The ES Reddy Collection
• ARTICLES, PAPERS AND SPEECHES INDEX
E.S. [Enuga Sreenivasulu] Reddy, a national of India,
has been an active supporter of the South African freedom movement for more
than half a century. As head of the United Nations Centre against Apartheid
for over two decades, he played a key role in promoting international sanctions
against South Africa and assistance to the liberation movement, as well as in
organising the world campaign to free Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners.
After his retirement from the UN in 1985, he was a senior fellow
of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (1985-1993) and a
member of the Council of Trustees of the International Defence and Aid Fund
for Southern Africa (1986-1992). He has written extensively on the history of
the South African liberation movement and its leaders, United Nations action
against apartheid, anti-apartheid movements and campaigns, and relations between
India and South Africa.
His papers - donated to the Yale University Library in the United
States, the Nehru Memorial Museum in New Delhi, and the Universities of Witwatersrand
and Durban-Westville in South Africa, and several other institutions - are a
valuable resource for a study of the struggle for liberation in South Africa
and its international repercussions.
Mr. Reddy has acted as a consultant to the ANC Department of
Information in developing the sites on Historical Documents and United Nations
action, and provided numerous documents from his collection.
***
Mr. Reddy, born in India in 1924, became interested in the struggles
of the Indian and African congresses in South Africa while a student at the
University of Madras. Arriving in New York for further studies in 1946 - the
year of the African miners' strike and the Indian passive resistance, as well
as the United Nations discussion of racial discrimination in South Africa -
he met the South African people's delegation led by Dr. A.B. Xuma, President-General
of the ANC. He participated in a demonstration and other events organised by
the Council on African Affairs (led by Paul Robeson, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Dr.
Alpheus Hunton) in protest against racism in South Africa.
He joined the United Nations Secretariat in 1949 and dealt with
South Africa for most of the 35 years he served as a UN official. From 1963
to 1984, he was the official in charge of action against apartheid, as principal
secretary of the Special Committee against Apartheid and later Director of the
Centre against Apartheid. He was Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations
from 1983 to 1985.
He organised and participated in scores of international conferences
and seminars against apartheid, undertook missions to a number of capitals to
promote action against the racist regime and administered funds for scholarships
and for assistance to political prisoners in Southern Africa.
The contribution of Mr. Reddy to the international campaign
against apartheid has been recognised by leaders of the South African liberation
movements, as well as opponents of apartheid around the world.
Oliver Tambo, President of the ANC, expressed "very deep
appreciation of your work and your infectious devotion and commitment to the
liberation struggle in South Africa."
Sean MacBride, winner of Nobel Peace Prize and former United
Nations Commissioner for Namibia, said at a public meeting addressed by Mr.
Reddy in Dublin on March 19, 1985:
"It has been my privilege to work with E.S. Reddy for
close on 20 years, and I can say without fear of contradiction that there
is no one at the United Nations who has done more to expose the injustices
of apartheid and the illegality of the South African regime than he has. E.S.
Reddy has done so with tremendous courage and ability… he dedicated his entire
energy and skills to the liberation from oppression of the people of Southern
Africa. He had to face many obstacles and antagonisms, coming from the Western
Powers mainly, but he had the skill, courage and determination necessary to
overcome the systematic overt and covert opposition to the liberation of the
people of Southern Africa."
Olof Palme, then Prime Minister of Sweden, wrote to him on November
20, 1985:
"Your own contributions to the work of the United Nations
against apartheid have been formidable. Your devoted work has been highly
appreciated by many of us here in Sweden."
Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, referring to United Nations action
against apartheid, said on January 27, 1995:
"And in this context, I feel bound to pay tribute to
Mr. Enuga Reddy, the former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, who
personally played such an important role in this work."
Mr. Reddy received the Joliot-Curie Medal of the World Peace
Council in 1982 for his contribution to the struggle against apartheid. The
University of Durban-Westville awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in 1995 in recognition of his contribution to the struggle against
apartheid and scholarly work on South Africa.
***
A list of books written, compiled or edited by Mr. Reddy and
of articles written by him, which may be found on the site, is given below.
Some of the collections of documents compiled and edited by
Mr. Reddy - such as the collection of speeches and articles of Oliver Tambo
- have not been published in book form and can be found only on this site.
Several other collections on this site - e.g., the speeches
and writings of Chief Albert K. Lutuli, Dr. Yusuf Dadoo and Dr. G.M. Naicker
- are expanded and revised versions of books published in India and South Africa.
Some of the speeches and papers by Mr. Reddy are published for
the first time on this site.
The site is still in the process of development and further
documentation will be added as soon as possible.
The following are the works of Mr. Reddy which may be found
in this site.
Index of Articles, Papers, and Speeches
Indian Research and Publication on South Africa
Book - Struggle for Freedom in South Africa: Its International Significance