PART IV

Note by editors

Gandhiji was happy that the Government agreed to appoint a non-official Indian - V. S. Srinivasa Sastri, the scholarly and sagacious inheritor of Gokhale's mantle - as the first Agent in South Africa. Gandhiji had great confidence in Sastri who had played an important role at the round table conference in Cape Town. He had, in fact, suggested Sastri's name and persuaded him to accept the assignment.

Gandhiji saw the Agent`s task as the modest one of seeing that "no fresh restrictive legislation was embarked upon by the Union Government and that the existing restrictive laws are administered liberally and with due regard to the vested rights." (Item 122). The position of Indians had deteriorated so much that it was difficult even to conceive of a return to the legal status and expectations of 1914.

Gandhiji helped Sastri in his work, both with advice tendered to him and by calling on Indian South Africans to cooperate with him fully. He defended Sastri from criticism, even by his son Manilal.

Gandhiji had felt that since 1920 when he had become a non-cooperator, he could do little to help Indian South Africans as he had no influence with the Indian Government and the Government was not responsive to public opinion. But now he was able to work with and through Sastri who represented not only the Government but in a way the people of India. Gandhiji, therefore, advised Indians in South Africa to seek help from Sastri, rather than himself.

Significantly, in letters to Sastri and to Indians in South Africa, as well as in articles in Young India, Gandhiji stressed the need for unity in the community - a need of which he was becoming increasingly conscious in the deteriorating communal situation within India as well.

Sastri was able to establish reasonably good relations with the leaders and officials of the South African Government and helped mitigate the problems of the Indians. For instance, the government agreed to a condonation scheme for Indians who entered the Transvaal on "fraudulent" certificates obtained before 1914 when the officials of the Asiatic Department in the Transvaal were corrupt.

All through 1928 and 1929 Gandhiji received a regular flow of letters, cables and memoranda from South Africa on different questions agitating Indian settlers there. And the work of C.F. Andrews there continued to bring him joy and hope. Sastri completed his tenure in South Africa in 1929 and returned to India. Gandhiji wrote to his successor, K.V. Reddi: "I continue to receive anxious enquiries from South Africa. I am obliged to tell them all that they should worry you and not expect much from here." (Item 153).

"...not expect much from here." Was Gandhiji withdrawing from his involvement in South African affairs? On the contrary. He was, rather, seeking to encourage in the Indian settlers the self-suffiency that was essential for the success of their struggle. A self-sufficiency, essentially, in the matter of initiative and leadership.

But, regrettably, there were serious divisions and rivalries among leaders of the Indian community for several years. Different groups and personalities were seeking favours from the Agent, instead of serving the community. They had become dependent on the Agent and hence the Indian Government.

Moreover, when Gandhiji learned of the fate of those "repatriated" from South Africa to India, including many Indians born in South Africa, he became disillusioned about the terms and operation of the Cape Town Agreement. He wrote in Young India on June 4, 1931:

"There should have been no agreed repatriation at all, and if there was to be any, there should have been ample provision previously made to ensure proper occupation for them, and in any case there should never have been any consent to the repatriation of colonial-born Indians, of whom there are fully thirty-three percent in the Calcutta depot."

He warned against bartering away the rights of the poor labouring population "for doubtful concessions to the other Indian settlers." (Item 157).

This section includes affectionate reminiscences of Imam Abdul Kadir Bawazeer, who was with him in the satyagraha in South Africa and became a member of his ashram in India.

Long gaps occur in the references to South African affairs from 1929 to 1939 due to Gandhiji's incarcerations and involvement in the fluctuating fortunes of the Indian National Movement.

