“ HISTORIC MOMENTS “  PRIME MINISTER NARENDER MODI TRACES BACK MAHATMA GANDHI’S HISTORIC TRAIN RIDE IN DURBAN  

Repeating  history, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today retraced Mahatma Gandhi’s train journey in South Africa as he travelled to a railway station where Gandhi was thrown out of a train compartment that proved to be a turning point in his life.Mr Modi  boarded a train at Pentrich and travelled to Pietermaritzburg, a distance of around 15 km, paying tribute to Gandhi’s fight against racial discrimination. Gandhi had a valid first-class ticket and refused to obey the orders following which he was thrown out of the train at Pietermaritzburg station in a winter night. He had stayed at the station that night in shivering cold and the bitter incident had played a major role in Gandhi’s decision to stay on in South Africa and fight the racial discrimination against Indians there.