Evidence of Molvi Ismail Ahmad Cachalia in the South African Treason Trial, 21- 28 June 1960
Edited by E. S. Reddy, 1992
The evidence of Molvi I. A. Cachalia during the South African treason trial in 1960 constitutes a valuable source for the study of the struggle of the small Indian community in South Africa for its elementary rights, and its contribution to the national liberation movement in the country. But it has rarely been used by scholars and students as the record of the trial is not easily accessible and contains numerous errors of transcription and much irrelevance in cross-examination by the prosecutor.
I have condensed the evidence and corrected the numerous typographical and other errors in the record, as well as some glaring grammatical mistakes. Mr. Cachalia was denied his request for an interpreter from Urdu, his first language, and was obliged to give evidence in English.
I have also checked most of the quotations and documents cited in the record with the originals, and added a few footnotes.
The evidence describes the enormous and escalating discrimination imposed by the successive white racist regimes against the Indian South Africans - as regards residence, employment, trade, property ownership, franchise etc., - and the constant efforts to force them to leave South Africa in desperation. It recounts the appeals, protests and resistance of the Indian community, and the organisation and methods of non-violent struggle.
It also emphasises the conviction of the authentic leaders of the Indian community, especially since the late 1930s, that the destiny of the Indians was linked to that of the indigenous African majority, which was even more brutally oppressed; and their efforts to forge an alliance of all the oppressed people, as well as democratic whites, in order to overthrow the racist order and build a democratic society.
The context of the evidence may be briefly recalled.
One hundred and fifty-six leaders of the liberation movement were arrested in a nation-wide swoop in December 1956 and charged with high treason. After a series of withdrawals of charges and acquittals for lack of evidence, thirty were tried from January 1959. In March 1960, when a State of Emergency was declared in the country, they were detained, as were numerous other leaders and activists. When the Court resumed on April 26, 1960, the accused contended that a political trial could not be properly conducted "under conditions amounting virtually to martial law"; they dismissed their counsel and conducted their own defence.
Molvi Cachalia, who was then in detention, was called as a defence witness by A.M. ("Kathy") Kathrada, accused No. 2, who had been active in the liberation struggle since his childhood and had served several terms of imprisonment. He was examined by Mr. Kathrada from 21 to 23 June, cross-examined by the prosecutor, Mr. Trengove, from 23 to 28 June, and briefly re-examined by Mr. Kathrada on 28 June.
Molvi Cachalia comes from a family which has made a great contribution to the struggle for freedom from the early years of this century. His father, A.M. Cachalia, was one of the closest colleagues of Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa. He went to prison several times in the satyagraha of 1907-1914, risking his property rather than succumb to pressure by white creditors. Many of his descendants have played key roles in the Indian resistance and the national liberation movement.
Molvi Cachalia himself made an impressive contribution to the struggle, and that is reflected in his evidence.
Born on December 5, 1908, while his father was in prison, he completed his early education in Johannesburg and then studied at Deoband University in India from 1924 to 1930. In the late 1930s, as the Government proceeded to enact further obnoxious racist measures, he joined with Dr. Yusuf Dadoo and others in organising militant resistance. In 1938 he helped establish the Nationalist Bloc against the compromising leadership of the Transvaal Indian Congress, and the Non-European United Front which sought to build unity of all the oppressed people in the struggle for freedom.
He was one of the leaders of the Indian passive resistance movement of 1946-48. During the great Defiance Campaign of 1952, he was Deputy Volunteer-in-Chief, working closely with Nelson Mandela, the Volunteer-in-Chief. He was repeatedly imprisoned and restricted for his activities.
He held leading positions in the Transvaal Indian Congress and the South African Indian Congress from 1946 to 1954 when he was forced by arbitrary banning orders to resign.
In 1955, along with Mr. Moses Kotane, he managed to leave the country and represent the South African people at the Asian-African Conference in Bandung.
He was detained for three months during the State of Emergency in 1960 and served with severe banning orders in 1963. He escaped from South Africa in 1964 to assist in the external work of the liberation movement. He worked in the Asian Mission of the African National Congress, established in New Delhi in 1967, until he was forced to retire because of ill-health. He returned to South Africa in 1991 when the Congresses were unbanned.
His wife, Miriam, was also active in the movement, serving two terms of imprisonment during the Indian passive resistance and another term in the Defiance Campaign. She passed away in 1973.
I have edited this testimony as my personal tribute to Molvi Cachalia and Ahmad Kathrada, and to the contribution of Indian South Africans to the great liberation struggle. I would consider myself well rewarded if this can be of use to scholars in South Africa as they study their history.
E. S. Reddy
New York
May 1992
E S Reddy, a national of India, has been interested in the South African liberation movement since his student days in the 1940s. In 1946, as a student in New York, he participated in a demonstration against South African racism. He was a member of the Secretariat of the United Nations from 1949 to 1985, serving as Principal Secretary of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid and Director of the Centre against Apartheid for many years.
Since his retirement in 1985, he has been a Senior Fellow of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, and a member of the Council of Trustees of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa.
June 21-23, 1960
June 23-28
June 28, 1960
(From pages 14889-15238 of the trial transcript)