History repeats itself, this time through biopic; SA honors 125 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement

NewsBharati    06-Jun-2018
Total Views |

Pietermaritzburg, June 6: History repeating itself; this time not in reality but in a documentary. Recreating the history which triggered the need to change injustice in South Africa, the screening of a biopic “Making of a Mahatma” on Wednesday marked the opening of a three-day series of events to commemorate the historic incident 125 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha.

The commemoration continues over the next two days with events spearheaded by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. India and South Africa share a very deep bond referring to the history. Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement was started in South Africa to end the injustice prevailed on them by the British Raj. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to South Africa has enhanced and made the strong bond even stronger by strengthening the bilateral relations and demographic diplomacy.

The two-day event on June 6-7 was sought to commemorate the historic incident 125 years ago when Mahatma Gandhi was evicted from a train because the compartment he was in was reserved for whites only.

On the night of June 7, 1893, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a young lawyer then, was thrown off the train’s first class compartment at Pietermaritzburg station for refusing to give up his seat.

The incident led him to develop his Satyagraha principles of peaceful resistance and mobilize people in South Africa and in India against the discriminatory rules of the British. The film, a co-production between India and South Africa, was made in 1996, soon after Nelson Mandela ascended to the position of South Africa’s first democratically-elected President.

Directed by Shyam Benegal and based on the book “Apprenticeship of a Mahatma” by the late freedom activist Prof. Fatima Meer, the film recalls the incident and developments thereafter as Gandhiji decided to forego worldly life and started up the Phoenix Settlement commune in Phoenix near Durban and also Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg.

These include a youth workshop on Gandhiji, a special train ride with an engine and coaches bedecked with 400 meters of khadi cloth brought in from India, and a banquet at which top politicians will speak at the local City Hall, which will be lit up in the colors of the Indian flag.