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A South African Prison Diary

Fakir Hassen in Durban

Renowned South African Indian sociologist Fatima Meer will launch her latest book on August 12 at the residence of India's Consul-General in Durban Ajit Kumar.

Meer, who has published extensively on a range of issues, is a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle. She has also penned the biography of the country's first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela.

Meer's latest book, Prison Diary -- 113 Days 1976, reflects on the political upheaval in the wake of the Soweto uprising of June 16, 1976, largely regarded by many as the catalyst that led to the eventual return of democracy to South Africa almost two decades later.

Thousands of students went on the march to protest against the forced use of the Afrikaans language of the white minority apartheid government as the medium of instruction in schools.

The shooting of unarmed schoolchildren and the resultant protests across the country led to many political leaders being detained, among them Meer. She was held with 11 other women, mainly members of the Federation of Black Women, under the then Terrorism Act, and placed in solitary confinement.

Detained for 113 days, Meer secretly maintained a diary after the women were released from solitary confinement and held in a shared prison with access to newspapers following the revision of the security laws.

In her diary, Meer, an avid writer, kept details of not only the squalid conditions at the prison, but also of the relationships that developed between the political detainees.

"The book describes the conditions of the general body of black women prisoners," Meer said. "It certainly is partly autobiographical, and I have included thoughts of events and relations with family members and friends, who were allowed to visit us twice a week while we were in detention. The support from them was most important at the time to keep our morale up."

The book also contains excerpts from letters written by family and friends to Meer while she was in prison.

Indo-Asian News Service

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