Mohandas Gandhi arrived in South Africa as a young lawyer in 1893 and shortly after his arrival he booked a first class ticket on the train to Pretoria, where he was to undertake business on behalf of the legal firm where he was employed. On a cold June day he was forcibly removed by the rail authorities at Pietermaritzburg from the first class compartment and thrown off the train following a complaint from one of the passengers. He subsequently spent the night in the station’s waiting room.
This event initiated his contemplation of racial discrimination and represented the beginning of his philosophy of Satyagraha (truth-force) and Ahimsa (pressure for social and political reform through passive resistance). This philosophy became one of the greatest political tools of the twentieth century, influencing the civil rights movement in the United States and the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa.Muofhe@18m
