India Post Centenary Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha

INDIA POST on 10 February 2007 issued for First Day Cover stamps to mark the Centenary Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha  in Natal, the Cape and Transvaal, South Africa. This souvenir sheet depicts Gandhi a various stages in South Africa, a map of the protest march and supporters. The postmark originated from Guwahati, India.

Before the start of the 20th century, there were about 62,000 Indians living in South Africa, including the British colonies of Natal and the Cape, and the Boer republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State (OFS). Most Indians were indentured laborers or newly freed laborers.

In the 1890s, legislation passed that restricted Indian’s freedoms amidst growing anti-Indian sentiment. The Immigration Law Amendment Bill of 1895 stated Indians had to return to India at the end of their five-year indenture period, or they would have to be re-indentured for two more years. Anyone who refused would be charged an annual tax of £3. Additionally, the Franchise Amendment Bill of 1894 limited Indians political representation.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, now a London-trained lawyer, arrived in South Africa in 1893 to settle a legal dispute between two Indian business partners. He soon became involved in Indian politics, helping organize the Natal Indian Congress and the British Indian Association, and starting the Indian Opinion publication in 1903 to promote Indian’s rights.

In August 1906, the Asiatic Law Amendment Ordinance was signed into law in the Transvaal. It was a humiliating and discriminating law forcing Indians in the Transvaal to register with the ‘registrar of Asiatics,’ submit to physical examinations, provide fingerprints, and carry a registration certificate at all times. Otherwise, Indians and other ‘Asiatics,’ as they were called, could be fined, imprisoned, or deported. It became known as the ‘Black Act’.

A delegation of Indians sailed to London to meet with Secretary of State Lord Elgin, who then publicly renounced the Black Act, but privately only advocated for superficial revisions to the Act.

When the certificate offices opened on July 1, 1907, resisters picketed outside the office and dissuaded passing Indians from registering. They gathered support for the noncooperation in temples, mosques, and churches. Initially known as the ‘Passive Resistance Campaign,’ Gandhi coined the term ‘Satyagraha,’ literally ‘truth-force,’ as an alternative name. Satyagraha developed as a paradigm for waging nonviolent struggle, advocating ‘active resistance to oppression,’ and would profoundly influence the Indian struggle for independence in later decades.

After the struggle was concluded, Gandhi left South Africa, having spent 21 years there, to return to India where he would continue to campaign for Indian independence. His time in South Africa was foundational in his development of Satyagraha, or “truth force,” which would later help lead India to its independence.