Very considerable relief will be felt by the Indian settlers in South Africa over the announcement that the Rt. Hon. V. S. Srinivasa Sastri has consented to become India`s first Agent-General in that sub-continent, if the post is finally offered to him by the Government of India.⁽¹⁾

It is a great sacrifice that Sastri and the Servants of India Society have made. It is an open secret that left to himself he was not inclined to undertake the responsibility and to leave his work in India. But he has yielded to the pressure of friends, especially when it was urged upon him that he alone could successfully inaugurate the working of the Agreement in bringing about which he played not an inconsiderable part. We know from the cables that were sent from time to time from South Africa that the Europeans were anxious that he should accept the honour. Sjt. Srinivasa Sastri had by his eloquence, transparent sincerity, sweet reasonableness, and extreme earnestness won the esteem and respect of the Union Government and the Europeans in South Africa during the short time that he was there as a member of the Habibulla deputation... I know how nervously anxious our countrymen in South Africa were that he should become the first Agent. It was impossible for Sjt. Srinivasa Sastri whom God has endowed with a generous nature not to respond to such a unanimous call from South Africa. It is almost a foregone conclusion that the appointment will be duly made and very shortly announced.

The first Agent-General will have his work cut out for him. Both the Union Government and our countrymen have no doubt high expectations of India`s first ambassador. The Union Government no doubt think that being an Indian and a person of great distinction he will make their path smooth with the Indian community in connection with any measures that they may take. In other words, they will expect him to be their sympathetic interpreter both to the Indian community and to the Government of India. Our countrymen equally surely expect him to insist upon an honourable and even a liberal interpretation and fulfilment of the Agreement. It is any time a delicate task to please rival claimants, more so now in South Africa where the clash of conflicting interests is simply bewildering. But I know that if anybody can hold the scales absolutely even and thus give satisfaction to all parties concerned, Sjt. Srinivasa Sastri is certainly the one to be able to do so. I feel certain that the Union Ministers do not expect the new Agent to surrender an inch of what is justly due to the Indian community. All he can be expected to do is to persuade the Indian settlers not to go behind and travel beyond the Settlement of 1914, for some time to come at any rate, until they have proved themselves entitled, by exemplary self-restraint and behaviour, to an enlargement of the position attained by the Agreement of 1914. Our countrymen in South Africa, if they intend to make the Agent`s position fairly easy and their own position secure, will not expect him to work wonders. It will be wrong to look forward to a complete transformation of the old position, because an honourable Agreement has been arrived at and because a great countryman is going to South Africa to see to the fulfilment of that Agreement. They must remember that the Rt. Hon. Srinivasa Sastri is not going there as their counsel briefed to attend to every individual grievance. To smother him with detailed individual grievances would be to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. He goes there as a trustee for India`s honour. He goes there to safeguard the rights and liberty of the general body of Indian settlers. He will be there to see that no fresh restrictive legislation is embarked upon by the Union Government and that the existing restrictive laws are administered liberally and with due regard to the vested rights. Any individual grievance therefore that he might be called upon to tackle will have to be in terms of the position I have set forth, that is to say, it will have to be illustrative of some general principle of wide application. Unless therefore the Indian community exercises prudential restraint upon themselves in approaching him for redress of their individual grievances, they will make the Agent`s position intolerable and even useless for the high purpose for which it is intended. Indeed such an ambassador`s usefulness lies not so much in work appertaining to his official capacity as to the indirect service he can render by his sociableness, and by his character, which leaves its impress upon anything and anybody that it comes in contact with officially or otherwise. And if our countrymen desire to make use of the great qualities of head and heart that Sjt. Sastri possesses, they will bear in mind the limitations I have endeavoured to set forth.

I understand that if Sjt. Sastri goes, Mrs. Sastri too will accompany him. This will be a great gain to the settlers...

Young India, May 19, 1927; Collected Works, Volume 33, pages 269-70

The Rt. Hon. Srinivasa Sastri has yielded to the pressure of friends in accepting the office of the first ambassador for India in South Africa, at the sacrifice of his cherished wishes, solely with the object of serving you. It rests with you to make the best use of his services and his presence amongst you. You cannot do so unless you fulfil the following conditions:

1. You will not expect too much.

2. You will not try to seek relief in purely individual cases through him.

3. You will not swerve from truth in your dealings with him. To be false to him would be to be false to yourselves.

4. You will remain completely united.

5. You will put your own house in order and purify yourselves.

You will not assume that all your grievances will disappear with the coming of the Rt. Hon. Sastri as the first Agent. He will have done enough if he succeeds in seeing that no new restrictive legislation is passed against you, that the operation of the old restrictive enactments is not made unnecessarily harsh and that the spirit of the new Agreement is carried out by the Union Government.

