order of course, were rearrested at Pretoria on the 28th and deported without trial. They re-entered the Transvaal on the 31st and finally on September 8 were sentenced at Volksrust to a fine of fifty pounds or three months’ imprisonment with hard labour. Needless to say, they cheerfully elected to go to gaol.
The Transvaal Indians were now in high spirits. If they could not compel the release of their Natal compatriots, they must certainly share their imprisonment. They therefore cast about for means which would land them in jail. There were several ways in which they could have their heart’s desire. If a domiciled Indian did not show his registration certificate, he would not be given a trading licence and it would be an offence on his part if he traded without licence. Again one must show the certificate if one wanted to enter the Transvaal from Natal, and would be arrested if one had none to show. The certificates had already been burnt and the line was therefore clear. The Indians employed both these methods. Some began to hawk without a licence while others were arrested for not showing certificates upon entering the Transvaal.
The movement was now in full swing. Every one was on his trial. Other Natal Indians followed Sheth Daud Mahomed’s example. There were many arrests in Johannesburg also. Things came to such a pass that any one who wished could get himself arrested. Jails began to be filled, ‘invaders’ from Natal getting three months and the Transvaal hawkers anything from four days to three months.
Among those who thus courted arrest was our ‘Imam Saheb,’ Imam Abdul Kadar Bavazir, who was arrested for hawking without a licence and sentenced on July 21, 1908 to imprisonment for four days with hard labour. Imam Saheb’s health was so delicate that people laughed when they heard of his courting arrest. Some people came to me and asked me not to take Imam Saheb for fear he might bring discredit upon the community. I disregarded this warning. It was none of my business to gauge the
