The Natal Indian Congress
August 22, 2024
South Africa was the crucible that developed Gandhi’s skills in political organizing. The legal case which summoned him in May 1893 lasted one year, but while preparing to depart, members of the Indian Community asked him to stay and fight proposed legislation that would disenfranchise them. Gandhi agreed. To formalize the community’s efforts, a group of merchants formed the Natal Indian Congress on August 22, 1894. Gandhi, not yet 25 years old, was elected as secretary.
A hundred men gathered to hear the details on the night of its formation; 76 joined on the spot. Within a year, that number climbed to 228 and included all the prominent merchants in and around Durban. The Congress’ constitution is captured in the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, so we can assume that Gandhi authored it. Biographer Ramachandra Guha offers a similar conclusion in his description of the above image: “The merchants in the front row paid the bills, whereas the barriser at the back did the work.”1
The seven goals listed for the Congress in its constitution promised to promote education on current affairs and Indian history; help the poor and indentured; and encourage racial harmony between themselves and the Europeans. Viewed from the end of Gandhi’s life, the omission of the native Africans (who made up 90% of the population) seems glaring. (I’ll write a post about the evolution of his views on race one of these days.)
In addition to the role of secretary, the rules of the constitution assigned Gandhi the responsibilities of a treasurer. He was given permission to select a bank for their funds, the ability to write checks, and the responsibility for tracking and reporting the financial details.
Two of the rules make me wonder how much young Gandhi was thinking of his own financial interests when he wrote the constitution. One created the authority for “a paid Secretary at a reasonable salary,” although it was optional, not mandatory. The other gave him the ability to purchase newspapers and books for a Congress Library, which would be free for all members to use.
The latter raised a red flag for me because of the previous entry in the Collected Works. On August 4, Gandhi had written to the Esoteric Christian Union in London and proposed that he sell their books in South Africa for a 5% commission. Before long he was advertising books for sale in the newspaper. Did he sell his wares to the Natal Indian Congress? The editors of the Collected Works chose not to reproduce his detailed accounting of the Congress’ expenses, so we may never know.
Have you ever created a rule that disproportionately benefitted yourself?
Gandhi before India (Ramachandra Guha, 2013) p. 78