...Gandhiji said that he would not say that the situation in South Africa was deteriorating. But it was certainly becoming graver. The Government repression was becoming worse. That was, however, part of the bargain. A satyagrahi breaks the law and welcomes the penalty.
Referring to the arrest and conviction of Parsee Sorabjee(1) to three months` rigorous imprisonment, he described how as a young lad of sixteen he had given proof of unusual courage in the course of the satyagraha movement which he conducted in South Africa. A mounted policeman threatened to overrun the passive resisters. Sorabjee held the reins of the horse and told the policeman that he could not frighten the satyagrahis into submission by such tactics.(2)
He was a worthy son of a worthy father, the late Parsee Rustomjee, both for his bravery and munificence.
Gandhiji paid a glowing tribute to Rev. Scott of Johannesburg whose Christian conscience had revolted against the inequality of the segregation law and the ill-treatment to which passive resisters were being subjected. As a protest against it, Rev. Scott had decided to cast in his lot with the satyagrahis and share with them the indignities to which they were being subjected. It was no small thing for a white man to identify himself with Coloured people in South Africa. If the satyagrahis remained free and non-violent till the end, all would be well with them. He had already told the audience their duty in this connection, that is, a heartfelt prayer to God to give strength to the satyagrahis and light to the whites.
The Hindu, July 5, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 84, pages 408-409
Gandhiji referred to the draft resolution on the satyagraha movement now being carried on by Indians in South Africa.(3)
He said that the Indians in South Africa were being ill-treated not because they were not whites but because they were considered as coolies. The Indians in South Africa spoke English and many of them were doctors and lawyers. In spite of all this, the South African whites looked upon them as coolies and called them as such. The Indians, of course, were in a minority and yet they were putting up a brave fight. They had no swords or guns but they were determined to resist the anti-Indian laws by soul force, which was the only force available to satyagrahis. Durban owed its present prosperity to the Indians. The South African whites had agreed to give the Indians the vote though not as equals but as inferiors.
The white civilisation in South Africa could not be kept alive by such means. Gandhiji wondered how a brave man like General Smuts who had praised the Indians so much in the past could be instrumental in taking steps to deprive the Indians of their elementary rights.
Commenting on the doings of the white hooligans who were said to have beaten to death an Indian, whom they mistook for a satyagrahi,(4)
Gandhiji remarked:
It is a sad event. Nevertheless, I feel happy. A satyagrahi must always be ready to die with a smile on his face without retaliation and without rancour in his heart. Some people have come to have a wrong notion that satyagraha means only jail-going, perhaps facing lathi blows and nothing more. Such satyagraha cannot bring independence. To win independence you have to learn the art of dying without killing.
I venture to submit that a civilisation which needs such barbarous legislation for its protection is a contradiction in terms. The Indians are fighting for their honour. The land in South Africa does not belong to the whites. Land belongs to one who labours on it. I would not shed a single tear if all the satyagrahis in South Africa are wiped out. Thereby they will not only bring deliverance to themselves but point the way to the Negroes and vindicate the honour of India. I am proud of them and so should you be.
His object in speaking to them, he continued, was not to move them to tears or to incite them to anger and vituperation against the whites. Rather they should pray to God to guide the whites aright and grant strength and courage to their brethren to remain steadfast to the end.
The South African struggle may appear to be insignificant today but it is charged with momentous consequences. Satyagraha is today being tried in the land of its birth. The success of a handful of Indians, mostly descendants of indentured labourers, has excited the jealousy of the whites of South Africa. And they are now subjecting them to unspeakable indignities. They are sought to be segregated into ghettos and further humiliated by being offered an inferior franchise. That all this should happen under the imprimatur of Field Marshal Smuts fills me with shame and humiliation.
Our sins have a strange way of coming home to roost. We turned a portion of ourselves into pariahs and today the whites of South Africa are doing the same to our compatriots there. Let us purge ourselves of this curse and bless the heroic struggle of our brethren in South Africa. They do not need our monetary help. But they need all our sympathy and moral support.
The Hindu, July 8, 1946, and Harijan, July 14 and 21, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 84, pages 422-423
I know what is taking place there (in South Africa) because in a way I belong to South Africa, having passed twenty years of the best part of my life there. It was there that satyagraha was born.
The West is passing through a purgatory today. The vanquished lie prostrate at the feet of the victors. But those who have won the war have found that they are no more victors than those who have lost it. Yet it is not in World War II that the Western civilisation will have met its grave. It is being dug in South Africa. The white civilisation in South Africa looks black in contrast with the Coloured or the Asiatic civilisation which is comparatively white. If our people remain steadfast and non-violent till the end, I have not a shadow of doubt that their heroic struggle will drive the last nail into the coffin of Western civilisation which is being found in its true colours in South Africa.
The whites in South Africa are becoming like brutes. Eastern and Western cultures are pitted against each other. And what a contrast they present! The whites have enacted savage laws to force the Indians to live in ghettos. Field Marshal Smuts is a great philosopher. He calls me his friend. He has nothing to say against Asiatic culture. But he has to take measures to safeguard the white civilisation. He told me that he did not look down upon Coloured people. The fact that Mrs. Subbaroyan,(5) when she went to England for studies, stayed in Field Marshal Smuts` house supports the statement. But, said the Field Marshal, in spite of the absence of prejudice, he was bound to protect Western culture in South Africa and he hoped that an understanding man that I was, I would appreciate it.
Gandhiji failed to understand how a culture or civilisation worth the name could require legal protection. The Indians were resisting the ghetto law in a civil, i.e., non-violent and therefore civilised way. They welcomed the penalty for the breach of law which could not be morally defended. But the white hooligans too were breaking their own laws. Theirs was criminal disobedience. It was a matter of pride for India that the children of indentured labourers and traders - many of them descendants of Harijans - were proving themselves such brave satyagrahis. As against this the whites were resorting to lynch law. He remarked:
After all civil resistance had its birth in Asia. Jesus was an Asiatic. If he was reborn and went to South Africa today and lived there, he would have to live in a ghetto.
