Jan christian smuts and gandhi biography

Gandhi's relationship with Jan Smuts was a fraught one, but both men maintained a degree of respect for each other.

During the negotiations around the Asiatic Registration Act of 1908, he felt double-crossed and betrayed by Smuts' decision to forego the compromise they had reached while Gandhi was in prison.

And, indeed, for much of the rest of the time Gandhi spent in South Africa, Smuts tended to prevaricate on the "Indian Question", continually disappointing Gandhi. It was only in 1914 that Gandhi was able to negotiate a lasting compromise, the Smuts-Gandhi agreement.

While not resolving all the issues plaguing South African Indians, it lead to an amelioration of previous laws, passed under the name of The Indian Relief Bill of 1914.

Nevertheless, they never lost respect for one another.

As can be seen in the passage below, Gandhi tried, at all times, to look for the positive in Smuts, even according him a "high