New book documents Gandhi's legacy launched in South Africa

Johannesburg : A new book on Mahatma Gandhi launched here documents how attempts to remember his sojourn in South Africa were stifled by the apartheid-era minority white government and revived after former president Nelson Mandela acknowledged his role in starting off democracy in the country.

The book was launched on Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary. '150 Years of Celebrating the Mahatma – the South African Legacy', by author and journalist Fakir Hassen, is a 160-page coffee table that records how commemorations of Gandhi's activities, including his birth and death anniversaries, were confined to the local Indian community only.

In 1915, the man who had come to South Africa as the young lawyer Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi two decades earlier, left to return to his homeland, where he was destined to lead India to independence from British rule.

By that time, Gandhi had already become a renowned leader in South Africa in opposing the discriminatory laws, particularly against the Indian community.

The book will be placed in public, university and high school libraries across the country free of charge through sponsorship from South African and expatriate Indian companies.