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Manmohan retraces Mahatma's steps

Visits Pietermaritzburg station where Gandhi was thrown out of train

Pietermaritzburg: An "awed and humbled" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday retraced the footsteps of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi at this South African railway station, 113 years after the Mahatma undertook the fateful train journey that changed the course of history.

In his first public engagement after arriving on a four-day visit to this country, Dr. Singh undertook a train journey from Pentrich station to Pietermaritzburg, 95 km from Durban, the route taken by Gandhi on his way to Pretoria on June 7, 1893, when he was thrown out of the compartment for being a coloured person.

"I am awed and humbled to be at the very spot at which began the transformation of an ordinary young lawyer into an extraordinary legend who influenced the destiny of my country," Dr. Singh wrote in the visitors' book.

Earlier in his remarks before a large and distinguished gathering, the Prime Minister said, "It is hard to put feelings into words as I stand here. It is easy to feel the presence of the Mahatma here and imagine what he went through during that night of June 7, 1893."

Stating that he was moved by the experience of being here and that he would bear this memory forever, he said Gandhi's resolve to resist injustice and oppression was born here and this idea eventually brought India its independence.

Dr. Singh said that Pietermaritzburg was worthy of inscription as a world heritage site. "It was here," Dr. Singh said, "when the Mahatma resolved to dedicate his life to public service and then went on to evolve the philosophy that another legend of peace — Nelson Mandela — has described as a key to human survival in the 21st century. I am happy and moved to see that the invaluable legacy and heritage of Mahatma Gandhi is alive and well in this historic city," he said.

Earlier he paid floral tributes to the leader of India's freedom movement and viewed the Mahatma Gandhi memorial plaques.

A lawyer then, Gandhi had arrived in South Africa in 1893 to work for an Indian merchant. A week later, he sat in a First Class compartment with a valid ticket, but was thrown off the train on a complaint by a white passenger at Pietermaritzburg.

That cold night, he vowed to stay in South Africa and fight the racial prejudice. "My active non-violence began from that date," he had said later.

Dr. Singh travelled in a first class compartment of the four-coach train. The journey between Pentrich and Pietermaritzburg took about 15 minutes. On alighting from the train, Dr. Singh mingled with locals, and shook hands with a few people. — PTI

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