The
Significance of Indian Opinion
by
Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie
Department of History, University of the Western Cape
Address
to Conference on the Alternate Media to Commemorate the Centenary of the
Founding of Indian Opinion, 4 June 2003, Durban
On
4 June 1903 a very tired but fired up young man worked till 3am in the
morning in the central business district of Durban. He then walked to
his home in Sydenham as the last tramcar had long departed. On 5 June
again he worked till 11pm - there was an urgency with which he worked.
His goal was to get a new newspaper before the public. The first issue
of Indian Opinion was dated 4 June but it was only on 6 June that it could
be released. The young man was relieved but he could not relax. He had
the next issue to think about and it was due in five days time. He wrote
`I am now anxious about the second number. With a small staff, and lack
of materials - types, etc., and facilities, we have to keep the paper
up to the mark!'
This
man was M.H. Nazar, a secretary of the Natal Indian Congress. His letters
for this early period indicate that there were two other key individuals
involved in the production of this new journal. Madanjit Viyavaharik,
the owner of the International Printing Press and Mohandas Gandhi, the
Johannesburg lawyer. Nazar and Madanjit saw to the practicalities of producing
the newspaper - this was no mean task for the paper was to be produced
in four languages - English, Hindi, Gujerati and Tamil. The translation
of the articles was difficult as individuals proficient in two languages
were required. Nazar would report `The translators are not particularly
clever, and they will not work at day time'. Some translations were simply
`shocking'. Then there was a shortage of types. Virji Damodar Mehta (who
would one day found his own printing press, Universal Printing Press)
asked Nazar not to use too many of the Gujerati letter `a'. The editor
himself did not know Tamil and had to explain the spirit of articles to
translators whose English was not too good. Madanjit in the meanwhile
had been running around getting the licence, advertisers and subscribers.
The first issue which was some two months in the planning was finally
out.
I
start deliberately with Nazar, the first editor, and Madanjit the actual
owner, to illustrate the point that there were many dedicated workers
who made Indian Opinion a possibility. It was Nazar, in fact, who would
set a high standard for those who would succeed him in the editor's chair.
There was no question of taking money for his work, it was all for a `cause'.
However there is no doubt that the main figure in the production of the
paper was the thirty-four year old lawyer whose office was based in Rissik
Street in Johannesburg. Nazar would suggest various lead articles but
lest Gandhi should not understand he clarified the position. He expected
these to be written by Gandhi. Over the years, Gandhi would direct the
policy of Indian Opinion from Johannesburg, write articles, give direction
and above all divert his earnings from his prospering practice to help
sustain the paper. And over the years there were many dedicated workers
and editors.
My
task this evening is to explain what is the significance of this journal
which by its second year had 887 subscribers. Over its entire 58 years
existence its subscribers averaged at about 2000. The highest number in
any one year was 3500. Compare this with the Guardian which in the 1930s
began with a circulation of 1000 but grew rapidly over the years to top
50 000 by the mid-1940s. When Indian Opinion was reaching its dying days
in 1961, the Guardian now published as New Age had a circulation of 20
000. The significance of Indian Opinion lies not in its size (which may
be explained only partly in terms of the size of the Indian population)
but in its content.
Indian
Opinion was also not the first Indian newspaper in Natal. It had been
preceded by a short-lived Indian World in 1898 and in May 1901 P.S Aiyar
a Tamil journalist began a Tamil-English weekly Colonial Indian News.
Aiyar's ventures reflected the precariousness of such undertakings as
this too lasted for just a few years. Africans in colonial Natal had also
been publishing newspapers for some time. There had been Inkanyiso yase
Natal, Ipepa lo Hlanga and in April 1903 John Dube began his Ilanga lase
Natal. In the eastern Cape where black journalism had an even longer history
there was Imvo Zabantsundu run by John Tengo Jabavu and the more radical
paper Izwi Labantu published by Walter Rubusana and Alan Soga from East
London. Indian Opinion was launched at a time when just after the South
African War all blacks felt disappointed with British rule and were concerned
about the failure of the new order to bring about improvements in their
political, social and economic status. The years after the war were marked
by a proliferation of papers. Sol Plaatje . one of our most talented elites
of the time began a Tswana-English weekly that served the northern Cape
and Free State. Later, in 1909, in Cape Town Dr Abduraham would start
the APO. These were just a few of the many papers emerging. The important
point I would like to make is that Gandhi belongs to this generation of
rising black journalists and editors who were all committed to improving
the position of black people especially at a time when whites were moving
towards forming a Union of South Africa within which blacks had such limited
rights. Indian Opinion marked Gandhi's apprenticeship as a journalist.
