Indian PM’s Visit to SA Like Pilgrimage in Steps of Gandhi
During his two-day trip to South Africa, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi retraced the steps and famous (or infamous) train trip taken by Mahatma Gandhi in 1893, where Gandhi was thrown off the train for not being white. Modi likened his trip to South Africa – where he travelled to Johannesburg and Durban – to […]
During his two-day trip to South Africa, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi retraced the steps and famous (or infamous) train trip taken by Mahatma Gandhi in 1893, where Gandhi was thrown off the train for not being white.
Modi likened his trip to South Africa – where he travelled to Johannesburg and Durban – to a pilgrimage. “My visit to South Africa has become like a pilgrimage to me as I have got the opportunity to visit all the three places that are significant to Indian history and Mahatma Gandhi’s life,” he was quoted saying.
On June 7, 1893, Gandhi was thrown off the train at Pietermaritzburg, a scene immortalised for the world in the movie “Gandhi” (see the scene below). The incident was said to have strongly influenced Gandhi’s decision to fight racial discrimination in South Africa and later the freedom struggle in India.
Modi is on a four-nation tour of Africa to strengthen ties with the subcontinent.
In 1893 Gandhi had just arrived in South Africa, at the age of 24, to work as a lawyer. He left South Africa for good in 1914.
Modi reportedly said, “For me personally, this visit is an opportunity to pay homage to two of the greatest human souls to have ever walked this Earth – Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela”.
The train scene from the Richard Attenborough movie “Gandhi”, starring Ben Kingsley:
Modi on the train: