Swaraj revisits history to mark 125 yrs of Gandhi’s Satyagraha

Pietermaritzburg, June 7

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday undertook a train journey from Pentrich to Pietermaritzburg, a railway station in South Africa where a young Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of a “whites-only” compartment 125 years ago, an incident that acted as a catalyst for him to practice Satyagraha.

Swaraj, who is in South Africa on a five-day visit, also inaugurated the 2-sided bust of Gandhi, called the “Birth of Satyagraha”. 

The bust “acts as a constant reminder, to all of mankind, of the momentous moral journey that young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi undertook,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. 

“To practice this belief of ‘Vasudeva kudumbakam’ (the world is one family) we need to keep reminding us that truth and non-violence is the way,” said Swaraj in her address at the event. Swaraj also inaugurated The Mahatma Gandhi Digital Museum consisting of interactive screens, videos, audio commentary on the infamous incident. To mark 125th anniversary of the incident, she released a coffee table book titled The Birth of Satyagraha.

Sawaraj along with Deputy Foreign Minister of South Africa Luwellyn Landers jointly released postal stamps on Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and Oliver Tambo to mark 25 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

To meet kin of Indians abducted in Afghanistan 

• A month after the abduction of seven Indian workers in Baghlan province of Afghanistan, some family members concerned on Thursday protested outside the Ministry of External Affairs office in Delhi
• An MEA official assured them of a meeting with Swaraj on June 9 once she returns from South Africa. The family members say they will camp in the national capital till they meet her— PTI