CHAPTER V: Conclusion
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Chapter V
Conclusion
In some ways the South African situation seems to be unique. For, superimposed on the complex stratification of a capitalist society, is a rigidly stratified colonial society with the whites at the apex, the Africans at the base and the Indians and Coloureds in the middle. Only the white community enjoys all the formal trappings of democracy. The social, political and economic status of each national group is determined at birth by colour, and upward social mobility is restricted within the primary colour groups. Thus, the major contradiction of South African society is the national oppression of the non-white majority, especially the African people. A secondary contradiction is the class struggle of the non-white and white workers. This thesis deals with one aspect of these struggles, and is concerned with the development of the Indian political movements, their tactics, strategies and goals during the period 1924 - 1946.
Writing on this aspect, Hilda Kuper claims that in the political arena the leadership of the Indian political movements:
"was divided between individuals seeking to compromise with the white government, and individuals prepared tojoin Africans in protest movements. In either case, the effectiveness of the Indians was limited by several factors, especially their small number, their restricted economic rights and their ideological sectarianism".
This claim does not stand the test of close scrutiny. First, it lacks a historical time perspective in that it fails to distinguish the different periods and circumstances in which the conflict over strategy, tactics and goals occurred. Second, the radicalisation of the organisations and the initiation of militant forms of struggle was not just the work of "individuals", but embraced large sections of the community. Third, Kuper is naïve when she uses the term "ideological sectarianism" to refer to what were fundamental differences over methods of struggle and ideology, which not only affected the development of the Indian political organisations, but also to some extent that of the other national liberatory movements. She also ignores the important aspect of the subjective element - that of raising the morale, political consciousness and maturity of the people. Finally, she fails to mention that a crucial factor explaining why they were not "effective" was that the government remained intransigent and refused to make significant concessions that could have alleviated some of the grievances. In any event, it is conceivable that, in the struggle for national liberation, the liberatory movements would lose the battles and win the war. Thus, to have a comprehensive and balanced view of the development of Indian political movements, it is important and necessary to bring out as clearly as possible the main differences that characterised the two rival groups, the moderates and the radicals.
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