The Rt. Hon. Sastri is going there as the representative, not of individuals, but of India as a whole. He is going there to uphold the prestige of India. Therefore you will not run to him for relief in every individual case. If you do, you will make the mistake of expending a pound for the matter of a penny.

Our strength depends solely on truth. No matter how you behave in your business dealings, you will never in the interests of the community think of swerving from the path of truth in your dealings with the Rt. Hon. Sastri. In attempting to deceive him you will be working your own ruin.

We here constantly receive reports of dissensions amongst you. If you go on creating different and conflicting interests, e.g., the rights of the rich as distinguished from those of the poor, the rights of the North Indians as distinguished from those of South Indians, of the Colonial-born as distinguished from those of the merchants, of the latter from those of the indentured, of the Transvaal Indians as distinguished from those of the Cape Indians and Natal Indians, you will lose the little that you have gained. If you want to better the position of the whole community, you will always stand united.

We are ultimately to win by our own endeavour which does not mean sharp practice, but self-purification, which again means reform from within and purging ourselves of evil customs and superstitions, educating our children, and contributing money for education as well as other measures of social reform. In this work of self-purification, the Rt. Hon. Sastri`s profound experience as an educationist and reformer should be very helpful, and the presence of Mrs. Sastri should be an inspiration to our women.

You will never get another such opportunity in the near future of ameliorating your condition. In my opinion it was impossible to find a worthier, abler and more impartial representative than the Rt. Hon. Sastri. Let us believe that the Hand of God has brought about this happy consummation. It rests with you entirely to benefit or not by the chance which God has in his mercy given you. May He show you the right path.

Young India, May 19, 1927; Collected Works, Volume 33, pages 326-27

Nandi Hills,

May 15, 1927

Dear brother,

I must dictate this letter. I forgot to mention one thing to you. I think I gave you the name of Umar Hajee Ahmed Jhaveri, one of the most truthful men I have met in my life.⁽³⁾

If he has thought ill of a person, I have known him to tell him so and apologise. He is the brother of the very first Indian merchant who went to South Africa, the late Abubakar Ahmed. Umar Hajee Ahmed has considerable property in Durban and has a plot of land with handsome buildings in a central place in Church Street, Pretoria. This property was the only property registered in the name of an Indian in the Transvaal. It became a point of honour with us to insist upon that property remaining in the ownership of Indians. Mr. Jhaveri was telling me that there was some dispute about it. I don`t remember the exact circumstances in which the matter stands at present, though of course the past history I know well. This is a matter that might come before you. You will then recall the fact that I mentioned it to you. This is no individual matter but one of national concern. There is correspondence about this between General Smuts and myself. You will see all the papers if the case ever comes before you.

I saw Dr. Malan`s cable. It was splendid. I am glad you are going so early as 8th June. Poor Andrews is being torn to pieces, and you will not reach South Africa a moment too soon.

The Natal Provincial Council`s vote is indeed a bad beginning. But in the Cape Parliament the Natal vote counts for little. I have no doubt that you will have no difficulty with the Natal members, some of whom are good, and all of them, unlike as in the Transvaal, the Orange and even the Cape, are proud of the British connection. But, probably, you already know all such things.