In India he would go on to publishing many other journals, Young India,
Navajivan, Harijan and his experience with Indian Opinion would prove
crucial.
Indian
Opinion began its life by adopting a very moderate tone. The editor proclaimed
`we have unfailing faith in British justice' . It was by `well-sustained
continuous and temperate constitutional effort that Indians would seek
redress'. That is how the paper began and in colonial Natal there was
reason to be cautious. The owners of Ipepa lo Hlanga chose to close down
after it offended the Natal government with an article urging people Vukani
Bantu! Rise Up you people'. For the time being Gandhi was anxious not
to offend white officialdom but to secure their support to improve the
position of Indians. The pages of Indian Opinion provide a valuable historical
record of the disabilities that Indians suffered under. It also provides
an invaluable record of the life of the political life of the Indian community.
It represents an alternate voice to that of newspapers such as the Natal
Mercury which were often hostile to Indian interests. Soon Gandhi would
move from political petitioning to active resistance and his paper changed
too.
One
significant moment in the paper's history came in 1904 when Gandhi relocated
it to a one hundred acre farm named Phoenix just 24 kms from Durban. This
reflected the influence of Leo Tolstoy and John Ruskin on Gandhi. Gandhi
drew on Tolstoy's distaste for city life, his praise of agricultural labour
and his renunciation of wealth. From Ruskin he drew the idea that all
labour whether that of the professional or the manual labourer was equal
but also that `the life of a tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman,
is the life worth living.' At Phoenix the press workers were governed
by a new work ethic - they would all have a share in the land, in the
profits if there were any, they would grow crops to sustain themselves
and they would work jointly to produce Indian Opinion. Thus the history
of Indian Opinion becomes intertwined with Phoenix, Gandhi's first communal
settlement. While at Phoenix the rhythm of life was dictated by the production
of the paper, in India it was the spinning wheel which was the centre
of ashram activity.
Indian
Opinion played a very significant role in the early years of the twentieth
century by fostering the idea of one united Indian community and a national
identity. This was no mean task for Indians were divided by religion,
caste, class, and even Indian regional affiliations. `we are not, and
ought not to be, Tamils or Calcutta men, Mohammedans or Hindus, Brahmins
or Banyas, but simply and solely British Indians'. Indian Opinion especially
highlighted the poor conditions under which indentured labourers worked.
Editorials asked `Is all well on the Estates', cases of harsh treatment
by employers were publicised and the astoundingly high rate of suicide
was pointed out. A campaign to end the system was launched and editor
Henry Polak, a friend of Gandhi's went to India to mobilise support. Indian
Opinion was a means of bringing news about Indians in the colonies before
the public in India.
Indian
Opinion and political activism on the part of its editors became an established
tradition. This is what would, throughout the 20th century distinguish
Indian Opinion from other newspapers that would arrive on the scene during
the 20th century. All but one of its editors spent some time in jail.
This tradition began during the satyagraha campaign between 1906 and 1913
which began because of attempts to impose passes on Indians in the Transvaal.
The newspaper came into its own. In 1904 its aims had simply been to educate
whites in South Africa about Indian needs and wants. From 1906 onwards
it became a vehicle for challenging state laws and urging defiance of
these when these were clearly unjust. It is this that elevates this tiny
newspaper produced from a farm to one of world significance for it became
linked with Gandhi's transformation to a mass movement leader and his
philosophy of satyagraha which can be interpreted as active non-violent
resistance. The law was translated into Gujerati, readers were urged to
defy the law, from Johannesburg Gandhi wrote a regular Johannesburg Letter
explaining to anxious Indians what steps they should take and what the
reaction of the authorities would be. Inspirational stories of resistance
were published such as the life of Socrates who chose death rather than
bow to the Athenian officials. The paper played a fundamental role on
defeating the registration drive of officials. Its pages paid tribute
to local resisters and Brian Gabriel, one of Natal's earliest Indian photographers,
provided visual coverage. Gandhi who by 1909 had spent 177 days in jail
- and there would be more to come - extolled the virtues of prison life,
a life of poverty, and urged readers not to pursue wealth at a time when
there was higher moral calling.
