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Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter Ela Gandhi has been honoured for lifetime activism at the 70th anniversary of the 1946 'Indian Passive Resistance Campaign' in South Africa.
The event held in Durban was celebrated with a special tree-planting ceremony at the Freedom Park, a memorial to honour those who sacrificed their lives for freedom.
Thousands of men and women had defied the government and police intervention in 1947 to protest against the apartheid government's 'Ghetto Bill' by staying in the park.
Explaining how her grandfather Mahatma Gandhi had formulated the Satyagraha theory of peaceful resistance during his stay in South Africa at the turn of the century, 76-year-old Ela said it was the first mass struggle against minority white oppression led by Gandhi in 1913.
She said the Passive Resistance Campaign was the first mass action in the country and used the same principles of Satyagraha after that.
Chairman of the alumni body of Sastri College Habi Singh said:
During his tenure in South Africa from 1922 to 1929, Sastri convinced the local Indian community that their future lay in ensuring education for their children, leading to the opening of the college in October 1929 by Governor General of South Africa Alexander Cambridge.
Cambridge described the construction of Sastri College with community funds as "a fine example of personal effort by individuals for the good of the community", according to the website SA History.
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