ABSTRACT
It was a cold night in the South African town of Meritzburg when Gandhi was pushed out from a first-class railway compartment in which he had occupied a seat, rightfully, because a white passenger boarding the train objected to the presence of a coloured man in the compartment. In December 1896, he returned to South Africa from India, this time with his family. After the quarantine period ended, Gandhi defied the threat and left the boat for the place where the family was to stay. For his satyagraha campaigns, Gandhi tried not to include those who were afraid of taking up arms or who felt themselves incapable of resistance, because he was convinced that an act done in cowardice is inevitably demoralising and self-defeating. When Gandhi finally returned to India from South Africa, he defined the role of a satyagrahi as an exemplary servant of society.