Yours sincerely,

Collected Works, Volume 33, page 329

I know the temple at Umbilo, which may really be called a suburb of Durban. Even years ago, when the temple was erected, I had my misgivings. Bitter experience has taught me that all temples are not houses of God. They can be habitations of the devil. These places of worship have no value unless the keeper is a good man of God. Temples, mosques, churches are what man makes them to be. I am therefore not surprised at the painful and horribly superstitious practices going on in this so-called temple. The origin of these practices is easy enough to trace. There are three classes of Indians in South Africa. The free Indian trader has nothing to do with these practices. Nor have the large number of Colonial-born Indians who have received in the face of terrible odds a tolerably liberal education. The third class is the indentured Indian, now become free. He is drawn mainly from the poorest class here. Nothing has ever been done by the Government or the employers or by the free Indian community to help these unfortunate men and women out of their ignorance and superstition. The result is that they are preyed upon by superstitious and even evil-minded men who pose as priests and holy men. They mutter a few Sanskrit verses whose meaning they do not know and which they horribly mispronounce, and resort to all kinds of awe-inspiring practices. And what can be better than a temple, where simple people congregate and where every kind of superstition derives a halo from associations attributed to temples? I think that the common law of South Africa is wide enough to deal with these practices if the Government desires to put them down.

The fact is, unfortunately, that the prejudice against Indians in South Africa is not ascribable to these practices, nor is it directed against the men who are victims of this barbarism. It is directed chiefly against the free trading class who have nothing to do with these practices. And therefore these practices have gone without any notice or comment. And if they are now being noticed, it is in order to prejudice the European mind against the Habibullah Agreement⁽⁵⁾ and against what little relief is sought to be given to the Indian settlers. It should also be borne in mind that these practices are by no means common amongst Indians throughout South Africa. They are confined only to the part of the coast of Natal where indentured Indians are to be found in their largest numbers. If therefore the Government intend to put these practices down, they can do so under the common law with ease, and they can be dealt with also through municipal bye-laws. I am sure that if action is taken, not a voice will be raised against it in the name of religion falsely so called for sheltering these practices. No cultured Indian will have anything to do with them, and the ignorant people who witness these tortures with awe will not dare to defend them in a court of law. What we can do here is to encourage cultured Indians in South Africa to fight the superstition. They should, without seeking Government intervention, work in the midst of the poor people, and wean them from these barbarisms, and advise them to help the Government, if they choose to prosecute those who take part in those practices, thus showing their desire not to reproduce in South Africa all that is bad in our life, but to reproduce only that which is good in our civilisation. It is our duty to advise and encourage our countrymen in South Africa to do nothing that will give a handle to the agitation against them.

Young India, May 19, 1927; Collected Works, Volume 33, pages 339-40

126. TELEGRAM TO THE TRANSVAAL BRITISH INDIAN ASSOCIATION, JUNE 1927⁽⁶⁾

BIAS⁽⁷⁾

JOHANNESBURG

STRONGLY ADVISE JOINT ACTION

GANDHI

Collected Works, Volume 33, page 435

As at the Ashram, Sabarmati,

July 17, 1927

My dear Kajee,

I was delighted to receive your letter after a long absence. It is difficult to give you guidance from this distance over differences with the Transvaal. I am, however, hoping that Mr. Sastri`s arrival has smoothed matters over.

As soon as I got the cablegram from Johannesburg, I sent a reply which I hope was duly received. Do please keep me informed of further developments...

Yours sincerely,

Collected Works, Volume 34, page 184

128. LETTER TO V. S. SRINIVASA SASTRI, AUGUST 1, 1927

Bangalore

August 1, 1927

My dear brother,

I was thankful for your first letter from South Africa. The hopeful note cheers me.

The Transvaal, I see, is causing you some anxiety. But I have every hope that the people there will ultimately listen to you.

I notice your appeal for social workers. You won`t get any from this end. I know Devadhar⁽⁸⁾ contemplates sending or even taking a batch. But my own feeling is that it is essentially work for local volunteers. But whether it is done by local volunteers or workers imported from here, the work is worth doing and has got to be done. The Government of India, the Natal Government and the planters are not a little to blame for the mischief. The tone having been once set, it is tremendously difficult to set another all of a sudden. All strength to your elbow.

Do please keep your health.

Andrews cabled about your expenses. I am not going to weary you with what was done here. But I am informed that you will have all the assistance you need. I personally feel quite at ease. It is not the style of living that is going to count in your case, it is your internal strength that is going to count and is counting already...

