The Conference of Asian and African countries which is scheduled to take place
in Indonesia in the middle of April should mark a historical step forward
in the fight for world peace and in the struggle to defeat imperialism and
win freedom by the peoples of Africa and Asia.

The very fact that a conference of this nature could take place in
1955 is proof in itself of the growing political maturity and strength
of those countries which not so long ago lay prostrate under the iron
heel of imperialist colonial rule.

The ten million oppressed non-white people and the democratic forces
in the Union of South Africa, and indeed the 150 million African people
throughout the continent, will be watching with deep and abiding interest
the deliberations at the conference.

The herrenvolk police State of Strijdom assumes an important role
in the war plans of United States imperialism and its satellites, the
Western Powers.

Not only does South Africa supply uranium and other important materials
for war purposes, but the oppressive State manoeuvres which impose
colour bars, racial discrimination and police terror and which deny
fundamental rights to its non-white citizens serve as a pattern for
the rest of Africa in the dastardly war aims of United States imperialism
to turn the African continent into an arsenal and a war base in its
efforts to destroy the independence and freedom and arrest the progress
of the democratic sector of the world, The master plan for Africa is
the complete exploitation of the rich mineral and other resources and
the ruthless suppression of the liberation movements and the total
enslavement of the people.

It is for those historical reasons that the Afro-Asian conference
evokes world-wide interest, We hope that it will take firm and decisive
steps for the furtherance of mutual aid and cooperation in the noble
task of defeating the war aims of the imperialists and in eliminating
the fascist policies of the South African Government, also in wiping
out colonial rule and oppression from the face of the earth. A free
Africa and a free Asia are the handmaidens of world peace, progress
and human happiness.

CLOSE WINDOW