Gandhi museum inaugurated in Durban

Johannesburg: On the eve of Diwali, a Gandhi museum has been inaugurated on a small piece of land once owned by Mahatma Gandhi in the coastal city of Durban. Minister of State for external affairs V K Singh inaugurated the museum on Tuesday, which will reflect the life and universal influence of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi owned the land in 1897 and used to hold public meetings there when the Natal Indian Congress planned its fight against laws discriminating against Indians in South Africa.

When Gandhi left Durban in 1914, he transferred the ownership of the premises to the Natal Indian Congress, which had planned to erect a new building in 1964.

But the plans were scuppered by the apartheid-era laws prohibiting this, resulting in the site being used as a car park by the 1980’s before the MGMT initiated the museum plans. Many original artefacts, some retained unrestored, such as a spinning wheel, are on display at the museum. Singh, who was in Durban to attend the 8th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission and the 17th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, also inaugurated two other projects in the city that were sponsored by India following pledges after a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July last year.

The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, first conceived eight years ago, has been established after a grant of over `1.25 million was provided by the Government of India.