, held in Arusha, Tanzania, in September 1984, with the participation of leaders of frontline States and liberation movements, greatly helped in securing sanctions legislation in smaller Western countries.
India, too, can play a key role in cooperation with African countries, because of its long tradition of opposition to racism in South Africa and the all-party unity on this issue, but only if the Parliamentarians actively follow the world-wide struggle against apartheid, play a more active role in India and become familiar with the alignments in each of the major Western countries.
There was a tendency among Indian Parliamentarians for many years to do little on apartheid on the grounds that the government was pursuing the right course, and to be satisfied with the contribution of India to African liberation. That led to apathy among the people and the absence of public mobilisation and action. India was overtaken by other countries and ceased to lead the anti-apartheid campaign.
The Parliamentary forum must be effectively used in India to respond to the revolution in South Africa, to denounce the forces that continue to reinforce apartheid, to expose attempts to undermine our sanctions and to initiate proposals for further governmental and public action so that India will retain its leading position.
India`s opposition to colonialism and racism provoked Western hostility since the early days of our independence. The apartheid regime and its powerful friends are even now constantly trying to undermine India`s credibility. To counteract their manoeuvres, Parliament must demonstrate that India`s initiatives against apartheid reflect not only the convictions of the Prime Minister but also the informed and deeply felt concern of all the political parties.
The revival of Parliamentary and public activity against apartheid since 1984, and especially after the election of India as Chairman of the Africa Fund of the Non-aligned Movement, has restored dynamism to India`s role in the struggle against apartheid. The initiative of PARA in sponsoring global consultations among Parliamentarians can add a new dimension to the struggle, and to India`s image, if the all-party coalition will undertake the careful planning and action that is essential.
August 1987