Appendix I Nelson Mandela on Nehru

0l F7 Much has already been written on Jawaharlal Nehru, the charismatic leader and builder of modem India. Naturally, in his birth centenary year there should be such a deep interest in studying and analysing the various facets of Nehru's life, work and seminal thought. This is, however, a specialised study on Nehru's vision of Africa, an exploited part of the world that was so close to the heart of this humanist and champion of freedom and peace. It reveals how even as a young man, the tragic period of slavery and brutal sup pression in Africa moved him so intensely that he started telling the international community of its "special responsibility" towards the peoples of Africa. After India's independence, his contribu tion to the process of decolonisation, especially in regard to Kenya, Algeria and Portuguese territories makes a fascinating reading. His voice on the problems of hapless Congo and the tripartite aggression on Egypt after the nationalisation of the Suez Canal was loud and clear. It was a voice of sanity and morality. His words had the breadth of his vision. Nehru had no doubt in his mind that the obnoxious policy of apartheid was an affront to human dignity. His advice to Indian settlers in Africa that they should identify themselves with the urges and aspirations of the in digenous population is considered unique, though controversial. Nehru viewed that the independence of African countries could only be safeguarded through economic strength. He passionately advocated Indo-African economic and techni cal cooperation which has today become a model of South-South cooperation. Nehru and Resurgent Africa, is not only relevant for Indian and African scholars, re searchers and foreign policy-makers, but should be of immense interest to the develop ing world as a whole, being the only in-depth study of its kind made so far. Rsl50 NEHRU AND RESURGENT AFRICA By the same author INDIA AND AFRICA (1986) Nehru and Resurgent Africa HARI SHARAN CHHABRA AFRICA PUBLICATIONS (INDIA) NEW DELHI © HARI SHARAN CHHABRA (November 1989) Typeset by Wordtronic, 111 Eros Apartment, 56 Nehru Place, New Delhi - 110019, printed at Pauls Press, E-44/110Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-il, New Delhi - 110020, and published by Mohana Chhabra, M-13, South Extention, Part-II, New Delhi - 110049. CONTENTS Preface 1. Early Days of Sensitivity 1 2. Decolonisation: Harbinger of New Life 21 Kenya Algeria Portuguese Colonialism Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) South-West Africa (Namibia) Egypt and Suez Canal The Congo Wind of Change in Africa 3. South Africa: Affront to Human Dignity 64 4. Settlers from India: An Emotional Link 85 5. Cooperation: Strengthening Independence 101 6. Vision of a New Africa 121 7. Fall-out of India-China Conflict 130 8. Africa Mourns Nehru 144 Appendixes Nelson Mandela on Nehru 151 Nehru Speaks to African Students 157 Note on Action Against Apartheid 161 Bibliography of Consulted Material 165 Index 167 When one day India enters the ranks of the super powers, two individuals in history would still remain importantfar beyond India's borders. Men in distant lands who study the origins of Afro-Asianism will remember the "naked fakir", Mahatma Gandhi, who helped to shape the doctrine of passive resistanceas a strategy of liberation in colonial days; and the Brahmin aristocrat,Jawaharlal Nehru, who helped to shape the doctrine of nonalignment as a strategy of liberationafter colonial rule. Professor Ali A. Mazrui Kenya PREFACE Jawaharlal Nehru was the first non-African to make the world aware of the problems and the importance of the African continent. Even though Mahatma Gandhi valiantly pioneered the cause of the Indians in South Africa before him, the credit for making India and the world "Africa-conscious" must undoubtedly go to Nehru. The early years of Indian independence heard Nehru tirelessly speaking of the travails of the African people, especially the brutalities of racialism in South Africa and the British reign of terror and bloodbath in the post-Mau Mau Kenya. As a young student of political science, fresh from the university, I was virtually mes merised by Nehru's passionate advocacy of African freedom. In the mid-fifties, the study of Africa became my life's mission. It began with a short research stint at the Department of African Studies in the University of Delhi, which had just then been inaugurated by Nehru himself. I cannot forget my sense of satisfaction and pride when Nehru complimented me as I presented to him a few weekly issues of my newly-started weekly Africa Diaryin September 1961. After closely glancing through some pages for a couple of minutes, he patted me and said: "It is a very good effort producing this publication, sitting in New Delhi." Nehru, the