the law, from Johannesburg Gandhi wrote
a regular Johannesburg Letter explaining to anxious Indians
what steps they should take and what the reaction of the
authorities would be. Inspirational stories of resistance
were published such as the life of Socrates who chose death
rather than bow to the Athenian officials. The paper played
a fundamental role on defeating the registration drive of
officials. Its pages paid tribute to local resisters and
Brian Gabriel, one of Natal's earliest Indian photographers,
provided visual coverage. Gandhi who by 1909 had spent 177
days in jail - and there would be more to come - extolled
the virtues of prison life, a life of poverty, and urged
readers not to pursue wealth at a time when there was higher
moral calling.
According to Gandhi `Satyagraha would have been impossible
without Indian Opinion'. Gandhi recalled `the paper generally
reached Johannesburg on Sunday morning. I know of many,
whose first occupation after they received the paper would
be to read the Gujarati section through from beginning to
end. One of the company would read it, and the rest would
surround him and listen. ' So as we acknowledge the importance
of satyagraha as a weapon that evolved on South African
soil, that inspired many anti-colonial, anti-imperial, anti-apartheid
movements and movements in a quest for justice, a weapon
that would ultimately bring the mighty British Empire to
its heels in India, so we should acknowledge Indian Opinion.
It was a key mobilising device. Gandhi also had a bigger
campaign in mind - he had his eyes on India and in the pages
of Indian Opinion he published his book Hind Swaraj which
set out his vision for an independent India. Indian Opinion
faced its first banning order - these issues were prohibited
in India.
Although Indian Opinion began by advocating Indian rights
it also focussed on the disabilities of other blacks in
South Africa - the devastating provisions of the Land Act
of 1913, the pass struggles of Africans were publicised
and African achievements too were celebrated. In the 1950s
especially under the editorship of Manilal Gandhi, Gandhi's
second son, the newspaper became more focussed on human
rights rather than the rights of Indians only. It became
a central medium for disseminating the meaning of satyagraha
and of propagating Gandhism. In a significant move in 1957
the English section of IO was renamed Opinion. In the words
of Sushila Gandhi who took on the editorship after Manilal's
death, the name change was to reflect the "Oneness
of Man", the belief in `a new sense of nationhood …
[that] transcends cultural and racial barriers and holds
before all the ideal of a unified nation whose various people
shall be bound together by their love of their country and
their belief in the ideals on which their freedom should
be founded. Gandhi she asserted belonged to not just "India
and Indians only … the greatest teachers of humanity
do not belong to their tribes or national groups they belong
to humanity'. And this is what we commemorate today that
great belief in fundamental human rights and the constant
striving and vigilance to ensure its attainment.
Gandhi left behind a tough legacy for his successors at
Indian Opinion to follow. This was not a commercial undertaking,
it was a paper for political, social and moral education.
It would be very remiss of me to not pay tribute to those
who helped Gandhi shape his legacy in those early years
and those who continued that legacy for several decades
thereafter. There were the trustees of Phoenix Settlement
and all those who on a regular basis who saved Indian Opinion
from its dire financial straits. These names would be too
numerous to mention. We need to recognise though in a roll
call of honour at least