He hoped that as in 1914, Field Marshal Smuts would at long last realise that he could not persecute the Indians in South Africa for ever and come to an honourable settlement with them when he had tried them through and through. A committee of white men had been formed in South Africa to express sympathy with and identify themselves with the cause of the Indian passive resisters there.(6)
There was something of that kind in his time also. But this time it seemed to be on a bigger scale. If this becomes extensive and the hooliganism is stopped and anti-Asiatic laws are repealed, there is hope of a blending of Eastern and Western cultures. Otherwise South Africa may prove to be the grave of Western civilisation.
Harijan, July 21, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 84, pages 430-431
Giving the latest news from South Africa to the prayer gathering, Gandhiji said that men and women from Johannesburg had gone to Durban to offer satyagraha. It was good news. Victory was sure if they kept up that spirit.
Collected Works, Volume 84, page 432
...FISCHER: The growing anti-white feeling here is bad. In the Taj Mahal Hotel(7) they have put up a notice "South Africans not admitted". I do not like it. Your non-violence should make you more generous.
GANDHIJI: That won`t be non-violence. Today the white man rules in India. So, if the Taj Mahal has the gumption to put up that notice, it is a feather in its cap.
F: That is what any nationalist will say. You must say something better.
G: Then I will be a nationalist for once. They have no right to be here if they do not deal with Indians on terms of equality.
F: No right - yes. But you must give them more than their right. You must invite them.
G: Yes. When I am the Viceroy.
F: You mean the President of the Indian Republic.
G: No. I will be quite content to be the Viceroy, a constitutional Viceroy, for the time being. The first thing I will do will be to vacate the Viceregal Lodge and give it to the Harijans. I will then invite the South African white visitors to my hut and say to them: "You have ground my people to powder. But we won`t copy you. We will give you more than you desire. We won`t lynch you as you do in South Africa" - and thus shame them into doing the right.
F: There is so much anti-white feeling today.
G: Of course, I am opposed to that. It can do no good to anybody.
F: The world is so divided. And there might be another war and that may be between the Coloured and the white races.
G: Europe seems to be heading for another war. It is not sufficiently exhausted.
F: Europe is terribly exhausted. But with the atom bomb human beings don`t matter so much. A few scientists are enough. The next war will be carried on by pressing a few buttons. That is why colour war is so dangerous.
G: Anything is better than cowardice. It is violence double distilled.
And to illustrate his remark Gandhiji narrated the story of a Negro clergyman with a Herculean frame in South Africa saying "pardon me brother", when insulted by a white man, and sneaking into a Coloured man`s compartment.
This is not non-violence. It is a travesty of Jesus` teaching. It would have been more manly to retaliate...
Harijan, August 4, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 85, pages 10-11
221. LETTER TO S. B. MEDH, JULY 26, 1946
Chi. Medh,
I got your long letter of 3 July 1946 on the 25th. The wire has not come. You have given a lot of news in your letter. In the context of a movement of such magnitude it is futile if not difficult to guess who are noble and who are not. Water from many sources flows into the Ganga and yet the Ganga is pure as ever. A major movement is like the stream of the Ganga and is always pure. Under the circumstances our dharma is to stay as pure as the Gangotri. Then all will be well. If she did not remain pure for all time the Ganga would cease to be what she is and turn into a filthy river. We see such things happening in our midst.
Manilal will tell you the rest. The papers here carry a Reuter`s cable saying that he has reached there.(8) I am certainly very glad that he went there. Without doubt that was his dharma.
I had told Sorab(9) that no (financial) help whatever should be sent from here. That is my advice now. I am arranging for a lot of other help and you will continue to receive it. It should be a rule with all struggles to depend solely on local support. You will remember that for my part I had tried to avoid help coming from India. But it did come. Some came from England, too, which I put to good use. One might say that in those times it was even necessary to some extent. My experience, however, is that whenever aid arrived from outside we grew lax. Now I see no need to send even a cowrie from here.
(From Gujarati)
Collected Works, Volume 85, page 63
222. TELEGRAM TO NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS, JULY 1946
YOUR WIRE HOPE RESISTERS WILL REMAIN FIRM TO THE END STOP EVERYTHING POSSIBLE BEING DONE THIS END
GANDHI
Leaflet of the Passive Resistance Council, Durban, (Flash Collection), July 25, 1946
223. NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
The following news from South Africa will be of interest to the readers.
Rev. Michael Scott who has thrown in his lot with Indians in their struggle there, has written a note under the caption "Not by Might". It is already published in the dailies. It should make a special appeal to all Europeans. He adds in a personal note:
"The spirit which enshrined you and your movement here will not be extinguished by the powerful and cunning forces which are now arrayed against it."
An English sister writes from Durban:
"I went along to the camp almost the first day just to give the campers a word of encouragement and was quite impressed by their cheerfulness and general attitude - it was the real thing like some of the Indian movements I have seen. Then I went to the court one day too and it seemed as though those on trial (apparently) were really the judges and the officials and the Government were in the dock. If you have seen the statements by some of the leaders, you will see they give the same impression.
"Rev. Michael Scott is a very good man. He is only about 40 years old and wears shirts as do many high Anglicans and is addressed as Father Scott. He reminds me somewhat of C.F. Andrews.
"I am glad to know that Manilal is coming back. He will be a help to the leaders here, though, as a matter of fact, the struggle on the Indian side has been on a very high level up to the present. It is that that has drawn a group of Europeans to support the struggle but the number is not very large yet."
As I have said before, the battle will certainly go to our countrymen if they remain truly non-violent. Non- violence knows no defeat.
