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Archives -> Gandhi and the Tamils GANDHI AND THE TAMILS » continued from page 2“Gandhiji gave an interview, during a visit to Rangoon on March 22, 1915, to a Tamil correspondent. “He started by saying he could quote chapter and verse for the good work performed by them in South Africa. They were of the greatest help to him during the passive resistance struggle. All the Indian communities were of very great help to him, but especially the Tamil community. It was considered a shame among them for one man not to have gone to jail at least once for the common cause. That was not true of any other community, but that entirely true of the Tamil. When he first met them, he learned to admire them. Even afterwards he found them better and better. He said: ‘I consider I have more in common with the Tamil community then with nay other’’. The Hindu, March 30, 1915 Speaking at a public reception in Madras on April 21, 1915, Gandhiji said: “It was the Madrassees who of all Indians were singled out by the great Divinity that rules over us for this great work (on behalf of Indians in South Africa). “ do you know that in the great city of Johannesburg, it is found among the Madrassees that any Madrassee is considered dishonoured if he has not passed through the jails once or twice during this terrible crisis that your countrymen in South Africa went through during these eight long years/ “ You have said that I inspired these great men and women, but I cannot accept that proposition. It was they, the simpleminded folk, who worked away in faith, never expecting the slightest reward, who inspired me, who kept me to the proper level, and who compelled me by their great sacrifice, by their great faith, by their trust in the great God to do the work that I was able to do”. The Hindu, April 21, 1915; Collected Works, Volume 13, pp 52 – 53 Writing in his autobiography about establishment of the “ Satyagraha Ashram” in Ahmedabad on May 25, 1915, Gandhiji wrote: “ There were at this time about thirteen Tamilians in our party. Five youngsters had accompanied me from South Africa and the rest came from different parts of the country. We were in all about twenty-five men and women. This is how the Ashram was started”. The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part V, Chapter IX “ I still feel what a handicap this ignorance of Tamil or Telugu has been. The affection that the Dravidians in South Africa showered on me has remained a cherished memory. Whenever I see a Tamil or Telugu friend, I cannot but recall the faith, perseverance and selfless sacrifice of many of his compatriots in South Africa |
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