Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MR ALFRED NZO, AT THE OCCASION OF THE UNVEILING OF A BUST OF JAWAHARWAL NEHRU AT THE INDIAN HIGH COMMISSION IN PRETORIA ON
MONDAY, 6 OCTOBER 1997
Your Excellency, Prime Minister I.K. Gujral Fellow Ministers from India High Commissioner Gopal Gandhi India's High Commissioners from the Southern African Region Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen
It is with deep humility and with a profound sense of gratitude that we today witness the unveiling in South Africa of a bust of the first Prime Minister of India.
During this first and historic visit of a Prime Minister of India to the shores of South Africa - and in front of a chancery conceived by the same architect who designed some of the most famous government buildings in New Delhi - we today honour one of the outstanding statesmen of our century.
Jawaharwal Nehru's radical intellect, driven by the passion of a crusader and by his deep love for his country and its people, launched independent India, fifty years ago, into a new era. This he did against staggering odds. He succeeded in uniting a vast nation, divided by different languages, castes and creeds. As we have embarked on this path a mere three and a half years ago, he began is task of building a modern and just economy. Nehru succeeded in all this while always abiding by the principles of peace, secularism and brotherhood that were Mahatma Gandhi's legacy to India, South Africa and indeed to the world.
Nehru also made an enormous contribution to international relations. He knew that what he sought for India would be unattainable in a troubled and unstable word. It was this conviction that impelled him to devote so much time and effort to building up the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the Non-Alignment Movement as a means of resolving world problems, not the least of which was the lack of freedom for all in my country. Jawaharwal Nehru, in his quest for South Africa's ultimate freedom, gave direction for the front; and India under his premiership took the lead in mobilising the international community for the eradication of Apartheid from the face of this planet.
Even before India attained its independence fifty years ago, Nehru in 1938 in the Presidential address at the Conference of Peace and Empire held in London, said that probably no people in the world had suffered so much as the Africans and that the people of Africa deserved the special attention of India.
In his first broadcast after assuming office as leader of India's Interim Government in September 1946, Nehru, referring to South Africa, stated that "if this racial doctrine is going to be tolerated, it must inevitably lead to vast conflicts and world disaster."
Today, in the presence of the latest successor to Jawaharwal Nehru, Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, as well as all the diplomatic representatives of India in this region, we recall that Nehru severed diplomatic and trade relations with South Africa in 1946. This was even before India attained full independence in 1947 and before any other country had even considered racism an issue deserving to be protested against.
Nehru's special contribution to the destiny of India is recognized and acknowledged, but in serving India, he also served mankind. His place is secure among the handful of great men who have shaped this century and changed our lives for the better.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 06 OCTOBER 1997