Another friend writes:
"You have heard of Mrs. Naidoo`s(10) passing. She met with an accident about three months before her death. During all that time the family could not get my phone number due to some error on the part of the exchange. Mrs. Naidoo wanted to see me but they could not contact me till the day after her death. I loved her. She was a sweet soul, a real friend and had a genius for home-making. There was always a beautiful atmosphere in the Naidoo home and one could drop in at any time, no matter how busy she was and always feel a welcome guest. And what a heroine she was! Think of the anxiety she must have gone through all the time the children were in India.(11) I do hope that there will be a joint memorial to her and Thambi."
Incidentally I must mention that Mrs. Naidoo`s husband was one of the first satyagrahis during the days of our struggle there in my time.
Poona, July 31, 1946
Harijan, August 11, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 85, pages 92-93
224. STRUGGLE OF INDIANS IN SOUTH AFRICA
The heroic struggle of the Indian settlers in South Africa continues with unabated zeal. It promises to be prolonged. The longer the resisters are made to suffer, the greater will be their glory and reward. It is true of all long suffering. What the Government of the Union of South Africa has done so deliberately is not going to be changed suddenly, even for the sufferings of the brave men and women. This is said not to damp the zeal of the fighters but to steel them for greater and longer suffering. Their spokesmen, when they were in India, were told in plain language that they must not expect the struggle to close quickly.(12)
Time runs always in favour of the sufferer, for the simple reason that tyranny becomes more and more exposed as it is continued. In reality it is never long. Sufferers need never lose hope whether their struggle appears to have a longer lease of life or shorter, when the result is a certainty.
Sevagram, August 12, 1946
Harijan, August 18, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 85, page 151
225. TWO LETTERS FROM SIR SHAFA`AT AHMED KHAN
Sir Shafa`at Ahmed Khan(13) who, but for the recent murderous assault on him, would have joined the Interim Government yesterday, wrote on August 6th to me an interesting letter from which I quote as follows:
"My study of the Indian community while I was in South Africa convinced me that but for your heroic work in the Union, the Indian race in that country would not have survived as a self-respecting community. You built up, cell by cell, the power of resistance in a highly gifted race and your work in that country is the inspiration of the Indian race in South Africa at the present time.
"My sole aim in South Africa was to lay the foundation of Indian unity in Natal. I do not think I succeeded completely in my aim but I am inclined to think that the heroic struggle which our race is carrying on at the present time would have been impossible but for the dissolution of the Natal Indian Association and A.I. Kajee`s Natal Indian Congress and the revival of the Natal Indian Congress which you had founded in 1894. This was accomplished on August 29th, 1943, and since that time, there has been only one political organisation of Indians in Natal.
"The South African situation is complicated and owing to conventions of diplomacy, my lips are sealed. My despatches from South Africa which give a complete picture of the political situation for three years and are very exhaustive, cannot be published owing to conventions of international intercourse...
"I came to the conclusion that no redress of our grievances in South Africa is possible unless we are masters in our own homeland and India is free."
In reply to my letter acknowledging receipt of the above, Sir Shafa`at Ahmed Khan further writes:
"You will be glad to hear that since my return from South Africa, I have been busy preparing my speeches in South Africa and have added a section in my book, shortly to be published, on the history of the Indian community in South Africa.(14) In this I have made bold to give a brief account of your work there and followed with greatest interest your march to Volksrust, etc.
"For more than three years - 1942-45 - I wrote lengthy despatches to the Government of India on the South African problem and in April 1943 I warned them against General Smuts` policy and told them to take the strongest measures against the Union Government in connection with the Pegging Act... Strong measures have been taken now, but I am afraid it is too late. If the Congress forms a National Government soon and the new member in charge of the Department decides to publish these despatches, particularly from April 1943 onwards, they will clear up numerous points for the next session of U.N.O. I am bound to say that the convention is that such despatches are not published unless and until there is rupture of relations between two countries. I offer no opinion as to whether they should be published at all. This is a matter which the new Government should decide."
New Delhi, September 3, 1946
Harijan, September 8, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 85, pages 245-246
226. TIRED OF SATYAGRAHA
News comes from Durban that a group of Indians has sprung up in South Africa who have lost faith in satyagraha. They cherish the dream that they can overthrow the rule of the White man there only by joining forces with the Negroes, the Coloured people, other Asiatics and European sympathisers and adopting violent means. The rumour, if there is any truth in it, is disturbing and a definite fly in the ointment. All, whether they believe in non-violence or not, should realise that Indians in South Africa gained world-wide esteem simply because, in spite of being a handful, they showed infinite capacity for suffering and did not, through losing their patience, resort to sabotage and violence. They learnt the wholesome lesson that true well-being springs from suffering and that victory lies in unity. From my own experience, my firm advice to Indians in South Africa is that they should, on no account, be lured away into throwing aside the matchless weapon of satyagraha.
This does not, however, imply that they are not to accept the help of the Coloured people, Negroes and any other sympathisers or that they will not help them in their need, should occasion arise. The only condition is that satyagraha should be their one and only weapon. If they go astray from the path of non-violence, they will conform to the description of the poor woman who as an Indian proverb goes, went in search of a son and succeeded in losing her husband!
New Delhi, September 11, 1946
Harijan, September 22, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 85, pages 297-298
227. TELEGRAM TO DR. Y. M. DADOO,(15) OCTOBER 10, 1946
GLAD PASSIVE RESISTERS ADHERE NON-VIOLENCE. HOPE NO WEAKENING OR DIVISION AMONG OUR PEOPLE.
GANDHI
Collected Works, Volume 85, page 442
228. PLUCKY STAND
Papers received from Natal contain among other things a remarkable correspondence between the Mayoral Secretary of Durban and the Natal Indian Congress Secretary. A committee has been formed for making arrangements for the Royal visit to Durban proposed to take place in the month of March next year. The main committee has established a sub-committee to deal with the question of joining the Coloured and non-European sections of the population of Durban. For the purpose, the Committee invited the Natal Indian Congress to appoint two representatives to serve on the sub- committee so as to give their advice and assistance to enable the Indian community to see Their Majesties and the Royal Princesses.
