After a week in Durban, he left for
Pretoria to attend to the case for which he had been engaged. With a
first-class ticket he boarded the train. At the next stop an Englishman got
into his compartment.
He looked at Gandhi with contempt,
called the conductor, and said, “Take this coolie out and put him in the place
where he belongs. I will not travel with a colored man.”
“Yes, sir,” said the conductor.
He then turned to Gandhi.” Hey,
Sami,” he said, “come along with me to the next compartment.”
“No, I will not,” said Gandhi
calmly. “I have bought a first-class ticket and I have every right to be here.”
A constable was called in who
pushed Gandhi out of the train, bag and baggage. The train steamed away leaving
him on the platform. Gandhi spent the night shivering in the dark waiting room.
Gandhi took this experience to
heart and resolved that day that whatever the cost might be, he would fight all
such injustices. He sent a note of protest to the General Manager of the
railways but the official justified the conduct of his men.