Introduction to South Africa-India: Partnership in Freedom and Development

Introduction to South Africa-India: Partnership in freedom and development http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.ESRINDP1B40002 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Introduction to South Africa-India: Partnership in freedom and development Author/Creator Reddy, E.S. Date 1995 Resource type Articles Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) India, South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1900-1995 Source Enuga S. Reddy Description An article about the partnership between India and South Africa over the past decades and their common struggle for freedom. Format extent 15 pages (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.ESRINDP1B40002 http://www.aluka.org INTRODUCTION TO SOUTH AFRICA-INDIA: PARTNERSHIP INTRODUCTION TO SOUTH AFRICA-INDIA: PARTNERSHIP IN FREEDOM AND DDEVELOPMENT, 19951 "I am convinced, your Excellency, that we are poised to build a unique and special partnership- a partnership forged in the crucible of history, common cultural attributes and common struggle". -President Nelson R. Mandela of South Africa at banquet hosted by President S. D. Sharma of India, New Delhi, 25 January 1995. The emergence of India into independence after a long struggle for freedom against the mightiest imperial Power, and the victory of the South African people in their equally long and difficult struggle against racist domination represent the two main landmarks in the closing of the sad chapter of colonial-racist oppression in human history. India and South Africa now look forward to a new era of friendship, cooperation and joint action not only for mutual benefit but in the cause of peace and human solidarity which have inspired their common struggle, The agreements concluded by the two countries on January 25, 1995. for "multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation"- "in the political, economic, trade and scientific spheres as well as in the field of technology, industry, transport, energy, culture, public health, ecology, education. tourism, sports and exchange of information" - are almost unprecedented in scope in the history of inter-state relations. They reflect the bonds of friendship developed over the centuries, with the shared experience of oppression by imperialism and racism and, above all, the solidarity displayed by the peoples of the two nations and their liberation movements during the course of their struggles. Neighbours Across the Sea India and South Africa, neighbours across the sea, have had cultural and trade relations since ancient times. These were interrupted when they came under alien domination and replaced by new bonds. Soon after the European adventurers set up settlements at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, Indians began to be transported there and forced into slavery to work in their homes and farms. When slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century, the British administrations in India and Natal organised the transport of Indian workers as indentured labour to develop the plantations, mines and railways in South Africa under semi-slave conditions. As a result, there are now over a million Indian South Africans and perhaps an even larger number of "Coloured" and "white" South Africans of Indian ancestry. 1 Introduction to T. G. Ramamurthi (ed.) South Africa India: Partnership in Freedom and Development. New Delhi: Indian Council for Cultural Relations and New Age International Publishers Limited, 1995. With the consolidation of the power of British imperialism in both countries came a new stage in the relations between the two peoples. The modem national movement developed in India somewhat earlier than in South Africa. A major episode in the history of that movement was the resistance of the Indian community in South Africa against racist oppression early in this century. Their satyagraha, under the leadership of M.K. Gandhi, led to united national action in India and inspired all other oppressed people in South Africa. It was one of the most significant events of the twentieth century and will remain a bond between the two peoples. As the struggle for freedom developed in the two countries, the links between the national movements of the two countries were fortified. Mahatma Gandhi knew, and spoke with respect, about African leaders like John Dube, the first President of the African National Congress, Walter Rubusana, the first African member of the Cape Provincial Council, and Dr. Abdulla Abdurahman, the leader of the Coloured people. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru met Mr. Josiah Gumede, President of the African National Congress, and other South Africans at the Congress against Imperialism in Brussels in 1926 and was impressed by their spirit. During the Second World War, fought ostensibly for freedom, British imperialism and the racist government in South Africa made it clear that the Allied declarations of war aims do not apply either to India or to South Africa. The Indian National Congress launched a "Quit India" movement and the young militants of South Africa demanded that imperialism "quit Africa". India attained independence soon after the war, and a multiracial mass democratic movement emerged in South Africa. The newly-independent India was privileged to make a historic contribution, at considerable sacrifice, to the struggle of the South African people which was unduly prolonged as their oppressors derived sustenance from the cooperation of imperialist Powers. India's sacrifices cannot be compared to those of the frontline States in Africa which suffered grievously from aggression and destabilisation by the apartheid forces in the 1980s. Its financial contributions could not match those of some prosperous nations which joined the anti-apartheid forces in the 1970s. But no country equalled India in consistent diplomatic, political, economic and other support to the cause of liberation in South Africa for well over half a century. As President Mandela said in Delhi on 25 January 1995: "You took up our battle as your own battle. Now that we have been victorious, it cannot be said too often that our victory is also India's victory". The following is a brief review of India's actions in support of the struggle for liberation in South Africa from 1946 to the establishment of the first non-racial democratic government of South Africa in May 1994, and the subsequent agreements for extensive cooperation between the two countries. It is followed by selected documents on the subject - only a fraction of hundreds of statements, speeches, etc., by the Indian government and organisations in numerous national and inter-national fora. Partnership with the South African People India had direct experience of South African racism since tens of thousands of Indians were lured into Natal in the nineteenth century with the promise of equal rights under the law, only to become victims of constant attempts to subject them to the inhuman oppression inflicted on the indigenous Africans. In the SmutsGandhi Agreement of 1914, and the Cape Town Agreements of 1927 and 1932, the Indian community and the Government of India were assured of a respite from further discriminatory measures but again the promises proved illusory. With the white monopoly of political power, white parties vied with each other to inflame and pander to racial prejudices so that there was a constant whittling away of the meagre rights of the non-white people. The struggle of the Indian people and the intervention of the Indian Government enabled the Indian community to preserve some rights denied to Africans; but the Indians were subjected to several restrictions not applied to Africans. This experience was a source of education for Indian South Africans and for India. They became increasingly convinced that the small Indian community could not gain and preserve its civil rights so long as the system of discrimination and white monopoly of political power remained. That brought them ever closer to the indigenous African people. Mahatma Gandhi had always insisted that the Indians should never press for any rights if they conflicted with the vital interests of the Africans, the sons of the soil. As long ago as 1908, he spoke of his vision of a South Africa where "all the different races commingle and produce a civilisation that perhaps the world has not yet seen." Other Indian leaders like Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, Rabindranath Tagore and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru were outspoken in calling on the Indians in South Africa to identify themselves with the African majority in their legitimate struggle. Public opinion in India welcomed the emergence of a new leadership in the Indian community in the late 1930s, advocating uncompromising resistance against racism and joint action with other oppressed South Africans. In that context, the determination of the South African regime to enact further legislation to oppress and humiliate Indians - at a time when India was emerging into independence - outraged opinion in India and ushered in the partnership of India with the oppressed people of South Africa in the struggle for a revolutionary transformation of South Africa.

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