To this invitation the Joint Hon. Secretary of the Natal Indian Congress (Meer Saheb)(16) sent the following plucky reply on the 11th September last:
"I am directed by my Executive to state that while the Indian community has the greatest respect for Their Majesties and the Royal Princesses, it must be noted that the Indians of South Africa are at the present moment passing through the most critical period in their history. A series of colour discriminatory Acts depriving us of our elementary human rights during the last half century has culminated in the passing of the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act, 1946, passed in the teeth of the strongest opposition ever voiced by our community. The action of the Union Government in thus oppressing a voteless section of its population has plunged the whole Indian community in a state of grave unrest. Recent trends in colour legislation leave no room for doubt as to what is in store for people of colour in this country. The colour of a man`s skin has become the sole criterion of judging human qualities.
"As a result of all this the Indian community of South Africa resolved on the 13th June, 1946 to launch a campaign of passive resistance against colour discrimination in the laws of this country. This peaceful protest still goes on and 627 of our people, including national leaders like Dr. Yusuf Dadoo and Dr. G.M. Naicker, have been sent to jail where they are treated like common criminals. Some of them have served their sentence and have been released after being subjected to inhuman treatment but hundreds still remain behind prison bars and many more continue to be sent to prison daily.
"While the Indian community finds itself in such an unhappy situation in a part of His Majesty`s Empire, it is most unreasonable to expect Indians to participate in any rejoicing or celebrations in honour of Royalty. In the circumstances we cannot but suggest that you advise Their Majesties to postpone their visit until such time as there is peace and goodwill in South Africa between the rulers and the ruled, the White and the non-White, the represented and the unrepresented, the privileged and the under-privileged, so that all who constitute the South African nation can equally share, not only its burdens, but also its rewards."
The Natal Indian Congress Executive is to be congratulated on the reply. The Royal visit can evoke no feeling of joy among those who are fighting for their self-respect in South Africa in the making of which they have had no mean share. Let us hope that the Royal visit will be postponed to a more propitious time when the colour bar has become a thing of the past. Such self- denial on the part of Their Majesties will be quite in keeping with the direction which the King and Queen recently issued to substitute in the National Anthem the following new verses:
Nor on this land alone,
But be God`s mercies known,
From shore to shore.
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world o`er.
for the antiquated and indefensible verses:
Oh, Lord our God arise,
Scatter his enemies,
and make them fall.
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks.
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all.
New Delhi, October 25, 1946
Harijan, November 3, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 86, pages 28-30
229. WHAT WILL SOUTH AFRICA DO?
The deputation headed by Shrimati Vijayalakshmi Pandit and sent to the U.N.O. Conference by the Interim Government has undoubtedly done very effective work with marked ability and success.(17)
That is clear from the following cablegram sent by Shrimati Vijayalakshmi Pandit from New York:
"TODAY WITH YOUR BLESSINGS JUSTICE OF SOUTH AFRICAN INDIAN CAUSE WAS VINDICATED. COMMITTEE VOTING TWENTY-FOUR TO NINETEEN IN OUR FAVOUR. WENT TO GENERAL SMUTS AFTER MEETING AND SHOOK HANDS. HE EXPRESSED APPRECIATION AT MANNER IN WHICH I HAD CONDUCTED CASE."(18)
It remains now to be seen how the Parliament of the Union of South Africa and its European public respond. Field Marshal Smuts was able to hurl at the Indian deputation the taunt that India treated her so-called untouchables, legally described as the "Scheduled Classes", much worse than the Union treated her Asiatics or for that matter the Africans. There would be much to be said for the Field Marshal`s taunt if it was true. It is true of South Africa that her treatment of Asiatics has legally deteriorated from time to time, so much so that it has now become well-nigh unbearable. Almost every promise made by the Union Government to the Government of India has now been broken. In India, on the other hand, there never has been any law carrying the bar sinister against the Scheduled Classes. It can be proved upto the hilt that the law has always sought to protect the Scheduled Classes. There is no legal bar, so far as I am aware, against any of the Scheduled Classes being regarded as equal in status to the tallest Indian. What is however true to the shame of orthodox Hinduism and the Sanatanji Hindus is that religious custom has denied to these untouchables the rights which the law has allowed, and it is unfortunately also true that sometimes custom overrides the law. But public opinion is progressively rising against this barbarous custom and it is merely a question of time when the custom will be swept out of existence. Let us, therefore, hope that instead of taking doubtful advantage of the things in India which no one defends and against which public opinion is progressively rising, the Europeans of the Union of South Africa will recognise that if the U.N.O. Conference is any index of world opinion, it is decidedly against the European prejudice which has hardened into law.
Srirampur, December 12, 1946
Harijan, December 29, 1946; Collected Works, Volume 86, pages 218-219
230. LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU,(19)
FEBRUARY 24, 1947
...I take it that you have a cable from Durban about orders against Drs. Dadoo and Naicker.(20)
I trust you have taken prompt action. I have cabled F. M. Smuts.
BAPU
Collected Works, Volume 87, page 13
231. STATEMENT TO THE PRESS, FEBRUARY 26, 1947
Referring to the news about the Union Government`s refusal of passports and impounding the certificates of identity of Drs. Dadoo and Naicker, Gandhiji said:
"The Union Government will not be able to sustain their anti-Asiatic policy by such an action." He added that the action was wholly unwarranted and arbitrary if the facts stated in the cablegram he had received in this connection were correct.
Gandhiji hoped that either there were some justifying peremptory reasons for the refusal and impounding or that second thoughts would convince the Government that it was a hasty step and therefore it would be cancelled.
