30 JAN 1908 GANDHIJI SUMMONED BY JAN SMUTS
TheSATYAGRAHI
0
102
A meeting in Johannesburg on 11 September 1906 marked the start of the resistance campaign, which ultimately became known as satyagraha (meaning ‘truth-force’), with its practitioners called satyagrahi.
This mass meeting of about 3 000 people took place in the Empire Theatre in Ferreira Street (between Fox and Commissioner streets) in downtown Johannesburg (sadly, the theatre is long gone).
The gathering was in protest against the impending Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance of 1906, requiring all male Asians in the Transvaal to be fingerprinted and carry a form of pass, including children over the age of eight.
One of the resolutions passed at the meeting was that, failing all other intercessions, including a trip to London led by Gandhi, Indians would elect to go to prison rather than submit to the law in question.
But the government passed the law a few weeks later, and in October that year, Gandhi travelled to England to petition the authorities.
Although the British government vetoed the law, the Transvaal was granted self-government just a few months later and General Louis Botha, the prime minister of the Transvaal, was allowed to re-enact the law in 1907 in the form of the Transvaal Registration Act.
During the following seven years, protesters were imprisoned, flogged and even shot for refusing to register, or for burning their passes and engaging in other forms of resistance against the law.
A pivotal moment for the satyagraha movement was on 16 August 1908 when, outside the Hamidia Mosque in Jennings Street, Fordsburg, Gandhi encouraged those present to burn their identity documents. More than 2 000 documents were burned in a large cauldron outside the mosque. This action is widely regarded as being a precursor to the anti-pass campaigns of the African National Congress in the 1950s.
A second major satyagraha campaign was initiated in 1913 in protest against a £3 tax that was being imposed on ex-indentured Indians and because the state refused to recognise Hindu and Muslim marriages.
During this campaign, Gandhi’s wife, Kasturba, was arrested at the border at Volksrust while attempting to cross the border into Transvaal by train with a group of women in protest against their marriages being declared invalid.
Gandhi also led a large group of striking workers across the Transvaal border along the Durban-to-Johannesburg railway line. This great march (a forerunner to the famous Salt March in India in 1930) started on 6 November 1913 and had in its ranks 127 women, 57 children and some 2 000 men. Gandhi was arrested and let out on bail three times.
The 1913 protest actions were what led to General Jan Smuts setting up a commission to investigate Indian grievances that would ultimately end in the passing of the Indian Relief Act, which paved the way for Gandhi's return to India, having achieved a major legal milestone for Indians in South Africa.
So powerful was this form of non-violent resistance that, as Gandhi was leaving South Africa in 1914, he described it as 'perhaps the mightiest instrument on earth'. His prophetic words were borne out, not least in South Africa where there were many instances of peaceful marches against apartheid.
Image: Babak Fakhamzadeh
Hamidia Mosque, Fordsburg
View location on Google Maps
WHAT’S THERE?
The Gandhi Memorial, also known as the Burning Truth, depicts a symbolic cauldron (created by artist Usha Seejarim) that commemorates the first recorded burning of passes that took place in South Africa on 16 August 1908.
WHERE?
Jennings Street, Fordsburg, Johannesburg
MORE ON SOUTHAFRICA.NET
“To deprive a man of his natural liberty and to deny to him the ordinary amenities of life is worse than starving the body; it is starvation of the soul, the dweller in the body.”
View image
ThePRISONER
0
102
Between 1908 and 1913, Gandhi was sentenced to four terms of imprisonment in South Africa during the satyagrahacampaigns; he served a total of seven months and 10 days of these sentences in prisons around the country.
In July 1907, the Boer Republic Transvaal started to register Indians, sparking off the first campaign during which Gandhi and others actively refused to register and have their fingerprints taken while resolutely remaining in the Transvaal.
Gandhi was first arrested on 27 December 1907 for failing to register and staying in the Transvaal. When he appeared before a judge in early January 1908, he asked to be given the heaviest sentence possible and was sent to prison in the Old Fort on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg on a two-month sentence.
As the protest continued, the number of Indian prisoners swelled to some 155 and the authorities had to put tents up in the yard to accommodate them. Here, Gandhi elected to join his compatriots sleeping in the open.
Gandhi was released from the Old Fort after a meeting with General Jan Smuts (colonial secretary and education secretary in Prime Minister Louis Botha’s Transvaal government), during which he agreed to encourage voluntary registration in exchange for the legislation being dropped.
When Smuts failed to keep his word, the satyagraha campaign gained in intensity and continued in different forms in the years that followed.
