Durban, September 30
It was just a 15-minute journey from Pentrich to Pietermaritzburg for the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, but the significance of it weighed so heavily on him that he found “it is easy to feel the presence of the Mahatma here and to imagine what he went through during that night of June 7, 1893”.
Pietermaritzburg is a small wayside railway station which has a permanent place in the conscience of the nation as it was here that the Mahatma was thrown out of a train because he had made the mistake of travelling in a first-class compartment, though he had a valid ticket. The blacks and Indians were not permitted to travel in first and second classes by the white rulers.
Generations of Indians have grown up hearing this story in schools and in public discourse that it is etched in their memory. Small wonder that Dr Manmohan Singh, who arrived to an enthusiastic welcome at the Durban international airport, chose the commemorative journey as his first engagement during his four-day visit to South Africa.
The Mahatma was on his way to Pretoria from Durban when the railway authorities threw him out of the train at Pietermaritzburg. He spent the cold night at the waiting room of the station without anyone coming to his rescue.
Dr Singh visited the station and stood for a few moments in front of the photograph of Gandhiji prominently displayed in the waiting room. He wrote in the visitor’s diary, “I am awed and humbled to be at the very spot at which began the transformation of an ordinary young lawyer into an extraordinary legend who influenced the destiny of my country.
“It was here that the Mahatma resolved to dedicate his life to public service and then went on to evolve the philosophy that another legend of peace – Nelson Mandela – has described as a key to human survival in the 21st century. I am happy and moved to see that the invaluable legacy and heritage of Mahatma Gandhi is alive and well in this historic city”.
Today there is no regular train service on this route. A two-coach
train pulled by a steam engine of the same period is run whenever there are enough bookings by tourists. Dr Singh travelled in the comfortable first-class compartment while the journalists accompanying him travelled in what was then known as the “van compartment”.
From Pietermaritzburg the Prime Minister drove to Church Street where he layed a wreath at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. The programmes were essentially Indian as the participation was limited to the Indian community here.
The four-day visit is with a view to commemorating the centenary of the satyagraha movement Gandhiji launched in South Africa on September 11. It was on this day 100 years ago that he led the Indian community in protesting against a discriminatory law the authorities had introduced.
The Prime Minister will visit the Phoenix farm which the Mahatma had established for community living near Durban and attend a satyagraha centenary function tomorrow. He will also inaugurate a permanent Mahatma Gandhi exhibition in Johannesburg the day after, besides holding bilateral talks with the South African Prime Minister and calling on Mr Nelson Mandela.