Amrita Bazar Patrika, February 28, 1947; Collected Works, Volume 87, page 22
232. STATEMENT TO THE PRESS, FEBRUARY 28, 1947
I have received a cablegram from the Natal Indian Congress which says that the Congress, the Transvaal Indian Congress, the Coloured People`s Organisation and the African National Congress have decided on their part to refrain from taking part in or in any manner assisting in the celebrations in honour of the Royal visit to the Union of South Africa. They feel that in view of the disabilities imposed upon the Asiatics and Africans and other Coloured people it would be improper on their part to share in the rejoicings of the white people of South Africa. The cablegram asked me to endorse the abstention which they describe by the name of "boycott". I take this opportunity of publicly endorsing the abstention as a natural and dignified step by any self-respecting body of people.
The Hindu, March 1, 1947; Collected Works, Volume 87, page 28
233. TALK WITH DR. Y. M. DADOO AND DR. G. M. NAICKER, APRIL 11, 1947(21)
Truly speaking, it was after I went to South Africa that I became what I am now. My love for South Africa and my concern for her problems are no less than for India, because it was in South Africa that I discovered the weapon of satyagraha, and it was there that I offered a successful non-violent satyagraha. It encouraged me in my line of thought and strengthened my faith...
(From Gujarati)
Biharni Komi Agman, page 187; Collected Works, Volume 87, page 257
234. STATEMENT TO THE PRESS, MAY 5, 1947
Sheth Cachalia,(22) Honorary Secretary of the Transvaal Indian Congress, cabled me for a message on the rally which was to take place in Johannesburg of all the non- European races in the Union of South Africa on the question of racial disabilities in the Union.(23)
The question is most intricate and almost baffling. It is intricate enough when confined only to the Indian disabilities but the inclusion of all the races while logically correct is fraught with grave danger, if the struggle is not kept at the highest level and is not firmly based on truth and non-violence. I wanted to warn the organisers of the rally against rhetorical display or raising idle hopes and to advise them to carry on their demonstration with dignity and restraint. Let no one doubt that the salvation of all the exploited peoples of the earth and, therefore, of the world, lies in the strictest reliance on the coin on whose one face is written truth and on the other non-violence in large letters. Sixty years of experience has taught me no other method.
The Hindu, May 6, 1947, and Harijan, May 18, 1947; Collected Works, Volume 87, page 414
235. MESSAGE TO SOUTH AFRICA, MAY 18, 1947(24)
Field Marshal Smuts(25) is a trustee for Western civilisation. I still cling to the hope that he will not sustain it on the suppression of Asiatics and Africans. South Africa should present a blend of the three.
To the people of South Africa, to whom I am no stranger, I would say that they should not make the position of their representatives impossible by their unwarranted prejudice against colour. The future is surely not with the so-called white races if they keep themselves in purdah. The attitude of unreason will mean a third war which sane people should avoid. Political cooperation among all the exploited races in South Africa can only result in mutual goodwill, if it is wisely directed and based on truth and non-violence.
I have no doubt that those South African Indians who seek to create a division will do harm to themselves and to the great cause of liberty for which the movement of satyagraha has stood and must stand.
To the satyagrahis I would advise strict adherence to the fundamentals of satyagraha which literally means force of truth and this is for ever invincible. It is a good sign that they have a progressive European group solidly behind them. The satyagrahis of South Africa should know that they have India at their back in their struggle for preserving the self-respect of the Indians in South Africa.
Harijan, May 25, 1947; Collected Works, Volume 87, page 492
236. LETTER TO A. I. KAJEE, JULY 15, 1947
New Delhi,
July 15, 1947Dear Kajee,
I have your full letter which is deeply interesting.
I can give no opinion. All I can say is that you should avoid parties within our own ranks.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi(26) Collected Works, Volume 88, page 339
237. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING, NEW DELHI, JULY 17, 1947
We learn from newspapers that the Indians in South Africa are being subjected to goondaism. They are being killed.(27)
I was in South Africa for twenty years and I know how Indians are treated in that country. There is a large number of Muslims there but they all call themselves Indians. May God give us all the sense at least to call ourselves Indians when we are in a foreign country.
Recently Sarup(28) had been to the United Nations along with Justice Chagla(29) and others to present before the world body the case of the South Africa Indians. Since then harassment of Indians in South Africa has taken a new form. It is not the law that has been unleashed against them but goondaism. If this goes on, how will the handful of Indians be able to live there? Once I marched into the Transvaal with two thousand people. Not a single Boer so much as touched us. Some of them even gave us water to drink. We have plenty of water here. But it is not in such abundance there. People collect water when it rains and keep it stored in tanks. The Boers were friendly and we went wherever we wanted. But I see a different picture today. Now that we have two Governments here, I shall ask Mr. Jinnah and Jawaharlal to send a joint telegram to Smuts. Mr. Smuts considers me his friend. As a friend I must entreat him to tell the Whites not to do physical violence to even one single Indian. And if he cannot make himself obeyed, he must resign. Lord Mountbatten too should not helplessly watch. He is an Admiral of the Fleet and is of Royal family. Philip Mountbatten, who is going to marry Princess Elizabeth, is like a son to him. Besides, upto the 15th of August he will be the Viceroy and afterwards the Governor-General. He should therefore make use of these advantages and tell Smuts that India is now a Dominion even as South Africa is, that it is now a member of the vast family that is the British Commonwealth and that the ill-treatment of Indians in South Africa should forthwith stop...
My advice to South African Indians is that they should live there as good citizens. Those of them who are wealthy should not neglect their Muslim(30) brethren who are like untouchables there.
(From Hindi)
Prarthana Pravachan-I,pages 255-257; Collected Works, Volume 88, pages 358-359
238. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING, NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 11, 1947
One more thing I would like to say is that our countrymen in South Africa may be careful when they carry out their plan.(31)
The two Governments here should give all possible help to those who are there and encourage them in their struggle.