Gandhi also spent time in prison in Volksrust and Pretoria, and his wife, Kasturba, was held in Pietermaritzburg.
Video: Gandhi the prisoner
In 1908, Gandhi was imprisoned in the Old Fort on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg on a two-month sentence. Today it houses a permanent exhibition on Gandhi's South African sojourn.
Image: Ryan James/Darling Lama Productions
Old Fort, Constitution Hill
View location on Google Maps
WHAT’S THERE?
In the Old Fort Prison Complex there is an exhibition titled Prisoner of Conscience focusing on Gandhi’s imprisonment and the satyagraha campaigns. There is a replica of the pair of sandals Gandhi once gave to General Jan Smuts. There are several other fascinating exhibitions here relating to Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment and the Women’s Gaol.
WHERE?
Constitution Hill, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
MORE ON SOUTHAFRICA.NET
https://youtu.be/CgBtth7EiYw
1 result (0.23 seconds)
Search Results
Charting Gandhi's struggle for justice and reason
Daily Mail-01-Oct-2013
The day after this conflagration, Gandhi was summoned to Pretoriato meet General Smuts. Also present were the Prime Minister (General ...
Stay up to date on results for gandhi was summoned to see smuts in pretoria.
About 6,850 results (0.44 seconds)
Search Results
Chronology of Mahatma Gandhi
www.mkgandhi.org/chrono/under1.htm
shrot and detail chronology of mahatma gandhi. ... Summoned to see General Smutsat Pretoria and released, on reaching a compromise. February. 10.
Gandhi: The Meaning of Mahatma for the Millennium
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=1565181565
Kuruvila Pandikattu - 2001 - Social Science
(Gandhi's first time in jail ). Summoned to consult with General Smuts in Pretoria. February: Attacked and wounded by Indian extremist for settlement with Smuts.
Gandhi before India - Page cxii - Google Books Result
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=935118322X
Ramachandra Guha - 2014 - Biography & Autobiography
Gandhi wrote to Smuts, warning that 'many more may be assaulted in [the] near future'. ... to the Asiatic Act'.39 Smuts now summoned Gandhi to Pretoria.
Gandhi in South Africa
gandhi.southafrica.net/
Shortly after his arrival, Gandhi had to travel to Pretoria for the court case and, .... There is a commanding view of the surrounding countryside and the ..... While this meeting failed to achieve any results, Smuts was to summon Gandhi again in ...
Gandhi Chronology | The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi | Free ...
www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/mind...gandhi/gandhi-chronology.php
This section contains a detailed chronology of Gandhiji's life. ... 30, Summoned to see General Smuts at Pretoria and released, on reaching a compromise.
Today in Indian History - Events for January 30
www.indianage.com/show.php
30-January-1908, Gandhiji was summoned to see General Smuts at Pretoria and ... 30-January-1948, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the spiritual leader of ...
You've visited this page many times. Last visit: 29/1/16
The Cambridge Companion to Gandhi - Page 44 - Google Books Result
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=1139824848
Judith M. Brown, Anthony Parel - 2011 - History
Driven by hostility to Indian immigration, Smuts was determined to pass what became ... was receiving led Smuts to summon Gandhi to Pretoria for negotiations.
The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=0802131611
Mahatma Gandhi, Homer Alexander Jack - 1994 - Biography & Autobiography
A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings Mahatma Gandhi Homer Alexander Jack ... Wassummoned to consult General Smuts at Pretoria; compromise reached; ...
The Wit and Wisdom of Gandhi - Page 206 - Google Books Result
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=0486122417
Mohandas Gandhi, Homer A. Jack - 2012 - History
Mohandas Gandhi Homer A. Jack. 1901-02: Traveled ... Was summoned to consult General Smuts at Pretoria; compromise reached; was released from jail. Feb.
Moral Lessons From Gandhi S Autobiography And Other Essays
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=8180690849
K.D. Gangrade - 2004 - Statesmen
... months imprisonment in Johannesburg jail (his first imprisonment); Summoned to consult General Smuts at Pretoria; Compromise reaches; released from jail; ...
Searches related to gandhi was summoned to see smuts in pretoria
mahatma gandhi in south africa history
mahatma gandhi in south africa wikipedia
mahatma gandhi in south africa in hindi
gandhi in south africa summary
gandhi south africa train
mahatma gandhi in south africa essay
mahatma gandhi in south africa satyagraha
mahatma gandhi south africa train incident
12345678910Next
Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra - From your Internet address - Use precise location
- Learn more
Help Send feedback Privacy Terms
Comentarios