Indian Community marks 150th Anniversary of arrival in South Africa
Exclusive interview with Ela Gandhi Granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi By Eric Singh, 1 November 2010 On 16th November 1860 exactly 342 passengers who boarded the SS Truro in Madras, India 35 days earlier, arrived in Durban, the coastal town on the east coast of South Africa. The passenger list consisted of 190 men, 80 women over the age of 16, along with 36 boys and 36 girls under the age of 15. Despite the hardship and brutality of the colonizers, bordering on outright slavery, Indians overcame their sufferings and deprivation, and advanced on to become a driving force for human rights and justice in this land on the southern tip of the African continent. They made their mark in various fields, be it academic, business or cultural. The most important aspect of their contribution was in the struggle for freedom led by the African National Congress (ANC). Thousands of Indians, young and old, did not hesitate to throw in their lot in the quest for freedom and justice. Quite a number paid for it with their lives. South African President Jacob Zuma, speaking to the media in June this year, said: "When we celebrate the 150 years of the arrival of Indians in South Africa, we do so fully conscious of the value that our compatriots of Indian descent add to the diversity and unique character of our beloved country South Africa. In those 150 years, we have seen Indians who were brought to the country as slaves in the sugar plantations toil their way out of the dehumanising and demeaning garments of slavery, to excellence in different fields. These have impacted positively in South Africa's development programmes. This long and hazardous, yet worthy journey has unleashed many heroes and heroines who have left an indelible mark in the collective memory of the nation as well as at a political level." One of those heroes mentioned by the South African President is a man called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known to the world as Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi, who played such a formidable role in the liberation of India many years later, arrived in South Africa as a young lawyer in 1893. In 1894 he formed the Natal Indian Congress, an organisation that formed the base for the revolutionary struggle that followed leading to the eventual liberation of South Africa when the first democratic elections were held in 1994 and the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the first black President of the country. Gandhi placed a "powerful weapon" in the hands of the freedom fighter - the weapon of SATYAGRAHA (peaceful struggle). This method is still in use in many parts of the world. Your scribe Eric Singh, had the good fortune of talking to Ms. Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of the great Mahatma and a freedom fighter in her own rights. She was an ANC Member of Parliament following the first democratic election in 1994. Today, she is the publisher of "Satyagraha" one of the oldest newspapers in the country. Ms. Gandhi, November 2010 marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Indian immigrants to South Africa. That was in 1860. Can you please illustrate the impact of this historic event in the country ever since. The people came with very high expectations because they were told that South Africa is a land of milk and honey. But when they arrived it was a completely different story. They realized that they were actually enslaved. The contracts they signed before their journey began actually robbed them of their rights. Many of them could not read and write and their "signature" was represented by an X. In that respect, many of indentured labourers who came to South Africa, were greatly disappointed. The impact of them coming to South Africa was colossal. I think the most important issue for me is the way the Indian people were ready to participate in the movement against injustices. Firstly against those suffered by themselves and their community, and later they went on to embrace the entire black community. They began to look at the injustices as a whole in the country and together to cross the race and ethnic barriers, in order to fight against racism and apartheid in South Africa. I believe the Indian community made a very important contribution which is a valuable lesson for the world that we can come together and be united despite the hurdles that divide us. The people who came here originally worked under slave conditions. But they were free to go back after five years. Why did so many remain? They were not. Firstly, they did not have a passage. After five years they could not go back for the simple reason they had no money. During their indenture they were not paid. They were given rations (groceries). There was no possibility of accumulating funds in order to establish themselves. It was after a long, time-consuming struggle that they were guaranteed a small piece of land. This was offset by the colonialists imposing a ten-pound (£10.00) tax which was a fortune in those days. Just to earn the ten pounds, the people would have had to do backing-breaking work for many hours per day to meet this sum. They simply refused to pay and eventually that tax was abolished. It was the same with the African people. Taxes were imposed so that they would be forced to leave their lands in order to earn money in the cities, especially in the mines with its awful working conditions, to pay their taxes. There were no benefits or services attached to this. That is why people like Bambatha (Chief Bambatha kaMancinza was head of the Zondi Clan in Zululand, Natal) objected to this practice which resulted in the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906 that broke out in the mid-Natal region