According
to Gandhi `Satyagraha would have been impossible without Indian Opinion'.
Gandhi recalled `the paper generally reached Johannesburg on Sunday morning.
I know of many, whose first occupation after they received the paper would
be to read the Gujerati section through from beginning to end. One of
the company would read it, and the rest would surround him and listen.
' So as we acknowledge the importance of satyagraha as a weapon that evolved
on South African soil, that inspired many anti-colonial, anti-imperial,
anti-apartheid movements and movements in a quest for justice, a weapon
that would ultimately bring the mighty British Empire to its heels in
India, so we should acknowledge Indian Opinion. It was a key mobilising
device. Gandhi also had a bigger campaign in mind - he had his eyes on
India and in the pages of Indian Opinion he published his book Hind Swaraj
which set out his vision for an independent India. Indian Opinion faced
its first banning order - these issues were prohibited in India.
Although
Indian Opinion began by advocating Indian rights it also focussed on the
disabilities of other blacks in South Africa - the devastating provisions
of the Land Act of 1913, the pass struggles of Africans were publicised
and African achievements too were celebrated. In the 1950s especially
under the editorship of Manilal Gandhi, Gandhi's second son, the newspaper
became more focussed on human rights rather than the rights of Indians
only. It became a central medium for disseminating the meaning of satyagraha
and of propagating Gandhism. In a significant move in 1957 the English
section of IO was renamed Opinion. In the words of Sushila Gandhi who
took on the editorship after Manilal's death, the name change was to reflect
the "Oneness of Man", the belief in `a new sense of nationhood
… [that] transcends cultural and racial barriers and holds before
all the ideal of a unified nation whose various people shall be bound
together by their love of their country and their belief in the ideals
on which their freedom should be founded. Gandhi she asserted belonged
to not just "India and Indians only … the greatest teachers
of humanity do not belong to their tribes or national groups they belong
to humanity'. And this is what we commemorate today that great belief
in fundamental human rights and the constant striving and vigilance to
ensure its attainment.
Gandhi
left behind a tough legacy for his successors at Indian Opinion to follow.
This was not a commercial undertaking, it was a paper for political, social
and moral education. It would be very remiss of me to not pay tribute
to those who helped Gandhi shape his legacy in those early years and those
who continued that legacy for several decades thereafter. There were the
trustees of Phoenix Settlement and all those who on a regular basis who
saved Indian Opinion from its dire financial straits. These names would
be too numerous to mention. We need to recognise though in a roll call
of honour at least the family of Parsee Rustomjee. There were many editors
- Nazar, Hebert Kitchin, Henry Polak, Albert West, Manilal Gandhi who
was the paper's longest serving editor for 36 years and Sushila Gandhi.
There were many contributors, assistants and acting editors too - Gandhi's
nephews, Chhaganlal and Maganlal Gandhi, Lewis Walter Ritch, Albert Christopher,
Pragji Desai, Surendra Medh, Shantilal Gandhi, P.R. Pather, Jordan Ngubane,
Christopher Gell, Homer Jack, Arun Gandhi, Sita Gandhi-Dhupelia, Ranjith
Nowbath , Pat Poovalingam and Natoo Babenia. When Indian Opinion published
its last issue on 4 August 1961, Alpha Ngcobo had served for 41 years
after coming to the press as a young man of twenty years. Perumalsamy
Rajoo served for 27 years, D. Gangabissoon sixteen , S. Ramdhar and R.
Baijnath thirteen years each. They made up the small staff that daily
gathered in the International Printing Press.
Sushila
Gandhi above all ended a 34 year old link with the paper. She had come
as a young bride of 20 years in 1927 and began in the press by composing
types - each letter had to be handset - for over 58 years advances in
printing technology were deliberately avoided. Time stood still and manual
labour was favoured over machines. Sushila soon progressed to writing
and editing the Gujerati sections and then took over after her husband's
death. A photograph shows a lone woman in the printing press working amongst
the handful of men. Indian Opinion provided a place where women could
work as equals and be freed of cultural and traditional restraints and
that was Gandhi's doing and teaching. And that too is what we celebrate
and commemorate today. I thank you.
