September 11, 1906, was a momentous date in the life of Gandhiji — and in human history. It was on this day, while engaged in an unequal struggle against racial discrimination in South Africa, he discovered or rather stumbled upon an alternative to armed resistance for fighting against injustice and oppression.

For more than ten years he had been fighting for the elementary civic rights of Indian immigrants in Natal and Transvaal, sending well-worded petitions and leading deputations to high officials in South Africa and England, but without tangible results. Matters came to a head in Transvaal on the question of registration of Indians. He was stunned when he read the clauses of a bill in the Transvaal Gazette (August 22, 1906), which had been prepared for the Transvaal legislature. It required every Indian, including children above eight, to register. In courts, in revenue offices, indeed almost at any time or place an Indian could be challenged to produce his registration certificate; police officers could enter any house to examine permits. ‘Dog’s collar’ was an apt description of this measure.

Gandhi’s hopes of securing amelioration of the condition of Indians by educating public opinion in South Africa, India and Britain were frustrated. In India there was plenty of sympathy for Indians in South Africa, reflected in the resolutions passed by the Indian National Congress (INC). However, Indian politicians were conscious of their limitations. As Sir Pherozeshah Mehta bluntly remarked to Gandhi when they travelled to Calcutta for the 1901 session of the INC: “But what rights have we in our own country? I believe that so long as we have no power in our own land, you cannot fare better in the colonies.”

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