With love,

Yours,

M. K. Gandhi

Collected Works, Volume 34, page 269

India`s first ambassador has not allowed the grass to grow under his feet. He is busily sowing seeds of true union by a seasonable word now addressed to the Europeans and now to the Indian settlers, and he seems to be having fair success with both. Europeans gracefully acknowledge his splendid worth and exquisite impartiality. Indians gratefully recognise the immense strength of character which backs every word that this great son of India utters.

He has now appealed to them to produce an army of social workers in the cause of public health and sanitation. Let us hope that his appeal will not fall upon deaf ears, and that well-to-do and educated Indians will respond as zealously as they did when C. F. Andrews appealed to them for assistance for the scavenging work he did during the outbreak of smallpox in Durban some months ago.⁽⁹⁾

Agent though he is of the Government, if Reuter`s report is correct, Sjt. Sastri did not spare it over its criminal indifference about the sanitary and social welfare of the indentured Indians. For the neglect of sanitation amongst the indentured Indians, three parties are really responsible - the Government of India, the employers, and the local government. If the Government of India had insisted upon a minimum standard, and if the employers had taken a human interest in the employees and the local government had considered the indentured Indians as future citizens of South Africa, they would have learnt, during their five years` indenture, habits of modern sanitation. For during the five years of indenture they had to live like soldiers in barracks and they could have been made to conform to any reasonable sanitary regulations that might have been framed, even as they were made to conform to labour regulations which were often even harsh and severe. But this is past history. There is no more indentured emigration now.

The question is now to make of the existing Indian population model citizens, and if the Government and the Indian settlers cooperate, it is not at all impossible to set a better tone, and create a healthy Indian public opinion that would not tolerate any insanitation or ugliness. Let the Indian settlers do their part of forming sanitation brigades, cleaning up latrines and streets and instructing ignorant people in the elementary laws of sanitation, even as they did in 1897 in Durban. Sjt. Sastri`s work will be fruitless unless he is willingly and whole-heartedly helped by the Indian settlers. They must conform to the wholesome maxim of law that those who seek justice or equity must come with clean hands. Let the settlers be clean in body, mind and soul, and thus make the best use of the golden opportunity they have of having an Ambassador who has got the ability to serve them and who has in a remarkable measure the ear of the European inhabitants of South Africa.

Young India, August 11, 1927; Collected Works, Volume 34, pages 311-12

130. LETTER TO V. S. SRINIVASA SASTRI, AUGUST 12, 1927

As at Bangalore,

August 12, 1927

I do not know that you want to know Mr. Andrews` opinion about your work. But he has thought it worth while to spend money on cabling the following to me:

"SASTRI`S SUCCESS UNPRECEDENTED. GOVERNOR-GENERAL ADMIRABLY SUPPORTING, ALSO MINISTERS AND OFFICIALS."

It is difficult to trust Andrews with any monies for telegraphic charges, and yet I cannot summon sufficient courage to swear at him for this cable news. I am not going to make use of it for the press. I never had any doubt about your success. All I want to be sure of is your health.

I see you are already telling the public that your term of office will not go beyond one year. Anyway I have your assurance that you will not run away even for the Commission if your presence is indispensable there at the end of the year which is fast spinning away its course.

There was too a good letter from Miss Schlesin⁽¹⁰⁾ from which I was tempted to quote, but I restricted the temptation and destroyed the letter. Ere this reaches you, if she kept her promise, she must have seen you.

Yours sincerely,

M. K. Gandhi

Collected Works, Volume 34, pages 332-33

Sabarmati,

September 22, 1927

My dear brother,

I have now two letters from you to acknowledge. I am sorry you are still having trouble from the Transvaal friends. I hope, however, that you will not allow their defection to disturb your peace. I am watching things here and I would ask you not to worry over the notices that Aiyar⁽¹¹⁾ and Co. may be able, now and then to secure in the press here of their activities. I suppose I can safely say that no real stir will be made in India on the South African question unless I stir. That much credit, somehow or other, I shall retain, and it is likely to survive your term of office. And so long as the Union Government continue to cooperate with you and do not reject your advances, I do not see what useful purpose can be served by my making a stir here.

