President Thabo Mbeki and India’s Prime Minister Mohandir Singh are to meet on Sunday and jointly attend functions in and around Durban to mark the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha strategy of passive resistance against racism and injustice.
The KwaZulu-Natal premier’s office said in a news release on Sunday that Singh travelled from Pentrich station, on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg, to the main station in the KwaZulu-Natal capital on Saturday to visit the spot where the young Gandhi was bundled from a first class railway carriage.
On Sunday Singh will meet with Mbeki and other dignitaries at Resistance Park, in Umbilo, for a plaque unveiling and walkabout.
The official party then goes to the Ohlange Institute, north of Durban, where Singh will lay a wreath at the grave of Dr John Dube, founder of the institute and first President of the African National Congress.
It then moves on to the Gandhi Settlement, at Phoenix, where Singh will garland a bust of Gandhi, tour the Gandhi home and printing press and meet members of the Gandhi family.
The commemoration winds up with a concert at Kingsmead Cricket Stadium, starting just before 3pm, featuring a range of African and Indian music.
Singh and Mbeki and their wives will be guests of honour. — Sapa