(From Hindi)
Harijanbandhu, October 19, 1947; Prarthana Pravachan-I, pages 407-410; Collected Works, Volume 89, page 323
239. INTERVIEW TO THE PRESS, OCTOBER 17, 1947
...Q: What effect do you think the failure of the U.N.O. to deal justly with the South African-Indian dispute will have on the future of that organisation?
Gandhiji: If the U.N.O. fails to deal justly with the South African-Indian dispute, the U.N.O. will lose its prestige. I have no doubt that the U.N.O. can prosper only if it is just.
Q: And what will be the effect of the failure on the world?
G: About the effect on the world no one knows. At least I do not.
Q: Racial equality must be removed if there is to be peace in the world. What is your advice to those who agree with this but do nothing to fight the evil of racial inequality?
G: Those who agree that racial inequality must be removed and yet do nothing to fight the evil are impotent. I cannot have anything to say to such people. After all the underdogs will have to earn their own salvation.
Q: What remedy do you propose for the elimination of racial prejudice and antagonism from the affairs of nations?
G: The solution is largely in India`s hands. If everything is alright in India internally, she is likely to play an effective part in straightening out affairs...(32)
Harijan, October 26, 1947; Collected Works, Volume 89, page 350
240. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING, NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17, 1947
I have received a telegram from South Africa. It says that I have done them a great favour. What favour have I done? I have merely stated what I believe to be good(33) . This is one great thing about satyagraha... What does it matter if there are only a handful of people in South Africa? How can there be millions to offer satyagraha? In any case, the population there is only a few lakhs. Even if a few hundred, even if only ten persons, come forward, they will add to the prestige of India. They ask me why I do not also request the people here to send money. That pains me. They are not poor people. They have gone to South Africa to make money. They have not gone there to oblige us. Those who are carrying on the struggle there do not have much money, and the moneyed people do not give them anything. Those who own money begin to love only money. They see their honour and respect only in money. Our people in South Africa say they are fighters, but don`t have much money. If they don`t have money, how have they carried on so far?
There is a large number of our people in East Africa. The entire East Coast is full of our people. I would ask them to send money. Our country is almost impoverished today. With what face can I ask anybody here to send money? We do have millionaires in our country and they make millions too, but even they are left with little money because of heavy taxation. And to our misfortune the people are fighting among themselves, and that also results in the loss of millions. How can I ask them to spare money for South Africa? When I was in South Africa people from here used to send money. Gokhale(34) used to send money. The Punjab and the whole of India had sent me something between 5 and 7 lakhs. I don`t think I can ask people to do any such thing today. There are many Indians in Mauritius. They are coolies there. There is no communal problem in that place. There is a large number of Indians in Mombasa. They are pretty rich. They do not drink, nor do they go to prostitutes. They need money only for their food. How much money does one need for food? Our people in South Africa can say they are fighting not for themselves but for India. Of course, I cannot stop people from sending money there, but I cannot ask them to do so either.(35)
(From Hindi)
Prarthana Pravachan-I, pages 428-433; Collected Works, Volume 89, pages 353-354
"Anti-colour prejudice in South Africa" was criticised by Gandhiji in his speech after one of his prayer meetings last week.
"India has come into the British Commonwealth with exactly the same status as the Union of South Africa. Should members of one Dominion be helots in another Dominion?"
Gandhiji quoted from a message which he said had been sent to the Natal Indian Congress in Durban five days after the independence of India. This he described as "typical of the average white man`s mind in the South African Dominion".
The message, said Gandhiji, had been sent by Dr. S. P. Barnard, Administrator of the Free State. It said: "As you are celebrating the independence of the new Dominions, which you consider a great day in the annals of Indian history, I hope all Indians in South Africa will now emigrate voluntarily to the new Dominions to act as missionaries of the Gospel they have been taught in South Africa, namely, to live in peace and order and not to fight in communal riots in which hundreds have been killed in India."
Gandhiji said South Africa had a large Native population who were treated in some respects worse than Asiatic inhabitants. He added:
"I urge European settlers there to read the signs of the times. Either their prejudices are wrong from every point of view, or the British people and their fellow members of the British Commonwealth have made an unpardonable mistake in admitting Asiatic countries as members of the Commonwealth."
Passive Resister, Johannesburg, November 27, 1947
Chi. Medh
...The news you convey from there(36) is startling. Yet not quite so. I know our people there too well to be startled by the news. And I am alarmed that we have not yet learnt the true lesson. Are we ever going to learn it? How can I guide you from this distance? And where do I have the energy for that? Weigh everything on the scales of truth and non-violence and follow the resultant verdict. And don`t be afraid. It should never turn out that you had gone there to exploit and instead you were yourself exploited. The best way is not to bother about what any "ism" says but to associate yourself with any action after considering its merit. Dr. Dadoo(37) has made a favourable impression on everybody here. Our Government here consults me on its various actions.
Collected Works, Volume 90, page 114
Now about South Africa. You will have seen what Vijayalakshmi Pandit has said. She says we have been defeated because we have not been able to secure the required two-thirds of votes.(38) However, a number of people have been helpful and supported her stand. Besides, truth is on our side and in a way we have secured a victory.(39)
The Indians in South Africa should therefore not be disheartened. But there is something I have to say. Vijayalakshmi could not have said it because she represented the Government of India. You do not have a remedy but I have one which I had applied in South Africa. What is defeat or victory? The whites of South Africa and Smuts(40) may say that they do not want us there, that we must leave. They may deny us food and water as is happening to non-Muslims in Pakistan and to Muslims in India...
