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Background of 100 Years of Satyagraha |
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9/11 Programme : screening of the film ‘A Force More Powerful’
BACKGROUND
Just what is it that we commemorate on September 11? What happened on this day a hundred years ago? It was on this day that Indians in Johannesburg gathered to protest against a proposed move by the government of Transvaal which would require all Indians to register with the authorities, submit to finger-printing and accept a certificate which they would then have to carry with them at all times. A person who failed to register could be imprisoned, fined, or deported. It was an angry crowd of about 3000 men and women who were jammed into the Imperial Theatre in Johannesburg. By the time the young attorney M. K. Gandhi rose to speak others had already threatened to shoot any officer that imposed such a law on the Indians. Half a century later Louis Fischer’s biography of Mahatma Gandhi had an entire chapter titled ‘September 11, 1906’. Excerpts from Fischer’s account of that day help us to recapture the moment: “Angry speeches in four languages stirred the volatile audience to a high emotional pitchj and then Sheth Haji Habib read a resolution, which Gandhi had helped prepare, demanding non-compliance with the registration provisions. Haji Habib called on the assembly to adopt it, but not in the usual manner. They must vote, he urged, ‘with God as their witness’. “Gandhi jumped. A sensitive ear and a keen institution quickly told him that this was an extraordinary event. An action with God as witness was a religious vow which could not be broken. It was not the ordinary motion passed by a show of hands at a public function and immediately forgotton. “Gandhi requested the floor. He begged them to consider coolly what they were doing. ‘Notwithstanding the differences of nomenclature in Hinduism and Islam,’ he declared, ‘we all believe in one and the same God. To pledge ourselves or to take an oath in the name of God or with Him as witness is not something to be trifled with. If having taken such an oath we violate our pledge we are guilty before God and man.’ “…The purpose of the resolution was not to impress the outside world. A vote in favor constituted a personal vow, and each one of them had to decide whether he possessed the inner strength to keep it. In consequence of the vow, they might be jailed; they might be beaten and insulted in jail. They might go hungry and be exposed to hat and cold. They might lose their jobs, their wealth. They might be deported. The struggle might last a long time, years. ‘But I can boldly declare and with certainty,’ Gandhi exclaimed, ‘that so long as there is even a handful of men true to their pledge, there can be only one end to the struggle – and that is victory.’ “The audience applauded. He lowered his voice. Many in the hall, moved by the enthusiasm and indignation which dominated the meeting, might pledge themselves that evening and repent the next morning or the next month. Perhaps only a handful would be left to fact the final contest with the powerful government. To him it would make no difference. ‘There is only one course open to me,’ Gandhi asserted, ‘to die but not to submit to the law. Even if the unlikely happened and everyone else flinched, leaving me to face the music alone, I am confident that I will never violate my pledge. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying this out of vanity. But I wish to put you, and especially the leaders on the platform, on your guard…. If you have not the will or the ability to stand firm even when you are perfectly isolated you must not only not take the pledge but you must declare your opposition before the resolution is put … Although we are going to take the pledge in a body, no one may imagine that default on the part of one or of many can absolve the rest from their obligation. Every one must be true to his pledge even unto death, no matter what others do.’ “Gandhi sat down. The chairman added his sobering words. Then the vote was taken. Everyone present rose, raised his hand, and swore to Goad not to obey the proposed anti-Indian ordinance if it became law. “The next day, September 12th, the Imperial Theatre was completely destroyed by fire. Many Indians regarded it as an omen that the ordinance would meet a similar fate. To Gandhi it was a coincidence. He did not believe in such omens. Fate did not beckon to Gandhi with mute signs. The future spoke in him through that awesome, Himalayan self-assurance which he displayed at the meeting. He knew he could stand alone.” Source: Excerpted from the Chapter ‘September 11, 1906’ from The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer, Harper & Row Publishers. |
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