Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi started his journey from South
Africa. He was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar in the state of Kathiawar
in Gujarat. Having studied law in
England, Gandhi, in 1898, went to South Africa with a case involving his
client, Dada Abdullah. In South Africa, he witnessed the ugly face of white
racism and contempt to which Asians, who had gone to South Africa as laborers,
were subjected. He decided to stay in South Africa to help the Indian workers and
motivate them to fight for their rights. After 1914 he returned to India. In South
Africa, the Indian got divided into three categories—one, the indentured Indian labor,
mainly from south India, who had migrated to South Africa after 1890 to work on
sugar plantations; two, the merchants—mostly Meman Muslims who had followed the
laborers; and three, the ex-indentured laborers who had settled down with their
children in South Africa after the expiry of their contracts. These Indians
were mostly illiterate and had little or no knowledge of English. These Indian
immigrants had to suffer many disabilities. They did not have the right to vote.
They were living in prescribed locations that were unsanitary and congested.
In some colonies, Asians and Africans could not stay out of doors after 9 PM nor could they
use public footpaths.
Moderate The phase of Struggle (1894-1906)
In this phase, Gandhi was sending petitions to the authorities in South Africa and in Britain hoping that once the authorities were informed of the plight of Indians, they would take sincere steps to solve their grievances as the Indians were, after all, British subjects.
The phase of Resistance or
Satyagraha (1906-1914)
The second phase, which began in 1906, was characterized by the use of the method of passive resistance or civil disobedience, which Gandhi named satyagraha.
New legislation in South Africa made it compulsory for Indians
to carry at all times certificates of registration with their fingerprints. Under
Gandhi’s leadership decided not to submit to this discriminatory measure.
Gandhi formed the Passive Resistance Association to conduct the campaign of
defying the law and suffering all the penalties resulting from such defiance.
Thus was born Satyagraha or devotion to truth. The government jailed
Gandhi and others who refused to register themselves. After that, the
authorities used deceit to make these defiant Indians register themselves. The
Indians under the leadership of Gandhi retaliated by publicly burning their
registration certificates. All this showed up the South African government in a
bad light. In the end, there was a compromise settlement.
By: Shivani Awasthi (FullFry)