What I have to say here applies also to the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in South Africa. I must tell them that victory and defeat are of no consequence. You must say that you will live in South Africa with honour, that you will not leave. You did not go there because you wanted to. You were invited. You went as indentured labourers and afterwards you had children there. If it is a question of rights no one except the Negroes have a right to be there. The Boers do not have even as much right as you have. There were delegations from all over the world at the U.N.O. Our country also had to send a delegation. We acted rightly. People assemble there to bring about justice; that they cannot or will not is another matter. We must continue our fight in South Africa, not with a sword but with soul force... So I shall say that if the Indians in South Africa have self- respect which I think they have, if they have courage, they must say that even if they did not secure two-third of the votes at the U.N.O., they did secure a very large number. They must tell the whites of South Africa to let them stay in the country with honour. They must tell them they intend to conduct themselves with dignity. They do not want government service. They do not expect help from the whites but they must be allowed to breathe the air, drink the water and live on the land. After all they pay their way, earn their keep, wherever they want to stay. They do not claim the right to vote. If they want the vote they must have it the same way as the whites have it, otherwise they will do without it. They will not carry on satyagraha for franchise but they must safeguard their dignity. They must have bread and they must have water and they must have land. Also their children must have education. They will understand if no grants are forthcoming for the purpose but the education for the children is their right and they have the right to fight for this. It is not a question of victory or defeat but of laying down one`s life. They must do or die. There is no other recourse. If they want to live in this world in dignity they must do or die. Their duty is clear and admits of no argument. This is what I have to say to the Indians of South Africa and to you. I have nothing else to offer.
(From Hindi)
Prarthana Pravachan-II, pages 160-165; Collected Works, Volume 90, pages 170-172
244. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING, NEW DELHI, JANUARY 28, 1948
...You know in South Africa our people are fighting for their rights. Here in India there are no laws depriving the people of the right of owning land or living wherever they please. It is true we have reduced Harijans to some such condition but for the rest of society that is not so. But I have seen with my own eyes that that is so in South Africa. The Indians therefore are having to put up a struggle to safeguard their rights and in defence of the honour of India. They can resort to various means in their struggle but they claim to be satyagrahis and their struggle has taken the form of satyagraha. They keep on sending cables. They cannot even move from one province to another without a permit. South Africa is like a continent. It is a very large country. Indians wishing to go to the Transvaal from Natal can do so only if they have a permit. They say it is as much their country as anyone else`s and ask why there should be such restrictions imposed on their movements. Many have succeeded in moving to the Transvaal and the Government this time have been decent. They have not been arrested so far. They first went to Volksrust which is the first city after crossing the border. There were policemen present in strength but they only looked on and did not arrest them. There they found a motor vehicle and proceeded in it further on. Then a meeting was held there at which they were given a warm welcome. I thought I should give you this information.(41)
Those Indians have performed an act of great courage. Indians in South Africa are few in number but, if they all become true satyagrahis, their victory is certain and no obstacle can stop them. But this has yet to be achieved. There are, as here, many kinds of people. There are Hindus and there are Muslims. They all work together. They know they cannot fight their battle separately. They have reached Johannesburg but they cannot stop there. They must go on and on till they are arrested. The Government have a right to arrest them, for satyagraha implies the acceptance of punishment for the violation of a law. They deserve congratulations.
I shall ask the Government of South Africa not to be too severe with people who carry on their struggle with such decency. They should understand their grievances and come to a settlement with them. Why should it be that one with a white skin cannot have a dialogue with one with a black skin? Why should Indians have to fight for their legitimate rights? How does it harm the whites if Indians too are allowed to live there? Today we are also a free country as South Africa is and are members of the same Commonwealth, which implies that we should all live like brothers and equals. But if they consider Indians their enemies and deprive them of their basic civic rights, then they are not behaving as friends but as enemies. It is something which is difficult to understand. Why should they look down on the Coloured people? Is it because they are industrious and thrifty? I shall tell the Government of South Africa through this meeting that it should men its ways. I have myself lived in South Africa for twenty years and I can therefore say that it is my country.
Hindustan Times, January 29, 1948, and Prarthana Pravachan-II, pages 348-351; Collected Works, Volume 90, pages 515-517
1. Sorabjee Rustomjee led the 17th batch of passive resisters on June 30, 1946, and was sentenced on July 2nd to three months` imprisonment with hard labour.
2. Please see footnote to item 76.
"The meeting of the A.I.C.C., while it is grieved that it has become imperative for the Indian settlers in South Africa once more to offer satyagraha in the land of its birth, against a law imposing on them a colour bar far more sinister than the one against which they had put up a brave fight between 1907 and 1914, congratulates the handful of satyagrahis on their brave but unequal action against heavy odds.
"The meeting is pleased to find that doctors and such other men and women are at the head of the gallant struggle and that among them are represented Parsis, Christians, Muslims and Hindus. This meeting is also pleased to find that a few whitemen like the Rev. Scott have thrown in their lot with the satyagrahis.
"The meeting condemns the action of some whitemen in resorting to the barabrous method known as lynch law to terrorise the satyagrahis into submission to the humiliating legislation..."
4. On June 21, white hooligans attacked Krishnansamy Pillai, a plainclothes policeman on duty in the vicinity of the passive resistance camp, and beat him unconscious. He died of the wounds on June 30th. The Indian community organised his funeral which was attended by ten thousand people.
5. Mrs. Radhabai Subbaroyan, wife of Dr. P. Subbaroyan, zamindar of Kumaramangalam, studied at Oxford University and was prominent in public affairs.
6. A "Council for Asiatic Rights" was formed in Johannesburg and a "Council of Human Rights" was set up in Durban to mobilise sympathy and support to passive resistance campaign.
8.Manilal Gandhi had rushed back to South Africa from India because of the launching of the passive resistance movement.
Gandhiji had written to him on June 25, 1946:
"I approve of your returning soon. What seems to be happening is excellent. You should participate in it whole-heartedly." (Collected Works, Volume 84, page 369).
10. Mrs. G. K. Thambi Naidoo. Wife of a leading satyagrahi, she herself went to prison in 1913 in the final phase of satyagraha.