of Graytown. It lasted for months and the superior weapons of the colonialists finally crushed it and beheaded its leader Bambatha. In the later stages, I am now talking about the 20th century, things took a dramatic turn where people became more aware of their strength, and then there was the arrival of a certain Gentleman by the name of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who happens to be your grandfather, somebody who changed the whole political landscape in this country. Tell us something about your grandfather. Especially what he did to make the people move as they did. When my grandfather came to this country he was just a young man. He came to South Africa in 1893 and lived here for about 21 years. He came to the country as a lawyer just as any other person to earn a living, make some money and go back to India where his family was living. During his stay here, he came face to face with the injustices that prevailed against the Indian people and the black community as a whole. He felt he was obliged to do something about it and began mobilizing and in the process changed his own life-style. That was the miracle which happened in his life. In these 21 years he transformed from an affluent professional class-conscious human being to an ordinary person who respected labour, by that I mean physical labour and gave up all the trappings of the background that he came from. He gave South Africa the weapon of non-violence - the "Satyagraha". He demonstrated through his involvement that you can protest against injustices through non-violent means. Please portray some of the injustices which Gandhi highlighted in South Africa. There was the race injustice. Soon after his arrival, he was thrown out of the court because he insisted on wearing a turban. When he tried to explain to the judge that a turban is the same as a wig he was rudely asked to leave. That was his first confrontation with racism. A few days later he boarded a train en route to Johannesburg in the first class compartment. A white person objected to his presence and he was literally thrown out of the train at Pietermaritzburg even though he had a valid ticket. The trains were segregated in South Africa and my grandfather was unaware of this. On this trip he encountered many such incidents of racism including assault, insults and all the other elements of colonial racism, simply because his skin had the "false" colour. The experience he accumulated within the first few months of his arrival were decisive in directing his future. It worried him a great deal that people were prepared to accept the status quo as everyday life and did nothing about it. He began to mobilize and speak to the people that there are serious injustices prevailing and something has to be done against it. In the process, thousands of people were mobilized and this resulted in the formation of the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in 1894. The job of the NIC was to mobilize and guide the people in their fight against injustice. One of the biggest campaigns on a mass basis was the fight against the permit laws in 1913 when thousands of people crossed the border between the two provinces - Natal and the Transvaal - and courted imprisonment. Many thousands of Indian workers laid down their tools and went on strike. They withstood the harassments and assaults meted out by the colonial police very courageously without resorting to weapons or violence. This resulted in quite a number of the unjust laws being repealed in 1914 (people of Asiatic origin were not allowed to move about the four provinces without travel permits). With his "Satyagraha" philosophy Gandhi won a lot of disciples. Is this philosophy still valid today? Well one of the most prominent disciples was Chief Albert Luthuli, President of the African National Congress (ANC) and the first African to win the Nobel Peace Prize. That was in 1960. Chief Luthuli continued the non-violence policy in South Africa. He in turn was joined by such great leaders of the local Indian community like Dr. Yusuf Dadoo and Dr. Monty Naicker. Even ANC leaders Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela became strong Gandhian scholars. "Satyagraha" spread throughout the world and even the great leader of the Black community in the USA, Martin Luther King, adopted this principle and put it to good use in the fight for justice and human rights for his people. It is still a strong weapon, and is being applied in various struggles for freedom and justice in many parts of the world even today. Let's look at South Africa today. The Indian community has benefited greatly from the society through the struggle for peace, freedom and human dignity. What would you say is their role within the new dispensation in the land once ruled by racism and colonialism? The Indian community played and can play a major role working together with the other like-minded people of the various ethnic groups that exist in this country. At the moment the challenges that face South Africa are the challenges of transformation. Transformation of a society that was divided on a racial basis. Institutions like schools, colleges, tertiary institutions, hospitals, etc - they were all segregated during apartheid. Today we are looking for integration. This is not easy. Any kind of transformation comes with a lot of pain. Therefore, one needs to find ways with which to fill the gap. How to make it happen? For that you need lots of patience, a plan of action, plus people who are dedicated to transforming ideas. Finally, it's not just about changing the colour, it's about changing the ideology. This is precisely what we need to look into in South Africa. By Eric Singh -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. 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