Gandhi’s Pietermaritzburg Rail Episode and the beginning of Fight against Racial Discrimination
Siby K. Joseph
Young Mohandas Gandhi landed in South Africa in May 1893 to attend a legal matter of Dada Abdulah. He had to face the wrath of racial discrimination even at the initial stage of his stay there. When he visited the Durban Court, the magistrate ordered him to take off his turban or (headgear) which Gandhi refused and walked out of the court. However, the most stunning incident took place on June 7th June 1893, when he was travelling from Durban to Pretoria in South Africa. During this journey a white man detected Gandhi’s presence in the first-class railway carriage. Then he was ordered to move to the third-class compartment. Young Gandhi protested and refused to obey the order because he had a valid first-class ticket. He was finally thrown out of the compartment at Pietermaritzburg Railway Station. All these happened on that fateful night due to the prevalence of racial discrimination in South Africa. This event was a turning point in the life of Gandhi and future work and actions both in India and South Africa. That was the beginning of the fight against racial discrimination in a creative manner.
Pietermaritzburg Rail Episode with twin statues installed at entrance of Station
Illustrated by Artist Raju Baviskar at Anandshala Camp Sevagram
Gandhi realized that humiliation and injustice he had experienced was “only a symptom of the deep disease of colour prejudice.” He wanted to root out that disease of racial discrimination completely. This incident was a transformational experience in the life of Gandhi. That is why Nelson Mandela said: “India gave us M.K. Gandhi, we returned him as Mahatma Gandhi after two decades”. On that particular day at Pietermaritzburg Gandhi was most creative, the usual feelings of revenge, disgust, and hatred did not come to him at all. Louis Fischer, well-known biographer of Gandhi in his book mentions an interview of Dr. John R. Mott, a Christian missionary who asked Gandhi, 'What have been the most creative experiences in your life?' In reply, Gandhi said: ‘the story of the night in the Maritzburg station.’ It was something new which was very positive and creative, deciding to apply nonviolence in the fight against racial discrimination. Even after facing all these difficulties, he again booked in the first class and travelled further, ever ready to face the consequences and meet with similar situations again. But this time the English passenger favoured him by saying that Gandhi had a first class ticket and he had no issue of travelling with him. For Gandhi it was not a personal issue but a public cause and he decided to fight for human justice.
This incident is often described as the birth of Satyagraha. When we say it was on June 7 1893 that Satyagraha was born, we are putting Mahatmaship on him at an early stage. But it would be more appropriate to say that with this incident the seed of nonviolence was sowed or Satyagraha was born in his mind in embryonic form. Pietermaritzburg railway station is a reminder to the momentous rail journey that M.K. Gandhi undertook and his bold decision to fight against the forces of racial discrimination and colonialism. A small plaque is kept there in the railway station where the incident took place with a brief description. “In the vicinity of this plaque, M.K. Gandhi was evicted from a first-class compartment on the night of June 7, 1893. This incident changed the course of his life. He took up the fight against racial oppression. His active nonviolence started from that date.”
It is quite unfortunate that however Gandhi is described as a racist, partial towards the Indian indentured and having disdain for Africans. It was in response to that criticism I wrote the book Gandhi in South Africa: A Racist or Liberator? . It questions the very thesis of some scholars that Gandhi in the beginning was racist and changed in the course of time. This argument is not factually correct, even judging by events in his early days in South Africa. It can be easily contested by referring to the Report of Natal Indian Congress of August 1895 which depicts the work of the Congress for the indentured labourers. How he took the issue of racial discrimination even in his early life in South Africa is evident from Gandhi’s letter published in The Times of Natal of October 25, 1894 where he asserts that colour discrimination is against the principles of Christianity. Also one can refer his open letter to the Members of Legislative Council/Assembly in 1894. Gandhi was consistent in his fight against racial discrimination Ela Gandhi in her foreword to my book wrote “ a person who advocated love of all life cannot be racist” From the train incident the fight against racial discrimination began which was inbuilt in apartheid regime that existed in South Africa. Gandhi was aware of the fact that the Hindu treatments of untouchables in India were also grave instances of injustice based on caste hierarchy. Therefore, fighting against caste discrimination was one of his priorities in India's struggle for independence. Gandhi in his political fights both in South Africa and India tried to work out a true notion of justice based on his own experience in his own country and outside and that became a source of inspiration for all fighting against all sorts of injustices anywhere in the world.
Note: This introductory note was prepared on the occasion of 131 anniversary of Pietermaritzburg Railway Episode of Gandhi for an International webinar.
About the Author
Dr. Siby K. Joseph is Director, Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre for Gandhian Studies, Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan, Sevagram,
Wardha- 442102, Maharashtra. Email:
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