Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's remarks at the Pietermaritzburg Station, South Africa

"Pietermaritzburg is a place in South Africa that almost all Indians know about. It is hard to put my feelings into words as I stand here. It is easy to feel the presence of the Mahatma here and to imagine what he went through during that night of 7th June 1893.

It was the experience of Mr. M.K. Gandhi, Barrister-at-Law here that changed him forever and started his extraordinary transformation from a lawyer into the Mahatma. All great changes begin in the minds of men. Through this incident was born Gandhiji's resolve to resist injustice and oppression, no matter the personal cost to him. This was to be an idea that eventually brought India its independence and also influenced the course of struggles against oppression all over the world.

This is, therefore, a place of worthy of inscription as a World Heritage site. The vision that came to the Mahatma here is part of a legacy that belongs not only to South Africa and India but to the entire world.

I am moved by the experience of being here. I shall bear this memory forever.

Thank you."