The result of the Pragji and Medh case⁽¹²⁾ in unfortunate. I think that they are right in rejecting the offer of a temporary certificate. I do not attach any importance to C.I.D.⁽¹³⁾ reports about Medh. If he did anything criminal they should prosecute him, but not use against him C.I.D. reports. He may not be a perfect human being, but I do not think that he is in any way worse than the average Indian there or, for the matter of that, here. The way I look upon the case is this. The understanding of 1914 was that there should be no colour bar, at least in theory. Therefore the Immigration Law, to read, does not show any colour bar. In practice six men were to be admitted annually on the ground of educational qualifications, and, so far as I recollect, the question of domicile was not to affect them. For, they carried their qualifications in their own persons. As I am writing from memory I am writing under correction. You will, however, examine the position for what it is worth. I do hope that a way will be found of accommodating them.

I am glad you like Phoenix and I should feel happy if it could really become, on occasions, a resting place for you. Andrews described what might have been a serious accident as Kallenbach⁽¹⁴⁾

was driving you from Pretoria to Johannesburg at break-neck speed, and one of the tyres of his fashionable motor burst. I wish you could persuade Kallenbach to come to India, if only to see me and return to his business. Miss Schlesin has given me a fascinating description of her interview with you. When I was in Madras I tried to seek out Mrs. Sastri, but I learnt that she was at Lucknow.

With love,

Yours sincerely,

M. K. Gandhi

Letters of Srinivasa Sastri, pages 167-68; Collected Works, Volume 35, pages 17-18

132. LETTER TO V. S. SRINIVASA SASTRI, OCTOBER 20, 1927

Coimbatore,

October 20, 1927

My dear brother,

There is much fiery stuff coming from South Africa nowadays. Here is one cutting. I am watching what is happening, but consider it wise not to say anything. But I shall not hesitate to intervene when necessary. What I find disturbing is a para in Manilal`s letter which I translate below:

"I am not quite satisfied with his speeches. He crosses the limits in praising the Empire and the benefits conferred by it on India. He thinks it necessary thus to please the Europeans. He seems to believe that thus only shall we secure something here. The effect of these speeches cannot be good in India. He has therefore asked me not to print them in Indian Opinion."

I thought I must pass on to you this from Manilal. For he is a good boy and brave boy. Knowing my later views about the Empire, I am not surprised at his mentality. He has not the faculty of discrimination to see that we are like blood-brothers even though we do not hold the same views about the Empire...

I do hope that you are not going to worry over what appears now and then in some papers here or what people may be talking there. Pray do not hesitate to tell me when you want me to act. Of course you know that I do not follow the papers closely especially when I am moving from day to day.

May God keep you in good health.

With love,

Yours,

M.K. Gandhi

Letters of Srinivasa Sastri, pages 169-70; Collected Works, Volume 35, pages 168-69

133. RESOLUTION OF THE FORTY-SECOND SESSION OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, MADRAS, DECEMBER 27, 1927⁽¹⁵⁾

This Congress, while acknowledging the relief received by the Indian settlers in South Africa and regarding the signing of the Indo-Union Agreement as a token of the desire of the Union Government to accord better treatment to the Indian settlers, cannot be satisfied till the status of the settlers is brought on par with that of the enfranchised inhabitants of the Union and appeals to the Union Government to consolidate the goodwill created between the two countries by repealing all class legislation, especially the Colour Bar Act of 1926,⁽¹⁶⁾ the clause in the Liquor Bill of 1927 prohibiting the employment of Indians as waiters in hotels and the Municipal Land Alienation Ordinances of Natal in so far as the latter involve racial segregation.

This Congress places on record its sense of deep gratitude to Deenabandhu⁽¹⁷⁾ C. F. Andrews for his great and humanitarian work in South Africa and East Africa in connection with the status of Indian settlers in those countries.