crusading humanist, continued to hold me in fas cination. What struck me most about him was his robust optimism about the future of Africa. Indeed, his perceptions were so much to the point that he was able to forecast that the African continent would be liberated sooner than many people thought. In his life span, Nehru saw a large number of African countries winning independence one after another. Africa's place in the world today would have thrilled Nehru, had he been alive. He would have been so happy to see that today in the nonaliged movement, which he helped to establish, African countries constituted 50 per cent of its numerical strength. I have also lived through the stirring times of African liberation. I have been a witness to the emergence of African personality. Although I have travelled far and wide in Africa, it was a unique honour for me to have been present in Addis Ababa in May 1963 to witness the giant leaders of Africa putting their signatures one by one on the Charter, establishing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Similarly, I felt gratified to be in Namibia in May this year to watch this brave nation's march towards freedom. The birth of the Organisation of African Unity, by all accounts, constituted a turning point in African history. Till then, Nehru, as his own foreign minister, saw to it that India took the lead in highlighting African causes at the United Nations and other world forums. But once the Africans made their presence felt in the comity of nations, Nehru was meticulous in insisting that Indian diplomacy must follow the lead given by the African nations and the OAU on issues concerning them. This guideline is being followed even today. I cannot presume to speak for the Africans. But still, I make bold to assert that Africans love Nehru and revere him. On November 14 last year, the beginning of the Nehru centenary celebrations, I was privileged to participate in a seminar on Jawaharlal Nehru in Lagos. My heart was filled with pride when I heard Nigerian scholars, economists and editors, vying with one another in paying sincere and rich tributes to free India's first Prime Minister and foremost leader. I was convinced that Nehru belonged as much to Africa as to India. On the occasion of Nehru's birth centenary, which also happens to be his 25th death anniversary, this book is my humble tribute to my "guide and mentor". I must thank the Nehru Birth Centen ary Celebrations Committee for the grant enabling me to under take this project. I am only a newspaperman, an analyst of current African affairs. This book may not be the product of any deep scholarship. But it is more than made up by my sincere devotion to Nehru, and to Africa, and by my deep involvement in promoting greater under standing between the peoples of India and Africa. New Delhi Hari Sharan Chhabra November 2, 1989 1 Early Days of Sensitivity JAWAHARLAL NEHRU was, first and foremost, an internationalist who belonged to the entire mankind. His internationalism was acquired from abroad, even as it carried within it strong in digenous constituents. A born visionary, often given to soar high, Jawaharlal in his younger days became intensely conscious of the vast expanse of injustice that was left behind in most parts of the world during imperialism's sweep through the centuries. Indeed, his awareness of colonial exploitation in a way opened up his career as a political activist, which saw him struggle for four decades for his country's emancipation and later lead it to a stature of nobility, decency and leadership in the emerging comity of nations. Nehru's nationalist fervour itself derived a part of its strength from his perception of the prevailing world order under imperialist yoke. He thus grew up as an intense internationalist, while being an ardent nationalist. The two were so intimately enmeshed in his personality that even he could not set them apart. He viewed India's slavery as a part of worldwide curse of colonial dominance. Hence, he could never view India's struggle for independence in isolation. There can be no two opinions that India's long march to freedom and the worldwide movement against imperialism have been so intermingled in historical perspective that it would be difficult to separate one from the other. Nehru rightly observed in July 1938: "If India were free it would make a tremendous difference to the conception of empire NEHRU AND RESURGENT AFRICA throughout the world, and all subject people will benefit thereby." This statement, made about a year before the outbreak of the Second World War, clearly establishes that his own thought process was leading him to the conclusion that India's destiny was closely linked with the liberation of all the oppressed peoples of the world.

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