Johannesburg: The Anglo-Boer War Museum in South Africa’s Free State Province unveiled the longevity of Mahatma Gandhi, where apartheid legislation banned Indians for a century.
The Indian Council on Cultural Relations donated a bronze bust of Padma Bhushan winner Ram Vangi Sutar to the museum.
It was on April 11 by Indian High Commissioner Prabhat Kumar as well as a documentary and a book about India’s unknown stories involving the Anglo-Bul Boer War of 1899-1902.
Until 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected South Africa’s first Democratic president, the province was formerly known as the Orange Free State, and was deprived of Indians under regulations.
Even those who travel through the province to the coastal city of Durban, whose predecessors first landed as a contract worker of sugar cane farms, must ensure advance permits.
“The War Museum in Bloemfontein takes the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa as its central theme. This war involves South Africans of all races, including whites, Africans, colored and Indians,” said Bloemfontein Tokkie Pretorius’s director of the War Museum.
“The museum has begun a project to participate in Indians and Indians from India through this publication,” Pretorius said.
He added: “The transcript discusses the painful story of India’s participation in the war, now known as the South African War, which was previously omitted by history. The journal reflects the role of Indians and troops specifically for the war, emphasizing efforts to reconcile and build state-building.”
He said it was necessary to emphasize the importance of recognizing the full truth in reconciliation and state-building.
“The shared pain of other peoples involved in the war is now recognized. The journal tells a story that has never been told anywhere in the world. The Indians faced prejudice and segregation during the war. The narrative is changing and ultimately endorses India’s contribution,” Pretorius said.
The book, titled “Stealing into Fire – India Participates in the South African War” includes a chapter that focuses on the British Indian army serving in South Africa during the war.
It is a reprint of the monograph by the late Dr. TG Ramamurthi, which was originally published in India and reprinted under permission arranged by the Indian Consulate in Durban.
Although Gandhi was known to mobilize as stretchers during the war during his time as a lawyer in South Africa, there were few other records of their participation and treatment in the war between the British colonial empire and the Boers who fought in South Africa’s independent state.
“Publications on India’s participation in the war will promote new prospects for topics that have been overlooked for years so far and will reveal India’s sacrifices and difficulties during the war, especially South African Indians.”
Kumar honored the work done, suggesting that the project be extended to more research on Indian prisoners of war and their experiences, especially in prisoners of war camps requested by the British government to set up in India.
“(This) can not only help us fully understand war, but also appreciate the role India played during that period,” Kumar said.
The Anglo-Boer War was the largest colonial war ever in Southern Africa, where 500,000 soldiers from the British Empire, including India, were brought to the country.