Report of the Forty-second Session of the Indian National Congress at Madras, 1927, page 59; Collected Works, Volume 35, page 423

Though through the heroic efforts of the Rt. Hon. Srinivasa Sastri the social status of our countrymen in South Africa has undoubtedly improved and life is becoming less unbearable for self-respecting Indians, reminders come now and then from that sub-continent that much yet remains to be done before the Indian settlers enjoy the ordinary civic rights and feel their position safe. The latest shock comes through a cable just received from Mr. Albert Christopher,⁽¹⁸⁾ the new Deputy President of the South African Indian Congress. Mr. Christopher was one of the volunteers who served as well during the Boer War as during the late war. He is South Africa born and has just returned after finishing his education in England. The cable runs as follows:

"SECOND READING LIQUOR BILL NOW GOING THROUGH PARLIAMENT NOTWITHSTANDING STRONG PROTEST. BILL SEEKS DEPRIVE THREE THOUSAND INDIANS THEIR FAMILIES AND DEPENDANTS OF LIVELIHOOD ULTIMATELY DRIVE THEM OUT OF COUNTRY. BILL DIRECT CONFLICT LETTER SPIRIT CAPE TOWN AGREEMENT. CLEAR RACIAL LEGISLATION. INDIANS GREATLY ALARMED AT GOVERNMENT`S ATTITUDE. IF BILL PASSES CAPE TOWN AGREEMENT SMASHED. EARNESTLY APPEAL YOUR IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION."⁽¹⁹⁾

Even the respectable South African press agrees with the opinion of the South African (Indian) Congress that the Bill violates the Agreement which resulted from the Round Table Conference. That it is aimed at those who are already earning an honest livelihood in hotels and bars is unquestioned. If the Union Parliament persists in the Bill, it simply means that being the stronger party to the contract, it can safely commit breach of contract whenever it wills. Our hope lies in Sjt. Sastri`s gentle diplomacy saving not only the situation, but the honour of the Union Government, the Union Parliament and the white people of South Africa in spite of themselves. He, however, needs energetic support from the Indian press and the Indian public.

Young India, February 9, 1928; Collected Works, Volume 36, page 16

The decision of the Rt. Hon. Srinivasa Sastri to remain in South Africa beyond his term will gladden the hearts of the Indian settlers as it has pleased and eased the minds of those here who are interested in the South African question and who have been anxiously following the course of events in that sub-continent.⁽²⁰⁾

Familiarity in Sjt. Sastri`s case instead of making the Europeans indifferent or lukewarm has made them look to the Agent-General as their friend and peacemaker. By his punctilious impartiality combined with firmness wherever necessary Sjt. Sastri has inspired them with trust as well as respect. The grateful Indians have not been slow to discover and appreciate the worth of this distinguished countryman and they were urging him to prolong his stay, if it was at all possible. Let them now demonstrate their affection and appreciation by becoming united and by being correct in the observance of all their part of the agreement. I tender my congratulations to Sjt. Sastri on his self-denial. For I know how anxious he was to return home at the end of his term.

Young India, April 5, 1928; Collected Works, Volume 36, page 187

Deenabandhu Andrews, when he was here recently, drew my attention to what the Poet⁽²¹⁾had written in the press in connection with a movement in the Transvaal said to be going on behalf of Indians to isolate themselves from the Africans and wanted me to give my opinion on it.⁽²²⁾

I do not think that any importance need be attached to the alleged movement. For I feel that it has no bottom. Indians have too much in common with the Africans to think of isolating themselves from them. They cannot exist in South Africa for any length of time without the active sympathy and friendship of the Africans. I am not aware of the general body of the Indians having ever adopted an air of superiority towards their African brethren, and it would be a tragedy if any such movement were to gain ground among the Indian settlers of South Africa. Needless to say, I entirely associate myself with the opinion so forcefully expressed by the Poet condemning the movement. If, as has been stated on behalf of the leaders of the so-called movement, "it is humiliating to the Indian sentiment and to the Indian national honour and civilisation to think that our Agent-General is trying to bring us down to such a low level", it will ill befit us to repudiate such a sentiment when it is expressed by the South African whites in respect of ourselves. And what is more, the South African whites are able to translate their contempt and prejudice against us into action whereas ours towards the South Africans can only react against ourselves.

