The Hindu : New Delhi News : Revisiting Satyagraha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 20, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Revisiting Satyagraha

Madhur Tankha

NEW DELHI: President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam will inaugurate a unique art show, "Satyagraha: Indian and South African Artists' Tribute to the Spirit of 9-11-1906", at Travancore Art Gallery here on September 1. The Indo-South African art show to mark the centenary of the first Satyagraha will be a special homage by artists from the two countries where Mahatma Gandhi lived and worked. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and a host of dignitaries from India and South Africa are expected to take part in the inaugural ceremony.

On September 11, 1906, South Africa witnessed the launch of a passive resistance by Indians against the racist policies of the Government. There, under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, the Natal Indian Congress launched an unprecedented strategy of agitation - "passive resistance''. Later this strategy of agitation was called Satyagraha and the Indian Independence movement was soon synonymous with this method of non-violent resistance to atrocities of all kinds.

Great-grandson of the Mahatma and Chairman of the Organising Committee of the show Tushar Gandhi says: "This is our humble tribute to the spirit of Satyagraha that led to the end of colonialism from the face of the earth through peaceful means. Through the group exhibition of specially created commemorative works in New Delhi and Durban, where Gandhi first practised the Satyagraha, we are remembering the great spirit of the previous Century at a time when the world is threatened by violence and terrorism."

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