ICCR to set up Gandhi-Luthuli Chair in a South African University

New Delhi, Sept 23 (UNI) Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will establish the Gandhi-Luthuli Chair for Peace Studies at the University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban for propagating the ideals of two titanic figures of India and South Africa.

An MoU in this connection was signed between ICCR and UKZN here under the broad framework of the Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha.

ICCR Director General Pavan K Varma and Prof Malegapuru W Mokgova, Vice-Chancellor, UKZN, inked the MoU in the presence of ICCR President Karan Singh on Friday.

The rationale for the Chair, which is to commence from January next year, is based on the relevance of both Mahatma Gandhi and Nobel laureate Inkosi Albert Luthuli in the contemporary world in general and South Africa and India in particular.

Albert Luthuli was a legendary figure in the struggle against obnoxious apartheid regime and was also one of the leading lights behind the Defiance Campaign -- a non-violent protest against the discriminatory pass laws in South Africa.

In recognition of his ideals and struggle, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1961.

The establishment of the Chair also reflects the close bilateral relations between the two countries. India has played an important role in supporting the liberation struggle against apartheid.

Prof Malegapuru is currently visiting India at the invitation of ICCR, which has made an endowment for the establishment of the Chair.

UNI