A Lost Cause
India's initiative in 1946 in the United Nations established three conclusions. Firstly, that racial policies are not matters within the domestic jurisdiction of Member States; secondly, that racial policies impaired friendly relations between States; and thirdly, that the treatment of all racial groups within a State should be in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 1952 India, together with 12 Asian and Arab countries, declared in the United Nations that a race conflict in South Africa resulting from the policy of apartheid would constitute a threat to international peace and security. That view was widely accepted by the U. N. General Assembly nine years later in 1961.
Eleven years ago, in 1965, the U.N. General Assembly, for the first time drew the attention of the U. N. Security Council to the fact that action under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter was essential in order to solve the problem of apartheid. In 1967 the U. N. General Assembly condemned apartheid as a crime against humanity.
In 1968 the U. N. General Assembly recognised the right of the people of South Africa as a whole to self-determination and to majority rule based on universal suffrage. In 1970 the U.N. General Assembly recognised the legitimacy of the struggle of the people of South Africa to eliminate apartheid by all means at their disposal. The General Assembly also declared that the racist regime of South Africa was illegitimate and had no right to represent the people of South Africa.
The struggle in South Africa against apartheid is entering its final phase. There is no doubt that it will succeed. Apartheid is a lost cause, and it stands universally condemned. The struggle for freedom and racial equality began in the minds of men centuries ago. There is no substitute for freedom, and there is no alternative to equality.