Young India, April 5, 1928; Collected Works, Volume 36, page 190

The following letter, dated 24th February, 1928, addressed on behalf of the Minister of the Interior to the Secretary, South African Indian Congress, records the concession granted by the Union Government regarding the alleged fraudulent entries:...⁽²³⁾

If the condition regarding wives and children in clause (c) of the letter is not overstrictly enforced the concession should work well.

Young India, April 12, 1928; Collected Works, Volume 36, pages 219-20

1. Mr. Sastri was appointed representative of the Government of India in South Africa with the title of "Agent" and served in that capacity for a year and a half from 1927 to 1929. The rank of the representative was raised to "Agent-General" in 1935.

2. The Gujarati original, from which this was translated, was published in Navajivan, May 15, 1927.

3. Umar (or Omar, Omer) Jhaveri, an early associate of Gandhiji in South Africa and a leader of the Indian community

4. This was a comment on a letter from the Reverend C. F. Andrews who had referred to the evil practices of self-torture like "fire-walking" festivals by Indians at Umbilo temple and to a page of pictures of such things in the Natal Advertiser.

5. The Cape Town Agreement between the Governments of the Union of South Africa and India. Please see Appendix III.

6. This was in response to a cable dated June 3, 1927, from A. I. Kajee which read:

"TRANSVAAL INDIAN SECESSION FROM CONGRESS DESTROYS SOLIDARITY OUR COMMUNITY. MASS MEETING JOHANNESBURG SUNDAY. EXTREMELY NECESSARY YOU CABLE IMMEDIATELY TO ASSOCIATION AGAINST SUCH ACTION."

The Transvaal British Indian Association seceded from the South African Indian Congress in May 1927.

7. Telegraphic address of the Transvaal British Indian Association

8. Gopal Krishna Devadhar(1871-1935), one of the founding members of the Servants of India Society and its President from 1927, succeeding Mr. Srinivasa Sastri.

9. Please see item 111 above.

10. Miss Sonja Schlesin, Gandhiji`s former secretary in South Africa

11. Mr. P.S. Aiyar, editor and publisher of African Chronicle and South African Indian Review, Durban, was correspondent to newspapers in India and author of several books and pamphlets on the problems of Indians in South Africa. He criticised the Cape Town agreement and carried on a campaign against it.

12. Pragji K. Desai and S. B. Medh, two prominent Indians of Johannesburg, had trouble in getting their domicile certificates renewed when they returned after a period of residence in India.

13. Criminal Investigation Department

14. Hermann Kallenbach, a close associate of Gandhiji in South Africa

15. The resolution was drafted by Gandhiji and moved by Dr. M. A. Ansari, the President of the Congress. It was carried unanimously.

16. Mines and Works Amendment Act, 1926

17. The Reverend C. F. Andrews was called Deenabandhu (friend of the poor) in recognition of his services.

18. Advocate. A leading member of Indian political and sporting organisations. He had participated in the satyagraha led by Gandhiji.

19. The Liquor Laws Consolidating Act, passed in 1928, prohibited employment of Indians and Africans in an establishment where liquor is handled (breweries, distilleries, hotels etc.).

After representations by the Agent of the Government of India, the Government agreed to exempt Indians who were employed in handling liquor prior to this Act.

20. Gandhiji had written to Mr. Sastri on February 26, 1928, appealing to him to continue as Agent in South Africa.

21. Poet Rabindranath Tagore

22. After the Cape Town Agreement, Habib Motan, honorary secretary of the Government Indian School Committee in the Transvaal, protested against arrangements to send Indian students to the Fort Hare Native College as humiliating and a degradation. The Reverend C. F. Andrews wrote in The Modern Review, Calcutta, of March 1928:

"The poet, Rabindranath Tagore, gave me a definite message to the Indians in South Africa. He stated that if the Indian community could not win the respect and affection of the Africans (who had the true right to be in South Africa, as the children of the soil) then they had no place there. They were imperialist intruders."

23. The letter is not reproduced here. The concession was that subject to certain conditions the Union Government would refrain from the full enforcement of section 10 of the Immigration Act of 1913, as amended.