New Gandhi Museum in the old Courthouse – a tribute to ingenuity
The programme ended with the cutting of the ribbon to officially open the Museum and a re-enactment of Gandhi's trial with Evan Jones as Magistrate Cross and Byron Pillay as Gandhi.
The opening of the Gandhi Museum on Sunday is a tribute to the ingenuity of local people to make the most of what they have. Working on a ‘small’ (well, let’s say almost non-existent budget), the staff at Talana Museum and members of the 1860 Legacy Group have put together a Museum that will add to Dundee’s growing bouquet of tourism attractions.
The old Courthouse on Gladstone Street – now part of the Dundee detectives offices – has been transformed into a dedication to MK Gandhi whose policy of satyagraha (passive resistance against discriminatory laws affecting Indians at the turn of the 20th century) led to Gandhi’s appearance in this Courthouse in November 1913. He was brought before Magistrate William Cross and fined a total of Sixty Pounds or six months in jail on three charges – including one of leading striking Indian coal mine workers and women into the Transvaal which was illegal at the time.
Gandhi, of course, opted to go to jail – the sentence was overturned by Prime Minister Smuts and a commission set up to probe the discriminatory laws.
Pam McFadden and her hardworking team from Talana Museum, with the support of Dr Sandy Bedassi and his 1860 Legacy Group (and through the generosity of their many sponsors), have set up the Court as it would have been in 1913, complete with the Whites and Non-Whites signs. Finding the old oval desk in a back office was one of Pam’s pet delights.
The panels – also locally produced complete with stunning photographs from the period – explain in detail Gandhi’s role in transforming the discriminatory laws and how Dundee and area played a huge role in the great man’s life. A must visit for all interested in history.
The opening of the Museum, supported by Mayor Mbatha’s office (King Goodwill failed to arrive for reasons not yet known) and the Dundee SAPS, was marked by an inter-faith prayer session, cultural dances and speeches that reflected Dundee’s cultural tapestry. The programme ended with the cutting of the ribbon to officially open the Museum and a re-enactment of Gandhi’s trial with Evan Jones as Magistrate Cross and Byron Pillay as Gandhi.
