We,
the Presidents of the Natal and Transvaal Congresses, representing
the overwhelming majority of the Indian community in both Provinces,
welcome
and fully support the stand taken by Pandit Nehru on behalf of South African
Indians on the question of negotiations between India and South Africa.

We have implicit faith in both the Governments of India and Pakistan
to champion our cause vigorously and adopt firm measures to obtain
justice and democratic rights for South African Indians in conformity
with the principles of the United Nations Charter.

We reluctantly but justifiably
deplore the attitude adopted by General Smuts in his letter of June
18 to Pandit Nehru. It is a deliberate
misstatement of facts on the part of Smuts, who had full knowledge
of the true position, to state: "Groups representing all classes
of Indians are dissatisfied with the conduct of the affairs by the
Natal Congress, whose leadership was under an ideological influence
of which they disapproved and whose approach they consider harmful
to Indian interests."

These are the facts:

1. The Natal Indian Congress can boast a membership of 35,000 out
of a total of 228,000 Indians in Natal. The officials are elected at
properly constituted public meetings and enjoy the fullest confidence
of the overwhelming mass of Indians in Natal. These facts have been
demonstrated at dozens of mass meetings attended by as many as 10,000
to l2,000 Indians who wholeheartedly endorsed the policy of Congress.

2. The struggle for democratic rights has never been influenced by
ideological conceptions. The battle is waging against the racialist
tendencies of the Government which denies Indians who are South African
nationals: (a) the rights of citizenship; (b) freedom of movement;
(e) freedom of residence; (d) freedom to purchase land; and (e) equality
of opportunity in the economic and educational spheres.

The "group representing all classes" referred
to by the Prime Minister is no other than a handful of discredited
individuals
styling themselves the Natal Indian Organisation. This so-called organisation,
which claims to represent the views of the Indian people, came into
being at a secret meeting a few months ago, behind closed doors guarded
by officers of the C.I.D. supplied by the Government. This handful
of disgruntled individuals danced to the tune of the Prime Minister
and indulged in flirtations with him while delicate correspondence
affecting the future of Indians was going on between the two Governments.

In Parliament, Smuts frankly
admitted that he did not know how many Indians this "group representing all classes" represented.

In the Transvaal, where there is a population of 37,000 Indians,
the Transvaal Indian Congress is the only organisation representing
all sections of the Indians. Its officials, like those of the Natal
Congress, are democratically elected at mass meetings attended by 10,000
out of the total of 37,000 persons, and the present policy enjoys the
wholehearted support of the mass of the Indians. The leadership amongst
Transvaal Indians remains unchallenged.

Yet Smuts has the impertinence to tell the Government of India that
his obstinacy in refusing to hold discussions on the basis of the United
Nations decision is backed by a considerable volume of responsible
Indian opinion in South Africa.

We challenge this statement.

In his long career as a South African statesman, Smuts has stooped on many
occasions to methods far from honourable, but his latest action in using the
very name of the people concerned in support of his attempt to evade the decision
of the World Assembly will remain the grossest misrepresentation ever made
by the Prime Minister of a country.

CLOSE WINDOW