11. Mr. and Mrs. Thambi Naidoo presented their four sons to Gandhiji, on the eve of his departure from South Africa in 1914, for the service of India. One of the sons, Fakiri, died in India, and the others returned to South Africa after more than 15 years.
12. The reference is to the delegation of the South African Indian Congress, led by Sorabjee Rustomjee. Please see items 202 and 205.
13. High Commissioner of India in South Africa, 1941-45
14. Sir Shafa`at Ahmed Khan, The Indian in South Africa. Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1946.
15. Chairman of the Transvaal Passive Resistance Council
16. A. I. Meer, secretary of the Natal Indian Congress
17. Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit was leader of the delegation of India to the second part of the First Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, held in New York in 1946.
On November 30, 1946, the Joint Committee of the First and Sixth Committees of the General Assembly adopted a French-Mexican proposal, supported by India and opposed by the Union of South Africa, by 24 votes to 19, with 6 abstentions. The proposal was subsequently adopted by the Assembly, at its Plenary Meeting on December 8, 1946, by a two-thirds majority (32 votes to 15, with 7 abstentions), as resolution 44(I).
Under the resolution, the General Assembly expressed the opinion that "the treatment of Indians in the Union of South Africa should be in conformity with the international obligations under the agreements concluded between the two Governments and the relevant provisions of the (United Nations) Charter"; and requested the two Governments "to report at the next session of the General Assembly the measures adopted to this effect".
18. ccording to a report in Bombay Chronicle (November 30, 1946), Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, in her reply to Heaton Nichols of South Africa before the Assembly Committee on the previous day, had said: "When I was coming here I saw Mahatma Gandhi, who is very much interested in this whole case. He said to me as I was leaving: 'I do not mind whether you come back having won your case or having suffered defeat, but you must come back as a friend of General Smuts.` And that is not what any man in Mahatma Gandhi`s position would have said."
She wrote in her memoirs that Gandhiji had told her:
"Remember, I want the delegation of my country to set an example. I shall be happy if we get votes, but I shall be most unhappy if these are gained in any manner that is divorced from our guidelines... I would not like to lose his (Smuts`s) friendship and respect for the sake of gaining a majority vote." (The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir, p. 206).
After the vote in the Assembly, she went up to General Smuts and said: "I have come to you to say that if, in the course of this unhappy debate, I have said anything which was not up to the high standard Gandhiji had imposed on me, I ask your pardon." He took her hand in both of his and said: "My child, you have won a hollow victory. This vote will put me out of power in our next elections, but you will have gained nothing." (Ibid. p. 211).
19. Then head of the Interim Government of India
20. The South African Government refused passports to Dr. Yusuf Dadoo and Dr. G.M. Naicker, who were due to visit India, and impounded their certificates of identity.
21. Dr. Dadoo and Dr. Naicker, Presidents of the Transvaal Indian Congress and the Natal Indian Congress, visited India from March to May 1947 to attend the Asian Relations Conference and for consultations with the Indian Government and leaders on the situation in South Africa. They met Gandhiji several times during that visit to seek his guidance.
Please see also item 235.
22. Yusuf Cachalia, son of the late A. M. Cachalia
23. A "UNO Rally" - jointly sponsored by the African National Congress, the Transvaal Indian Congress and the Transvaal branch of the African People`s Organisation - took place in Johannesburg on May 4, 1947. It was one of the largest demonstrations of the non-European people until that time.
24. This was sent through Dr. Y. M. Dadoo and Dr. G. M. Naicker who met Gandhiji on May 18 and 19, 1947.
25. Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870-1950). Prime Minister of South Africa, 1919-1924 and 1938-1948.
26. Mr. Kajee sought a compromise with the government and formed the Natal Indian Organisation on May 4, 1947.
Gandhiji wrote to Manilal on July 16, 1947:
"I have had a letter from Kajee. He has complained against Dadoo and others. The letter is a long one. However, it has produced no effect on me, for have we not had similar experiences in the past?" (Collected Works, Volume 88, pages 348-49).
27. The reference is apparently to the boycott of Indian traders, organised by some whites in the Transvaal at the beginning of 1947, with threats of violence against those who patronised them.
28. Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, who headed the Indian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in 1946
29. Justice Mahomed Ali Currim Chagla, a prominent jurist, was a member of the Indian delegation to the General Assembly.
30. The word "Muslim" is apparently an error here. The reference is probably to "poorer" Indians, since all Indians were treated like untouchables.
31. The Joint Passive Resistance Council had decided to expand resistance from October 13th. Only token resistance had been carried on since the United Nations resolution of December 1946.
32. This item was also published on November 13, 1947, in Passive Resister (Johannesburg) which indicated that it was an interview with a correspondent of the All India Radio, and included the following question and answer:
Q: In the case the U.N.O. fails to do justice to the Indians in South Africa, what line of action would you advise the South African Indians to take?
G: I cannot even think of failure in Satyagraha. It never fails. This is my firm belief.
33. A report on this speech in Passive Resister, Johannesburg, November 1947, has "the truth" instead of "good".
37. Dr. Y. M. Dadoo was a leader of the Communist Party of South Africa.
38. At the second session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1947, an Indian resolution calling for a Round Table Conference on the treatment of Indians in South Africa failed to obtain the requisite two-third majority: there were 31 votes in favour, 19 against and 6 abstentions, with one country absent.
39. Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit had said: "Ours has been a moral victory of no small importance."
40. Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa
41 A new stage of the passive resistance campaign was begun on January 15, 1948, with defiance of the restrictions on inter-provincial movement by Indians under the Immigration Act of 1913. Twenty-five volunteers crossed the Natal-Transvaal border on that day, but were not arrested.
None of the volunteers was arrested until February 10th. Shortly after, Dr. Y. M. Dadoo and Dr. G. M. Naicker were charged with organising the defiance of the Immigration Act and were each sentenced to six months` imprisonment with hard labour.