SA and Indian leaders pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi

DURBAN – Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and South African president Thabo Mbeki paid tribute to the memory of Mohandas K Gandhi at ceremonies on Sunday timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the peaceful resistance movement launched by the Indian pacifist.

The two leaders unveiled a plaque and laid a wreath in his honour in Resistance Park – where thousands of non-whites courted arrest in the 1940s by gathering in defiance of apartheid laws – as well as visiting a settlement Gandhi founded. “Mahatma Gandhi, the great native son of India and, at the same time a beloved son of South Africa as well, provided the unparalleled leadership and example that inspired the triumphant march to freedom and democracy both in India in 1947 and in South Africa in 1994,” Mbeki said.Mbeki hailed Gandhi as an “international icon, martyr and the champion of freedom, peace and non-violence” in a speech at Durban’s cricket stadium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Satyagraha, or non-violent resistance, which was launched when Gandhi joined fellow Indians in South Africa to protest laws forcing them to carry identity documents.”Both countries derive immense inspiration from the work, life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi,” Singh said told a crowd of just a few hundred people.He said that the message of tolerance and interdependence was even more relevant today than when Gandhi preached it 100 years ago.Gandhi, then a young lawyer, arrived in South Africa in 1893 and spent 21 years developing his philosophies in various homes and farms across the country, before returning to India at the age of 46 to help fight for independence from Britain.On his arrival, he soon came face to face with growing race discrimination in South Africa when he was thrown off a train for refusing to leave the “whites only” compartment.The moment became a defining one in his life – and in history -resulting in him throwing himself into fight for human rights in this country.Singh travelled on the same train route to Pietermaritzburg after his arrival in South Africa on Saturday.Nampa-AP”Mahatma Gandhi, the great native son of India and, at the same time a beloved son of South Africa as well, provided the unparalleled leadership and example that inspired the triumphant march to freedom and democracy both in India in 1947 and in South Africa in 1994,” Mbeki said.Mbeki hailed Gandhi as an “international icon, martyr and the champion of freedom, peace and non-violence” in a speech at Durban’s cricket stadium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Satyagraha, or non-violent resistance, which was launched when Gandhi joined fellow Indians in South Africa to protest laws forcing them to carry identity documents.”Both countries derive immense inspiration from the work, life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi,” Singh said told a crowd of just a few hundred people.He said that the message of tolerance and interdependence was even more relevant today than when Gandhi preached it 100 years ago.Gandhi, then a young lawyer, arrived in South Africa in 1893 and spent 21 years developing his philosophies in various homes and farms across the country, before returning to India at the age of 46 to help fight for independence from Britain.On his arrival, he soon came face to face with growing race discrimination in South Africa when he was thrown off a train for refusing to leave the “whites only” compartment.The moment became a defining one in his life – and in history -resulting in him throwing himself into fight for human rights in this country.Singh travelled on the same train route to Pietermaritzburg after his arrival in South Africa on Saturday.Nampa-AP